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Michael Połczyński

Candidate for Graduate Student Representative


Michael Połczyński is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University in East European and Ottoman history, advised by Andrzej Kamiński and Gábor Agoston. He holds an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago, a diploma in Central European Studies from the Jagiellonian University, and a BA in history and anthropology from Marquette University. Michael has served as the GSO representative for East European studies at Georgetown University for four years and has managed an archaeological dig in Poland for several summers, where he moonlights as a specialist in human remains. His dissertation, “Antemurale Christianitatis, Memâlik-i Mahrûse: the Bulwark of Christendom and the Well Protected Domains of the Early Modern Polish-Lithuanian/Ottoman frontier” interrogates the concepts of sovereignty and space on the 1,000 KM long early modern Polish-Lithuanian/Ottoman frontier that ran through modern Crimea, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. Along with articles on the applications of GIS technologies in historical research (Cartographica, Transactions in GIS), Michael’s recent publications include; “Seljuks on the Baltic: Polish-Lithuanian Muslim Pilgrims in the Court of Ottoman Sultan Süleyman I” (Journal of Early Modern History, forthcoming 2015), “Digital Frontiers of Ottoman Studies” (Journal of Ottoman and Turkish Studies, 2014), and “The Relacyja of Sefer Muratowicz: 1601–1602 Private Royal Envoy of Sigismund III Vasa to Shah ‘Abbas I” (Turkish Historical Review, 2014). Michael manages and produces several online academic communities; “The Wild Field” podcast program, and “Polonia Ottomanica”. If elected, Michael will faithfully advocate for graduate student members of ASEEES and will help to promote the organization as a whole.