Temple University

Ryan is a fourth-year doctoral student specializing in Islamic art and architectural history. His research focuses on visual, literary and architectural cultures of the eastern Mediterranean in the long nineteenth century with an emphasis on the Ottoman Empire and its neighboring polities. Ryan has been a recipient of a Fulbright Research Grant to Turkey (2020-21) where he examined the architecture of Istanbul’s late Ottoman school buildings, particularly those commissioned by the city’s ethnically Greek, also known as Rum, population, which later became the topic of his MA qualifying paper. His research has also been supported by a Temple University Grant in Aid (2022), the Marcia Hall Research Award (2023) and the American Research Institute in Turkey’s Summer Fellowship in Intensive Turkish Language (2024). His research has also been supported by a Temple University Grant in Aid (2022), the Marcia Hall Research Award (2023) and the American Research Institute in Turkey’s Summer Fellowship in Intensive Turkish Language (2024). Earlier this year, Ryan was awarded the George B. Tatum Annual International Conference Fellowship by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. In addition to his work on Rum educational institutions, Ryan’s research interests cross an array of topics ranging from the history and perception of mirrors and reflective surfaces in the lands of Islam, to the architectural patronage of Egypt’s khedivial family and the intersections of medicine and art history. 

Ryan has previously worked as a research assistant to the artist Shahzia Sikander (b. 1969, Lahore), as well as held assistantships at the Istanbul Research Institute and the Library of Congress. At Tyler, he has taught courses on global art historical traditions from antiquity to the modern era, early modern Islamic visual and material cultures and the formation of medical knowledge through visual media. Prior to entering the doctoral program, Ryan worked for several years in business development in New York. He received his undergraduate degree in English Literature and History of Art from the Ohio State University in 2017.  

Advisor: Emily Neumeier