Learn more about the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program for undergraduates, tips for connecting with faculty research mentors, and advice for writing a successful application.

Laidlaw promotes ethical leadership and international research around the world—starting with the passionate leaders and learners found on campuses like Cornell.

Open to first- and second-year students, the two-year program provides generous support to carry out internationally focused research, develop leadership skills, engage with community projects overseas, and become part of a global network of like-minded scholars from more than a dozen universities.

Register for the information session.

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.

Talk by Giancarlo Casale

Historians have long asserted the close connection between ethnology—the practice of systematically describing cultural differences—and the politics of imperial domination. But in this respect, the Ottoman Empire presents an apparent paradox. Despite expanding across a territory that encompassed all or part of nearly 40 modern nation-states, early Ottoman authors almost never attempted to describe the cultural diversity of the empire’s subject peoples. Instead, they began to do so at the end of the seventeenth century—long before the onset of Western modernity, but long after the end of Ottoman imperial expansion. How can this apparent paradox be explained? And what lessons might it hold not only for Ottoman history but for a more general understanding of the relationship between knowledge and empire in the early modern world?

Giancarlo Casale is a historian of the Ottoman Empire and its many connections with the early modern world. My current research explores intersections between the intellectual life of the Ottoman Empire and Renaissance Italy, with a particular interest in antiquarianism, cartography, cosmography, and other forms of early modern science. Casale also has a deep interest in the history of travel literature and ethnographic writing, early modern diplomacy, and the history of maritime technology, as well as the comparative study of early modern empires and early modern slavery. In addition to teaching and research, Casale is currently on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Renaissance Quarterly, Medieval Encounters, and Arabic Humanities. Casale is also a co-editor of the Brill monograph series Translating Cultures in the Early Modern World and, since 2011, he served as executive editor of the Journal of Early Modern History. Casale is currently on leave from the University of Minnesota through September 2023, as the research chair in Early Modern Mediterranean history at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Join us for a student information session on the Laidlaw Undergraduate Research and Leadership Program. Open to first- and second-year Cornellians, the program provides generous support for you to carry out internationally-focused research of your choice, develop leadership skills that you put into action, and join a global network of like-minded scholars.

Learn more about the programmatic and financial benefits of the Laidlaw Scholars Program, how research and leadership are intertwined, how to approach potential faculty research mentors, and the criteria by which applications will be evaluated. Don't miss this opportunity to get all of your questions answered!

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students. To learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships, view the full calendar of spring semester sessions.

Go global in summer 2024!

Global Internships give you valuable international work experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more.

All Global Interns receive an award totaling at least $3,000. Apply by February 1.

Go global in summer 2024!

Global Internships give you valuable international work experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more.

All Global Interns receive an award totaling at least $3,000. Apply by February 1.

Register in advance