We know corruption when we see it. Or do we? Bogac Ergene, UVM associate professor of history, will address how the Ottoman state and society defined political and administrative corruption at the College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Lecture. “Corruption, Ottoman Style,” free and open to the public, will take place Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. in Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building.

The discussion will provide clues about how the Ottomans differentiated legitimate and illegitimate forms of government. Ergene will also argue that a historical understanding of the topic is crucial to grasp the prevalent attitudes towards corruption in modern Middle East.

Ergene is the author of Local Court, Provincial Society and Justice in the Ottoman Empire: Legal Practice and Dispute Resolution in Cankiri and Kastamonu (1652-1744) (2003), and the editor of Judicial Practice: Institutions and Agents in the Islamic World (2009). Earlier this year, he served as Aga Khan Distinguished Professor in Islamic Humanities at Brown University.

Information: (802) 656-0756.