Much has been written about the lack of visibility of women, their insignificance in society and their lack of a role in spheres such as politics or popular protest. Traditionally regarded as a largely silent element of society, restricted to the home and not seen beyond the walls of the house or the public bath, women have not generally been subjected to a more nuanced scrutiny in much of the academic literature on the topic.
This Skilliter Centre research project considers the role of women in the public space and examines various spheres including women as economic producers and consumers, female slaves, women and violence, the flirting woman, marginal women and prostitutes, and women in politics. The members of this project are Edith Ambros (University of Vienna), Ebru Boyar (Middle East Technical University, Ankara and Academic Advisor to the Skilliter Centre), Palmira Brummett (Brown University), Kate Fleet (Skilliter Centre) and Svetla Ianeva (The New Bulgarian University, Sofia).
A workshop was held on 7-9 February 2013 at the Skilliter Centre at which the members of the project discussed their individual chapters for the forthcoming book and the joint introduction and conclusion. The book, Ottoman Women in Public Space, edited by Ebru Boyar and Kate Fleet, was published by Brill in 2016. For further details, click here.