Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

Lecturer: Dr Adrian Jones
Entry: Free

This talk will explore a controversial aspect of the first centuries of Ottoman history: the drafting of boys into the Janissary corps: devşirme in Turkish; πιασμòν παιδίων in Byzantine Greek. Adrian Jones will discuss the Balkan and Ottoman contexts of the collection of Christian boys.

Biography

Dr. Adrian Jones OAM, is an Associate Professor of History, Deputy Head of the School of Humanities, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Adrian joined the History program in 1985, continuing the La Trobe tradition of teaching Russian History started by Israel Getzler and Lewis Siegelbaum.

Interested in every aspect of history education, primary to tertiary, in 2008, Adrian's work in this field of public education was recognised by the award of an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours list. The award cited his 'service to history education as a lecturer and author, and for executive roles in a range of historical and teaching organisations'. Adrian’s contributions to teaching have been recognised by awards for excellence from the History Teachers’ Association of Victoria (2007), La Trobe’s Dean of Humanities (2006) and Vice-Chancellor (2008), and the Australian Learning and Teaching Committee (2008).