Nominees for BRISMES Council (2026-2029)

Melis Sulos

Melis Sulos received her PhD in History from the CUNY Graduate Center in April 2026, under the supervision of Beth Baron. She holds a BA in History, an MA in Ottoman Turkish History, and an MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern and European History. Her dissertation, "Beyond Spectacle: The Children's Protection Society and the Politics of Childcare in Early Republican Turkey, 1923–1945," examines how child welfare in the early Turkish Republic operated through statistics, childcare manuals, architecture, and public rituals, connecting the histories of childhood, public health, nationalism, and the built environment. She has published on childhood in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey and on diplomatic performances and political theater in the Ottoman Empire.

Melis is eager to bring her association-building experience to BRISMES. A member of AMECYS since 2016, she has served in its executive board since 2021 and as chair of its Graduate Committee since 2025. Working with colleagues across that association, she helped launch its inaugural graduate student mentorship program and contributed to organizing dissertation workshops, talks, roundtables, graduate talk series alongside service on the programming and awards committees.

In 2020, Melis moved from the United States to Switzerland with her family and hopes to extend this work within BRISMES and the European scholarly landscape. Drawing on her experience launching mentorship programs, organizing scholarly workshops, and connecting early-career researchers across institutions, she can support BRISMES in strengthening graduate studies, broadening programming for members across Europe, and expanding access to Middle Eastern studies for scholars working outside traditional academic centers.