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Published: April 9th 2008
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Arts and Sciences Building
Here is the Arts and Sciences Building. The History Department is on the top floor, and my classrooms are on the left side of the building, facing out from the left side. Aunt Janet asked me to take some photos of my classrooms and such so that her second graders could see them… so here they are. They were hard to get, as I usually got to class, started taking notes, and forgot about pictures. I also tend to sit way up front and a little to the side… which mess up the angles. Also, it is weird to take pictures during class, so I tried to take a few and then put my camera away, which usually resulted in a few frantic shots of varying quality. The classrooms aren't that different from
Part One: Arts and Sciences Building
I spend most of my time here. The history department is located on the top floor, with my two main classrooms located on the left side of the building (from the viewpoint from this picture). These classrooms have incredible views of the Bosporus, a shot of which I included in an earlier post.
The next few shots show two different classes. The first shot is during the final moments in my Hittite History and Archaeology class, and was my only attempt at a “teaching in action moment,” as I felt really
Hittite Class
Taken as class drew to a close. weird taking pictures as class was going on.
The next couple were taken the next day, right before my Byzantine History class. On Tuesdays it is in the same room as the Hittite class, but here you can get a better idea of what the classroom looks like.
In the shot with Jacob, you may be able to read some of what is written on the board. Right below E.E. Cummings is:
The girl patted the dog. The dog was patted by the girl.
My university here was founded by English speakers, and for a long time the college was known as Robert College. Despite being in Istanbul, the classes are in English, which is intense when you think about it, as the vast majority of students are Turkish, and a good number of exchange students are European, meaning that these students are going to one of the best universities in Turkey, and taking classes, writing papers in, a second or even third language. I constantly feel intellectually dwarfed here.
Part Two: Natuk Birkan Building (NBZ)
This is a new building, and despite some nifty architecture, the building is pretty stark, and is mostly
Byzantine Class 1
Jacob usually has this look on his face. in his defense, I didn't tell him I was taking a picture. made out of concrete, inside and out. I have my Turkish class here, and Turkish Conversation Club, so most of the Turkish learning happens here.
I forgot to bring a camera with me to class, but the classrooms aren't all that nice. The NBZ building is built into a hill, and my classrooms are in the back of that hill, meaning that they are concrete-encased windowless rectangles filled with desks and a dry erase board.
Part Three: Elementary School
Right next to the Superdorm is a Turkish elementary school. The Superdorm is the red brick accented building in the background of the last few shots. Students here seemed to be in the middle of recess, and many were playing soccer.
It is hard to tell from the pictures here, but students in Turkey wear uniforms at all levels of education up through high school. The younger students here have navy blue pants, a white undershirt and a red crested jacket (a jacket with usually the school name, crest, Turkish flag, or some combination of the above). As the Turkish students advance in school, they start getting different uniforms. Eventually, males have to wear dress pants, a
Byzantine Class 2
Another shot of the classroom. button-up dress shirt and tie, and a crested jacket. Females have to wear knee high pleated dresses, with socks (slacks? I don’t know the correct name), along with a dress shirt and school vest. The nearest approximation I can give is Catholic school dress codes.
Speaking of religion, there was a law passed this year (in Turkey) regarding Muslim dress and higher education. I think this semester was the first semester it took effect, but I am not certain. The Turkish Republic is based on the idea of secularism, and for a long time, vehemently expounded this idea; banning headscarf-wearing women from government buildings, like universities. Recently, a more Islam-friendly political party took over, and the law I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, which allowed women wearing headscarves to attend university, was passed. There seems to be a great deal of tension beneath the surface about this issue, and it is a complicated one to approach, from any standpoint. The last two shots were taken very early in my trip, and I include them because they relate to dress-code topic. I also like them as a visual vehicle for expressing the underlying dynamics of Western and Middle
NBZ
This is where the Turkish happens. Eastern influence that meet in Istanbul and Turkey.
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