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.
When I first came to career choice as a topic for historical study, I was enchanted by George McClure's work on the "culture of profession in Late Renaissance Italy". Floored to see the article his work inspired–from which a dissertation grew–cited in his new book's conclusion. 🗃️
February 2, 2026 at 3:22 PM
When I first came to career choice as a topic for historical study, I was enchanted by George McClure's work on the "culture of profession in Late Renaissance Italy". Floored to see the article his work inspired–from which a dissertation grew–cited in his new book's conclusion. 🗃️
From the life of Parisian tenants:
1. Eviction, 1912
2. Association: the inaugural meeting of the 12th arrondissement's tenants association, 1924
1. Eviction, 1912
2. Association: the inaugural meeting of the 12th arrondissement's tenants association, 1924
December 12, 2025 at 9:18 PM
From the life of Parisian tenants:
1. Eviction, 1912
2. Association: the inaugural meeting of the 12th arrondissement's tenants association, 1924
1. Eviction, 1912
2. Association: the inaugural meeting of the 12th arrondissement's tenants association, 1924
From the life of renters in Paris:
1. Eviction of tenants, 1912
2. The inaugural meeting of the tenants' association of12 arrondissement, 1924
1. Eviction of tenants, 1912
2. The inaugural meeting of the tenants' association of12 arrondissement, 1924
December 12, 2025 at 9:17 PM
From the life of renters in Paris:
1. Eviction of tenants, 1912
2. The inaugural meeting of the tenants' association of12 arrondissement, 1924
1. Eviction of tenants, 1912
2. The inaugural meeting of the tenants' association of12 arrondissement, 1924
Please share this CFA with your graduate students. I am happy to sponsor applications. Nearby archives, including the Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People (located at the National Library in Jerusalem), host valuable collections—including a newly indexed collection on Yugoslav Jewry.
December 8, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Please share this CFA with your graduate students. I am happy to sponsor applications. Nearby archives, including the Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People (located at the National Library in Jerusalem), host valuable collections—including a newly indexed collection on Yugoslav Jewry.
The great thing about teaching a grad seminar: after I shared my excitement with them, the students committed to writing their term papers on Sven Beckert's new, much-anticipated global history of capitalism — and we'll dedicate a portion of each session to progress reports. 🗃️
November 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The great thing about teaching a grad seminar: after I shared my excitement with them, the students committed to writing their term papers on Sven Beckert's new, much-anticipated global history of capitalism — and we'll dedicate a portion of each session to progress reports. 🗃️
So, you think calculus is hard? Good luck making sense of the right to vote in Habsburg Austria
(from a wonderful article by Birgitta Bader-Zaar) 🗃️
(from a wonderful article by Birgitta Bader-Zaar) 🗃️
November 25, 2025 at 10:17 PM
So, you think calculus is hard? Good luck making sense of the right to vote in Habsburg Austria
(from a wonderful article by Birgitta Bader-Zaar) 🗃️
(from a wonderful article by Birgitta Bader-Zaar) 🗃️
Halldór Laxness is my spirit animal. So relatable at such a young age.
November 25, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Halldór Laxness is my spirit animal. So relatable at such a young age.
הזכרתי בכיתה השבוע את הנריק פונטופידן, סופר דני שזכה בפרס הנובל ב-1917. הבטחתי לסטודנטים שאתרגם להם קצת כי אין בעברית. הנה קטע קצר גם לכם, קצת אחרי שהגיבור הנוצרי וארוסתו היהודייה, בטיול בלתי מתוכנן אל האלפים, מגלים שהם חולקים סלידה, עוד מילדות, מפעמוני כנסייה:
November 21, 2025 at 4:39 PM
הזכרתי בכיתה השבוע את הנריק פונטופידן, סופר דני שזכה בפרס הנובל ב-1917. הבטחתי לסטודנטים שאתרגם להם קצת כי אין בעברית. הנה קטע קצר גם לכם, קצת אחרי שהגיבור הנוצרי וארוסתו היהודייה, בטיול בלתי מתוכנן אל האלפים, מגלים שהם חולקים סלידה, עוד מילדות, מפעמוני כנסייה:
I personally find it very cool that the National and University Library of Iceland allows you to browse its catalog in English, Icelandic, and... Polish.
November 17, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I personally find it very cool that the National and University Library of Iceland allows you to browse its catalog in English, Icelandic, and... Polish.
Grammarly rarely understands the metaphors I try to inject into my writing--but this paraphrase is really remarkably off the mark. Also: chronology!
(I was talking about the end of serfdom + paternalistic ideologies of ruler-subjects relations...)
(I was talking about the end of serfdom + paternalistic ideologies of ruler-subjects relations...)
November 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Grammarly rarely understands the metaphors I try to inject into my writing--but this paraphrase is really remarkably off the mark. Also: chronology!
(I was talking about the end of serfdom + paternalistic ideologies of ruler-subjects relations...)
(I was talking about the end of serfdom + paternalistic ideologies of ruler-subjects relations...)
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 🗃️
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... 🗃️
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.
"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!
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.
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...
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.
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).
The Straits Times, in Singapore, weighing in on Yugoslavia's fate, July 1991:
September 25, 2025 at 11:26 AM
The Straits Times, in Singapore, weighing in on Yugoslavia's fate, July 1991: