My research as a modern historian focuses on the circulation of ideas, particularly racial and nationalistic ones, between Britain and Central Europe from the mid-nineteenth century onward, as well as on the development of humanitarian advocacy. Within this framework, my work explores three main facets: Anglo-German relations; The study of time and historical periodization; The operation of humanitarian networks, especially on behalf of the Armenians.

Anglo-German Relations

My first book, Race, Nation, History: Anglo-German Thought in the Victorian Era  (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), explains how historical periodization converged with racial and national/cultural themes in shaping the perceptions of English academics and German scholars who immigrated to Britain c.1850–1939. The book focuses on two intertwined themes. First, I analyze the emergence of a particular notion of a “Teutonic” (Germanic) identity among a group of scholars in England and Germany, and how they utilized this notion in identifying their own national communities. Second, I show how this consideration of a “Teutonic” identity corresponded with these scholars’ idiosyncratic perception of historical periodization. In exploring these themes, I developed a novel argument that highlights the intersections between modern ideas of periodization, on the one hand, and modern perceptions of “race,” on the other. The book therefore sheds light on a unique yet overlooked aspect of modern racial and national identity discourse as it was developed by various Anglo-German Victorian scholars. It has so far received six reviews in eminent journals (Victorian Studies; The English Historical Review; Journal of Modern History; Victorian Culture; Bulletin of the GHI; Marginalia Review of Books).

Time and Periodization

Following my first book, I further developed my research on historical periodization the division of historical time into periods. In this line of inquiry, I explore the various meanings of periodization from a wide range of theoretical, geographic, and chronological perspectives

One concept that I devised is the “time border,” which critically reflects and challenges the reliance on conventional periodizations as organizing principles in the study of history. Rather than referring to a distinct line that marks the definitive end of one period and the beginning of the next, this concept emphasizes shifts between periods that incorporate both continuities from the past and changes in the present. A case in point is the alleged watershed of 1989, which, considering contemporary tensions between the West and Russia, appears less definitive in hindsight. “Time borders,” thus, uncovers layers of the historical narrative by drawing attention to the multiplicity and diversity of potential periodizations.

In connection to this research, I am the founding editor of a book series at De Gruyter -Brill titled “Time and Periodization in History.” Thus far we have published four books in the series. The fifth volume: Zeitenwenden: New Approaches to the History of Periodization and Time, ca. 1750 to the Present, which I co-edited with Marcus Colla and Anna Gutgarts, is forthcoming in 2026 . 

Humanitarian Networks and Advocacy

Building on my first book, which examined shared racial and religious ideas among a group of nineteenth-century Anglo-German scholars, I expanded my research to consider how some of these figures perceived the “East,” particularly the minorities living under the Ottoman Empire. This line of inquiry led to my current project, which offers a new perspective on the history of humanitarianism by investigating how racial and religious ideas shape forms of humanitarian advocacy. Supported by an ISF grant, the project explores the activities and ideological foundations of little-known Western networks that advocated on behalf of Christian Armenians during the final decades of the nineteenth century. These groups sought to generate public and political pressure to persuade European governments, chief among them Whitehall, to force the Ottoman leadership to ameliorate the condition of Armenians who faced ongoing persecution. In practice, these transnational networks raised funds, prompted parliamentary debates, wrote extensively in the press, and published books about the “Armenian Question.’ Through these efforts, Armenian suffering became one of the pressing issues that Western diplomats confronted throughout the late 1800s.