New Class Added: TOPICS IN TURKISH STUDIES: CURRENT EVENTS IN TURKEY

TOPICS IN TURKISH STUDIES: CURRENT EVENTS IN TURKEY

CEUS-R389 (#37372) & CEUS- R589 (#37373)

7:15P-9:30P / MW / BH 314

Fall 2013, 2^nd 8 Weeks

 

Taught by Dr. Kemal Silay

Professor of Turkish Language and Literature

Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Endowed Chair Professor

Director, Turkish Language Flagship Center in the

School of Global and International Studies

 

 

This course has been designed specifically for students of Turkish Studies, and aims at helping them develop skills to cope with the cultural, political, and cognitive difficulties associated with processing and interpreting open source materials in contemporary Turkish. Students with at least an intermediate level Turkish are encouraged to sign up for this class. Focusing predominantly on online sources, the course will aim at improving students’ semiotic skills for better comprehension of the contemporary language as manifested online. Up-to-date cultural and political issues associated with these sources will be discussed throughout the semester. The first half of the course will be based on printed and news-oriented sources, and the second half will be centered around more advanced comprehension and discussion of audio-visual materials of all sorts, and op-eds. This is a dynamic course based on the most current events in Turkey, whether it is the latest PKK terror attack or the up-to-the-minute controversies and debates reverberating through all strata of Turkish society or government. In this class, students are expected to be active participants and curriculum-builders, rather than passive note-takers and listeners. Lectures and discussions will be conducted almost entirely in Turkish. All students with the appropriate level of Turkish are encouraged to register.