Orel Beilinson
@orelb.bsky.social
Historian of modern Europe in its Eurasian context. Education, youth, social structure, and family life. Comparative and transnational history. PhD, Yale; currently a postdoc fellow at the Polonsky Academy.
I needed to add a reference to one piece of legislation by Joseph II, which I thought would be easy to locate -- until I opened this book, candidate for the world's least helpful Table of Contents, that seems to mock me directly 🗃️
November 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I needed to add a reference to one piece of legislation by Joseph II, which I thought would be easy to locate -- until I opened this book, candidate for the world's least helpful Table of Contents, that seems to mock me directly 🗃️
Ever since I was 10 and got my first phone, I've been used to people calling and asking for Dr. Beilinson,"-- my dad. Today someone called, and I said, "That's his son." Turns out they were from my university's research authority, and I had to confess I am still new to being Dr. Beilinson, too...
November 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Ever since I was 10 and got my first phone, I've been used to people calling and asking for Dr. Beilinson,"-- my dad. Today someone called, and I said, "That's his son." Turns out they were from my university's research authority, and I had to confess I am still new to being Dr. Beilinson, too...
The legacy of the Eastern Bloc is that today, as I struggled to find the right word in Arabic, I could retrieve its equivalent in Russian, and the ceramics seller in East Jerusalem understood: his father had studied in the USSR and had forced him to learn some Russian as a child.
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The legacy of the Eastern Bloc is that today, as I struggled to find the right word in Arabic, I could retrieve its equivalent in Russian, and the ceramics seller in East Jerusalem understood: his father had studied in the USSR and had forced him to learn some Russian as a child.
The best postdoctoral fellowship in Israel is now open for applications. The money is entirely sufficient for subsistence, the facilities are utterly stunning, and the administrative staff is friendly and supportive. I am happy to answer questions... 🗃️
November 3, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The best postdoctoral fellowship in Israel is now open for applications. The money is entirely sufficient for subsistence, the facilities are utterly stunning, and the administrative staff is friendly and supportive. I am happy to answer questions... 🗃️
Reposted by Orel Beilinson
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
It is my book and I'll pluralize ethos as "ethe" or "ethea" but not "ethoses" if I'd like (but I'll definitely not insist on that when the editor pushes back), even though typing "ethe" made my computer think I was typing in Albanian (where "ethe" means fever).
November 2, 2025 at 9:53 PM
It is my book and I'll pluralize ethos as "ethe" or "ethea" but not "ethoses" if I'd like (but I'll definitely not insist on that when the editor pushes back), even though typing "ethe" made my computer think I was typing in Albanian (where "ethe" means fever).
Surprisingly, I haven't been to Barcelona yet. I'll be expanding my article in JESHO, which asked whether guilds beyond Europe really had journeymen. Now I'll move from "Islamic" guilds to Russian guilds -- asking more explicitly how the Russian Empire shaped artisanal life in its borderlands...
October 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Surprisingly, I haven't been to Barcelona yet. I'll be expanding my article in JESHO, which asked whether guilds beyond Europe really had journeymen. Now I'll move from "Islamic" guilds to Russian guilds -- asking more explicitly how the Russian Empire shaped artisanal life in its borderlands...
This seems broadly applicable to me: perhaps I should let white ants serve as peer reviewers for my faltering article manuscripts...
From the diaries of Swiss artist Alice Boner, Varanasi (India), 1941.
🗃️
From the diaries of Swiss artist Alice Boner, Varanasi (India), 1941.
🗃️
October 25, 2025 at 7:38 PM
This seems broadly applicable to me: perhaps I should let white ants serve as peer reviewers for my faltering article manuscripts...
From the diaries of Swiss artist Alice Boner, Varanasi (India), 1941.
🗃️
From the diaries of Swiss artist Alice Boner, Varanasi (India), 1941.
🗃️
Tomorrow's the first day of classes, and I am very excited to open the semester with a graduate seminar, "Global and World History: Approaches and Recent Studies." Here's our reading list! 🗃️
October 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Tomorrow's the first day of classes, and I am very excited to open the semester with a graduate seminar, "Global and World History: Approaches and Recent Studies." Here's our reading list! 🗃️
I am writing an article to convince American high school teachers to adopt recent historiography on nationalism in 19th-century Europe in their classrooms. This screenshot from an immensely popular test-prep book for AP World History demonstrates how confused and blurry the curriculum is.
October 24, 2025 at 9:19 AM
I am writing an article to convince American high school teachers to adopt recent historiography on nationalism in 19th-century Europe in their classrooms. This screenshot from an immensely popular test-prep book for AP World History demonstrates how confused and blurry the curriculum is.
Dominique and Peter are such a gift to our field.
Twenty participants of the July 2025 Central European History Convention in Vienna wrote blogs about what they thought about the event: what it gave, what it promises, what it didn’t. Read what they think! (There’s a little intro to the forum by Peter Becker + myself). cehc.hypotheses.org
Looking back- looking ahead
cehc.hypotheses.org
October 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Dominique and Peter are such a gift to our field.
"Passing through here, one feels for the first time that this segment of Europe is interwoven with those unknown, secret mysteries of life which France, England, or Spain have never touched."
-- The Indian writer Nirmal Verma on Central Europe, the 1960s.
-- The Indian writer Nirmal Verma on Central Europe, the 1960s.
October 22, 2025 at 7:14 AM
"Passing through here, one feels for the first time that this segment of Europe is interwoven with those unknown, secret mysteries of life which France, England, or Spain have never touched."
-- The Indian writer Nirmal Verma on Central Europe, the 1960s.
-- The Indian writer Nirmal Verma on Central Europe, the 1960s.
I even have a faculty photo and everything!
