Jesse Howell

Jesse Howell received his PhD from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Department of History at Harvard University in 2017. His dissertation, “The Ragusa Road: Mobility and Encounter in the Ottoman Balkans (1430-1700),” examines the development of what became a major axis of movement across southeastern Europe during the early modern era. This thousand-mile caravan route connected the Ottoman capital of Istanbul to the Republic of Dubrovnik–also known as Ragusa–located on the Adriatic Sea. Extending far from the cosmopolitan ports of the Mediterranean, the Ragusa Road served as a conduit for the exchange of humans, goods, microbes, and information across the mountains and plains of the Balkan Peninsula. Jesse’s work continues to consider the dynamics of human mobility from multiple interlinked perspectives, from large-scale public works such as bridges and caravanserais, to the lived experience of overland travelers.