Dr. Julie Peteet finishes field research in Turkey funded by a Fulbright Award.

Prof. Peteet was awarded a Fulbright Research award to Turkey for 2017-18 where she continued her research on the hammam (bath). Entitled: “The Hammam (bath) through History: Why Then, Why Now?,” this comparative and interdisciplinary project, a result of NEH funded research in Jordan and a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship in Turkey. It is an archaeological, historical, and ethnographic examination of the hammam in the Islamic Middle East and Mediterranean area. The bath can be tracked through history from the Bronze and Iron Ages to the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman periods, exhibiting both continuity and rupture. Through the ages, two things remain constant: hydrology and thehammam as a sensorium for the pursuit of leisure, hygiene, and sociality. By the mid-1900s, hammams had declined across these regions. Their revival can be linked to neo-liberal urban renovation and new leisure and consumption sites related to the wellness syndrome and tourist demand. Orientalist imaginaries have been put to work for tourism as the hammams are now must-visit experiences. For both foreign tourists and locals, the hammam is a ‘living tradition’ with a multitude of meanings for both.