Ilay Romain Ors

BA in Sociology, Bogazici University Istanbul; BA in Political Science and International Relations, Bogazici University Istanbul; MSc in Social Anthropology, University College London;  MPhil, PhD, in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University

Ilay Romain Ors is a social anthropologist and a faculty member at the Department of Social Sciences. Dr. Ors received her doctoral degree as a Joint PhD in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. She is a member of the academic board of the Institute of Global Affairs and a Fellow of the Institute for Hellenic Culture and Liberal Arts at ACG. In addition to her specialization on the Greek Orthodox community of Istanbul (Rum Polites), Ilay Romain Ors’ research interests include Greek-Turkish relations, migration, identity politics, social movements, urban studies, and everyday life in the Aegean region. She is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Policy and Global Affairs at the City University London, an Independent Scholar at the Independent Social Research Foundation, a former Research Affiliate at the University of Oxford, and a recent Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University. 

 Selected Publications

Books

• 2018. Diaspora of the City: Stories of Cosmopolitanism from Istanbul and Athens. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 
• 2024 [2020, 2019]. İstanbullu Rumlar ve 1964 Sürgünleri [The Greek Orthodox community of Istanbul (Rum Polites) and 1964 Expulsions]. İstanbul: İletişim.  

Articles

• 2024. “Culinary Complexities in Turkey and Greece: On Food, Nation, and Identity in the Aegean.” Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 42 (2): 225-256. 
• 2021. “More than a minority: the case of the Rum Polites–Istanbullu Rum in Turkey.” Turkish Area Studies Review. 38 (Autumn 2021): 76-80 

Book Chapters

• 2024. “Constantinopolitans in the Diaspora of the City: The Global Community of Rum Polites of Istanbul.” In Routledge Handbook of Turkish Diasporas. Arkilic, A., Senay, B. (eds.) London: Routledge, pp.107-119. 
• 2024. “Rum Polites in the Context of Turkish-Greek Relations.” In A Century of Greek-Turkish Relations: A Handbook. Christofis, N., Deriziotis, A. (eds.) London: Transnational Press, pp.151-164. 
• 2022. “Türk-Yunan İlişkileri Bağlamında Türkiyeli Rumlar” [The Rum/Greek Orthodox of Turkey in the context of Turkish-Greek relations]. In Tarihsel ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Perspektifinden Türk-Yunan İlişkileri (1821-2021) [Turkish-Greek Relations from the perspective of Historical and International Relations]. Özsüer, E. (ed.) İstanbul: Boyut, pp.308-319. 
• 2020. “The Past is in a Foreign Country.” In The Greek-Turkish War of 1919-22 in Greek Historiography: the Megali Idea in Action. Ayşe Gülsevin Tamer. Istanbul: Belge, pp.1-14. 
• 2019. “Απο Τουρκία στην Ελλάδα: Τούρκοι που έρχονται, επισκέπτονται, διαβαίνουν, μεταναστεύουν” [From Turkey to Greece: Turks who come, visit, transit, migrate]. In Η «Νέα» Τουρκία εκ των έσω [The “New” Turkey from within]. Millas, I. (ed.) Athens: Sideris, pp.215-230.