Abdelrahman Mahmoud entered the dual PhD program in History and Middle Eastern Studies in 2018. His previous research examined questions of imperial formation and intellectual exchanges in the early modern East Mediterranean. At Harvard, he plans to study the political and intellectual history of the region with a particular focus on the Ottoman Empire, a conglomerate that provides an interesting insight into the protean notion of early modern imperial sovereignty. Abdelrahman holds a Master’s degree in Comparative History with Distinction from the Central European University in addition to a B.A. in History from Istanbul Şehir University where he graduated with honors. Before coming to Harvard, he trained at the Orient-Institut Beirut and worked as an assistant art curator in Kuala Lumpur.