Director: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation
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Metin Mustafa is an art historian specialising in Ottoman and Islamic art history with over two decades of teaching experience. He holds a PhD in Ottoman Renaissance art from The University of Notre Dame Australia and Bachelor of Education in Humanities from The University of Sydney. He taught History, Religion and Teaching Methodology courses at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Charles Sturt University and Australian Catholic University. He presented at numerous history conferences on cross-cultural interactions in the early modern period including:
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Sultan Mehmed II and Rethinking the Renaissance (The University of Notre Dame Australia, 2013)
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Ottoman Renaissance Material Culture in Early Modern Europe (The University of Sydney, 2016)
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Renaissance Self-Fashioning of Süleyman the Magnificent (The University of Notre Dame Australia, 2016)
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Representations of the Divine and Salvation: An Alternative Reading of Sinan's Iznik tiles of Rustem Pasha Mosque and Michelangelo's Last Judgement (The University of Sydney, 2014)
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History and gender in Sultan Murad III's Surname-i Hümayun 1582 (The University of Notre Dame Australia, 2014)
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Islam, Ottoman Turks and Orientalism (Powerhoue Museum, Sydney, 1999)
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Abraham: Our Ancestor - Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Aquinas Academy, Sydney, 1998)
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Metin is the founder of the Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (CORC). Since 2018 he has served as the Director of CORC and coordinator of the online courses. Between 2019 and 2023, he taught Ottoman and Renaissance art history history courses at The University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education. His research interests include: Early modern Mediterranean cross-cultural interactions; civilisation of the Ottoman Renaissance (1400-1683); the idea of many renaissances. Dr. Metin Mustafa is the author of the monographs: The Ottoman Renaissance: A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art, 1413-1575 and Oriental Imaginings, Occidental Refashioning: Turquerie, The Tulip Age and Ottoman Modernity, 1683-1867. He is also the author of Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise in Renaissance Art , The Ottoman Renaissance and the Early Modern World, 1400-1699 (Essays Series Complete Edition), 'The Divine Comedy’ of Süleyman Çelebi and Mir Heidar: A Sufi Mystical Reading of Early Modern Turkic Representations of Prophet Muhammad's 'Isra' and 'Mir'aj' and Legacy of Ottoman Renaissance Material and Visual Culture in the Early Modern Period, 1400-1699.
DETAILS
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TERTIARY EDUCATION:
2013-2017: PhD Candidate at The University of Notre Dame Australia
1988-1991: The University of Sydney
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QUALIFICATIONS:
2018 Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Notre Dame Australia
1992 Bachelor of Education, Humanities (Secondary), The University of Sydney
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2025. Mustafa, M. Perceptions of the Other: Eurocentrism in the Historiography of Islam from the Medieval Period to the
Modern Era ~ Clash of Civilisations or Dialogue of Cultures? Revised Edition.
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2024. Mustafa, M. I am Süleyman, Sultan of the Sultans of East and West ~ The Making of an Image: Majestic Caesar, Sultan, EvliyaÌ‚’ya PaÌ‚d-ÅŸaÌ‚h-i and Poet ~ A Cultural Perspective
2023: Mustafa, M. Oriental Imaginings, Occidental Refashioning: Turquerie, the Tulip Age and Ottoman Modernity,
1683-1867. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation, 2023.
2023: Mustafa, M. Legacy of Ottoman Renaissance Material and Visual Culture in the Early Modern Period,
1400-1699. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation, 2023. Revised Edition.
2022: Mustafa, M. The Ottoman Renaissance and the Early Modern World, 1400-1699. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman
Renaissance and Civilisation, 2022. Essays Series Complete Edition.
2022: Mustafa, M. 'The Divine Comedy’ of Süleyman Çelebi and Mir Heidar: A Sufi Mystical Reading of Early Modern
Turkic Representations of Prophet Muhammad's 'Isra' and 'Mir'aj'. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and
Civilisation, 2022.
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2021: Mustafa, M. The Mediterranean Zeitgeist: Re-orienting the Renaissance. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman
Renaissance and Civilisation, 2021. Essays Series.
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2021: Mustafa, M. Renaissance Women: Nuns, Sultanas and Queens Legitimising Female Sovereignty. Sydney: Centre for
Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation, 2021. Essays Series.
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2021: Mustafa, M. Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise in Renaissance Art.
Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation, 2021.
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2020: Mustafa, M. History of Ottoman Renaissance Art: From Mehmed I to Selim II. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation, 2020. Revised Edition.
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2019: Mustafa, M. The Ottoman Renaissance: A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art 1413-1575. New Jersey: Blue Dome Press, 2019.
2019: Mustafa, M. Tragedy of Sultan Süleyman (a play). Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Civilisation, 2019. Kindle Edition.
(Fiction).
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ARTICLES
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World History Bulletin, Vol. XXXVII, No.1 (Spring / Summer 2021): 45-49.
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2018 Mustafa, M. “The Iconography of Renaissance Ceremonials in the Early Modern World.” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies 3, 1 (2018): 1-23. ISSN 2207-4414
2016 Mustafa, M. “Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise.” Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (June, 2016): 192-238.
2015 Mustafa, M. "From Ottoman Bursa to Timurid Herat: Early Modern Turkic Representations of the story of Prophet Muhammad's Isra and Mi'raj. Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (September, 2015): 130-191.
2015 Mustafa, M. “Islamic Art, Sufi Humanism and Ottoman Architect Sinan’s Aesthetics.” Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (June, 2015): 109-129.
2015 The European and Ottoman Consciousness: Perceptions of the 'Golden Age' in the Early Modern Period." Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (March, 2015): 92-108.
2014 Mustafa, M. "The Mediterranean Renaissance: A Shared Heritage." Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (June, 2014): 55-91.
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2014 Mustafa, M. “The Renaissance Paradigm: Italian and Ottoman Perspectives.” Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation (March, 2014): 15-54.
PODCASTS
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"Islamic Contribution to Western Civilisation Episode 1", August 4, 2025.
"Islamic Contribution to Western Civilisation Episode 2", August 4, 2025.
"Islamic Contribution to Western Civilisation Episode 3", August 4, 2025.
"Impact of Islam on Medieval European Consciousness", August 5, 2025.
"The Renaissance Mindset and the Ottoman Threat", August 6, 2025.
"Observing the Other and Shifting Identities in the Sixteenth Century", August 8, 2025.
"European Perceptions of Islam and the Ottoman Turks in the Seventeenth Century", August 8, 2025.
"Birth of Man's Hubris and Observing the Other in the Age of Enlightenment", August 9, 2025.
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"Critique of Orientalism", August 9, 2025.
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"Era of Imperialism and the Subservience of the Other", August 12, 2025.
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"From the Imagined Orient to the Orient Express", August 12, 2025.
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"Challenging Imperialism, Eurocentrism, and Muslim Radicalism", August 13, 2025.
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"Atatürk and Islam, Part 1: Atatürk's Revolution ~ An Islamic Perspective", August 14, 2025.
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"Atatürk and Islam, Part 2: Atatürk's Revolution ~ An Islamic Perspective", August 14, 2025.
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"The Khaldunian Paradigm and Cultural Mimicry in the Context of Ottoman Decline", August 15, 2025.
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"Staging 16th Century Ottoman Cultural Politics", August 19, 2025.
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"The Renaissance Paradigm and the Ottoman Renaissance ~ A General Overview", August 19, 2025.
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"The Metaphysical Poetry of Süleyman the Magnificent", August 19, 2025.
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"The Ottoman Empire: Süleyman, the Grand Signior and Sixteenth Century Europe", August 19, 2025.
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"The Ottoman Renaissance during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent", August 20, 2025.
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"Roxelana ~ Hürrem Sultan: The Harem Intrigues", August 20, 2025.
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"The Ottoman Civilisation in the Seventeenth Century", August 21, 2025.
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"The Ottoman Civilisation during the Tulip Age, 1703-1730", August 21, 2025.
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
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2019 2019 History Teachers’ Association State Conference
‘The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire 1876-1924’
The University of Sydney, July 26-27, 2019.
