IOWC PhD Student: Omri Bassewitch Frenkel

Omri holds a B.A. in East-Asian Studies and History (2004) and an M.A. in History (2010), both from the Tel Aviv University. His Master’s thesis, "Conquistadores or Merchants? China’s role in the formation of the Spanish colonial society in the Philippine Islands, 1565-1603," which combined his interest in both European and Chinese history, focused on Spanish-Chinese relations in early colonial Manila and Spanish aspirations for the conquest and evangelization of China.

His current research interests include sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European trade and imperial adventures along the shores of the South China Sea, early modern European relations with overseas Chinese communities, and the Asian-European food and spice trade and its impact on food consumption in Europe.

Omri has received a number of scholarly awards including the Peter Cundill Fellowship in History at McGill University (2011), The Paedagogica Foundation Scholarship at the Tel Aviv University (2010), and a Spanish language studies scholarship at the University of Granada, Spain (2009). Omri is also a trained chef and a former proprietor of a bistro in his hometown, Tel Aviv.

2011 "Conquistadores or Merchants? Spanish Settlers of Manila and Their Aspirations Towards China, 1565-1586." Paper presented at the Seventh National Conference for Researchers and Research Students of Iberian and Latino-American Studies, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel, 12 May 2011.

2011 "A Meeting in Manila: Trade and globalization in the sixteenth century." Paper presented at The Historical Society of Israel Workshop for Young Scholars of the Early Modern Era, Jerusalem, Israel, 13-14 April 2011.

2010 "Sixteenth-Century Spanish Perception of China." Paper presented at the Tri-University Colloquium, "New Approaches to European and Mid-Eastern History," University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, 31 January–2 February 2010.