October 20, 2025 at 9:59 AM
I even have a faculty photo and everything!
Scanned all readings. Opened all course websites. Sent introductory emails -- I am officially ready to start Year 1, Semester 1, Week 1 as an Assistant Professor. Happy New Academic Year, everybody!
October 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Scanned all readings. Opened all course websites. Sent introductory emails -- I am officially ready to start Year 1, Semester 1, Week 1 as an Assistant Professor. Happy New Academic Year, everybody!
As a Habsburgist, I was *very* glad to find out during my walks around Delhi that some of my favorite buildings in the city, including the Yugoslav embassy and buildings in the Jamia Milli Islamia, were designed by an Austrian architect, Karl Malte von Heinz -- a Bauhaus refugee from Nazi Germany. 🗃️
October 18, 2025 at 3:59 PM
As a Habsburgist, I was *very* glad to find out during my walks around Delhi that some of my favorite buildings in the city, including the Yugoslav embassy and buildings in the Jamia Milli Islamia, were designed by an Austrian architect, Karl Malte von Heinz -- a Bauhaus refugee from Nazi Germany. 🗃️
My friend in Thekkady, too, is worried about the state of humanity.
October 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
My friend in Thekkady, too, is worried about the state of humanity.
My morning walk in Kerala passed through 4 churches, a mosque with a madrasa, a hammer and sickle, an invitation to "Che's Martyrdom Day" celebrated by the Communist Party's youth wing, and a massage parlor presenting Jesus, the Ka'abah, and the locally revered Ayyappan together.
October 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
My morning walk in Kerala passed through 4 churches, a mosque with a madrasa, a hammer and sickle, an invitation to "Che's Martyrdom Day" celebrated by the Communist Party's youth wing, and a massage parlor presenting Jesus, the Ka'abah, and the locally revered Ayyappan together.
As an Eastern Europeanist, this is a day of celebration: now I get to hear reporters around the world try to figure out how to pronounce László Krasznahorkai -- and, sometimes, mistakenly assuming this "sz" to make an sh sound like in Polish...
🗃️
🗃️
October 9, 2025 at 11:52 AM
As an Eastern Europeanist, this is a day of celebration: now I get to hear reporters around the world try to figure out how to pronounce László Krasznahorkai -- and, sometimes, mistakenly assuming this "sz" to make an sh sound like in Polish...
🗃️
🗃️
My very niche advantage as a historian of education traveling in India: I quickly realized 'pass out [of college] meant 'graduate,' and not 'became unconscious.' Many former British armies still refer to their cadets' graduation as Passing Out, I believe.
October 7, 2025 at 10:40 AM
My very niche advantage as a historian of education traveling in India: I quickly realized 'pass out [of college] meant 'graduate,' and not 'became unconscious.' Many former British armies still refer to their cadets' graduation as Passing Out, I believe.
Started my first morning in Delhi with a guided tour, perhaps a pilgrimage, to see the hotel's peacock. A staff member took me there after I expressed my excitement over the squirrels climbing over tables at the outdoor café...
October 3, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Started my first morning in Delhi with a guided tour, perhaps a pilgrimage, to see the hotel's peacock. A staff member took me there after I expressed my excitement over the squirrels climbing over tables at the outdoor café...
I met a Chinese teacher at the hotel bar today. He was telling me about his first day, when students pick their Chinese name -- and he suggested I adopt the name 欧乐 Ōulè, which sounds like Orel and can mean "European joy" or "to enjoy Europe." Beyond perfect, really. 🗃️
October 2, 2025 at 6:39 PM
I met a Chinese teacher at the hotel bar today. He was telling me about his first day, when students pick their Chinese name -- and he suggested I adopt the name 欧乐 Ōulè, which sounds like Orel and can mean "European joy" or "to enjoy Europe." Beyond perfect, really. 🗃️
Revisiting Lévi-Strauss on Indian cities. If one accepts his characterization of Calcutta and the underlying difference in European vs Indian urbanity, it must testify to the transformation of European urban life--his description would've rung familiar to many Europeans a century+ beforehand.
October 1, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Revisiting Lévi-Strauss on Indian cities. If one accepts his characterization of Calcutta and the underlying difference in European vs Indian urbanity, it must testify to the transformation of European urban life--his description would've rung familiar to many Europeans a century+ beforehand.
From the Tamil-speaking mosque in Singapore's Chinatown, I learned that there is a Qur'an museum in a city called Bhatkal, named after a medieval grammarian named Bhattakalanka Deva. I can't think of any others -- but who knows what's behind the names of Grammatikovo in Bulgaria and Greece? 🗃️
October 1, 2025 at 5:28 AM
From the Tamil-speaking mosque in Singapore's Chinatown, I learned that there is a Qur'an museum in a city called Bhatkal, named after a medieval grammarian named Bhattakalanka Deva. I can't think of any others -- but who knows what's behind the names of Grammatikovo in Bulgaria and Greece? 🗃️
My time in Singapore was instructive, if not fun. I am very excited for the next leg of my journey: three weeks in India, going Delhi to Kochi!
September 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
My time in Singapore was instructive, if not fun. I am very excited for the next leg of my journey: three weeks in India, going Delhi to Kochi!
Deepavali/Diwali season began at Singapore's Indian Heritage Centre. The museum is free on weekends, featuring festive activities such as free henna, tea/snacks, and dress-up opportunities. A wonderful place (best paired with Ar-Rahman's roti prata at Tekka Centre nearby).
September 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Deepavali/Diwali season began at Singapore's Indian Heritage Centre. The museum is free on weekends, featuring festive activities such as free henna, tea/snacks, and dress-up opportunities. A wonderful place (best paired with Ar-Rahman's roti prata at Tekka Centre nearby).