2018 ‘The Ottoman Renaissance – Reconsidering the Renaissance Paradigm’
“What If?”: Reading Worlds of Possibility
The University of Sydney, June 14-15, 2018.
2016 ‘Ottoman Renaissance Material Culture in Early Modern Europe’
Cultures of Modernities in the Global and Pre-Modern World
The University of Sydney, 16 June, 2016.
‘Renaissance Self-Fashioning of Süleyman the Magnificent’
The University of Notre Dame Australia, 22 April, 2016.
2014 ‘Michelangelo Meets Sinan’ Histories Past, History’s Future Conference Programme 27 & 28 November 2014, The University of Sydney, 28 November, 2014.
‘Representations of the Divine and Salvation: An Alternative Reading of Sinan’s Iznik tiles of Rustem Pasha Mosque and Michelangelo’s Last Judgement – A Testament of Parallel Renaissance Legacy’ The University of Notre Dame Australia, 6 September, 2014
‘History and gender in Murad III’s Surname-i Hümayun 1582’ Art History Conference, The University of Notre Dame, 16 July, 2014.
2013 ‘Sultan Mehmed II and Rethinking the Renaissance’ The University of Notre Dame Australia, August, 2013
1999 ‘Islam, Ottoman Turks and Orientalism’ Power House Museum, Sydney, 1999
1998 ‘Interfaith Dialogue: Abraham – Our Common Ancestor’ Aquinas Academy, 1998
‘Understanding Islam, Aquinas Academy’ 1998
'Perceptions of Islam: The Clash of Civilisations – Islam & the West’ Aquinas Academy, October, 1998
Areas of Research Interests
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Early modern Mediterranean cross-cultural interactions
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Civilisation of the Ottoman Renaissance (1400-1683)
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Idea of many renaissances
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Early modern East-West material history
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Historiography
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Early modern art history
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EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
2018 - Present Director: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation
Online Course Coordinator
Ottoman and Islamic art history
2019 - 2023 The University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education
Academic Lecturer / Tutor
Courses:
The Ottoman Renaissance 1413-1575
The Legacy of Islamic Civilisations 632-1924
Michelangelo meets Sinan
Topkapı Palace and the Harem of the Ottoman Empire, 1533-1659
Turquerie, the Tulip Age and Ottoman Modernity: 17th-18th century Ottoman and European Art and Fashion
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2019 WEA Sydney
Academic Lecturer
Courses:
The Ottoman Renaissance 1413-1575
Michelangelo meets Sinan
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2014- 2018 Alpha-Omega Senior College:
Senior Modern and Ancient History Full Time Teacher;
Years 11 and 12 English workshops in Creative Writing.
Research travel and working on the completion of PhD.
Guest lecturing and presenting at UNDA and University of Sydney.
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2014: University of Notre Dame, Sydney:
History Sessional Lecturer / Tutor
Course: History of Western Civilisation
2014: Charles Sturt University
Religion Sessional Lecturer/Tutor,
Islamic Sciences and Research Academy (ISRA)
Course: History of Religion in Multicultural Australia
2007: Australian Catholic University, Strathfield (1 Year)
History Lecturer-in Charge
Course: History Teaching Methodology
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2000-2014: Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta
Full-time English / History Teacher (14 years)
2000: Holy Spirit College, Lakemba
English Teacher (One Term)
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1996-1997 Aquinas Academy, Sydney
Lecturer in Adult Education courses – Comparative World Religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
1992-2000: Emmaus Catholic College, Erskine Park
Full-time English / History Teacher (8 years)
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Affiliations: History Teachers’ Association
English Teachers’ Association
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PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
2018 - Present Director: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation
2019 - 2023 Academic Lecturer / Tutor in Ottoman and Islamic Art History - USYD CCE
2014 – 2016 Sessional and Guest Lecturer – UNDA, CSU, USYD
2007 Lecturer-in-charge: Teaching History Methodology,
Australian Catholic University, Strathfield
2004 – 2005 English syllabus programming facilitator
2003 – 2007 Assistant Head of English, Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta
1996 - 1999 Independent Learning Centre Facilitator, Emmaus Catholic College
1993 – 1995 Head of History, Emmaus Catholic College
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