Utku Can Akın

Utku Can Akın earned his BA from Bilkent University, initially studying economics before majoring in international relations and minoring in history. He then completed an MA in History at Boğaziçi University, where his thesis, “A Critical Perspective on Scientific and Technological Input in Late Ottoman Cotton Cultivation, 1840–1876,” examined the material-semiotic processes—from the physical composition of agronomic tools to the cultural codes of observers—that transformed cotton production. By uncovering the interplay of scientific and technological innovations, power relations, and both local and European entrepreneurship, he demonstrated how these forces reshaped the socio-economic and intellectual landscape of the late Ottoman Empire.

At the University of Toronto, Akın investigates the production, circulation, and institutionalisation of knowledge in Istanbul (ca. 1839–1876), focusing on scientific and literary societies. His approach combines social, cultural, economic, and intellectual history with insights from the history of science and technology, Science and Technology Studies (STS), the history of medicine, and urban studies. In doing so, he illustrates how the longstanding entanglement between Ottoman and European intellectual traditions underpinned the formation of dynamic networks and institutions that fostered knowledge creation. Extending this perspective into early Republican Turkey, he also explores the continued impact of evolving epistemic communities on broader social imaginaries.

Education

• MA, Boğaziçi University
• BA, Bilkent University

Current Supervisor(s)

• Milena Methodieva
• Adrien Zakar