Economy and Society on both Shores of the Aegean
Identity and the City: Rum Polites in Athens

The series of monthly seminars, Economy and Society on Both Shores of the Aegean, organized by the Ottoman Bank Museum in collaboration with Alpha Bank and the History Department of Boğaziçi University, hosts Dr. Ilay Romain Örs on Friday, March 24, with a presentation in English entitled, "Identity and the City: Rum Polites in Athens." In her lecture, Örs discusses her research on the Rum Polites, the Christian Orthodox community of Istanbul, who now, for the most part, reside in Athens.

With examples from her field study, Dr. Örs will demonstrate how the Rum Polites have retained a distinct cultural existence in their everyday life, their social organization, and their intellectual and artistic production. In her words: " Ethnographic insights into the Rum Polites reveal the significance of the idea of 'cultural belonging,' derived from the urban cosmopolitan legacy of Istanbul and its special status as 'the City.' The exploration of a place from the perspective of the displaced can open up new vistas in understanding concepts like migration, diaspora, and urban identity."

The monthly seminar series, Economy and Society on Both Shores of the Aegean, focuses on the Greek Orthodox populations of the late Ottoman and early Republican periods. Seminar speakers provide comprehensive information on the subject and display special awareness of the delicate historical context. Admission to the seminars is free. Our next guest speaker will be Dr. Maria Christina Chatziioannou, on Friday, April 14, 2006.

Economy and Society on both Shores of the Aegean
Identity and the City: Rum Polites in Athens

Dr. Ilay Romain Örs After obtaining BA degrees from the Department of Sociology, and the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University, she earned her M.Sc. in Social Anthropology from University College, London. Örs is a candidate for a joint Ph.D. degree in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. She has successfully defended her dissertation on the present and recent past of the Greek Orthodox population of Istanbul (Rum Polites) in Athens, titled, "The Last of the Cosmopolitans? Exploring the Cultural Identity of the City in Diaspora." Her recent publications include an article titled "Beyond the Greek and Turkish Dichotomy: The Rum Polites of Istanbul and Athens" in South European Society & Politics (11/1) and a chapter in the edited volume, When Greeks Think about Turks: A Perspective from Anthropology (ed. Theodossopoulos 2006, London: Frank Cass). She is currently working on a book manuscript based on her fieldwork on the Rum Polites.

Economy and Society on both Shores of the Aegean Identity and the City: Rum Polites in Athens Dr. Ilay Romain Örs Friday, March 24, 2006 5:00 p.m. Free admission The Ottoman Bank Museum Bankalar (Voyvoda) Caddesi 35/37 (0212) 334 22 70