Turkish Students Association is organizing a movie night on February 29, 2012 at 6:30 PM. Please come to Saunders Hall 204 to watch this interesting documentary, Hiphopistan: Representing Locality in a Global City.

Please see the movie flyer here.

“Hiphopistan is a documentary film that examines the impact of Hip-Hop culture on Istanbul youth and reveals how young Turkish rappers, DJs, break-dancers, and graffiti artists creatively blend popular influences with their local cultural values and traditions. In a world that is becoming increasingly exposed to global media, much has been debated as to whether or not societies and individuals can adopt influences from music, television, cinema, internet and fashion in a positive and constructive way without losing their own cultural identities and heritage. The dichotomy terms of “East” and “West” have unfortunately regularly coincided with “tradition” and “modernity” and “local” and “global” making it seem as though they are polarized opposites. …” from twn.org.

A talk by Sarah Thomsen Vierra of UNC-Chapel Hill.

From the Hinterhof to the Street Front: The Place and Purpose of Turkish Mosques in West Germany.

Please see the seminar flyer here.

History and Culture in Istanbul, Turkey study abroad program’s application deadline has been extended until March 9, 2012.

Please see the flyer here and contact me, if you are interested.

I will lead a study abroad program in Istanbul, Turkey in the summer of 2012 (May 18 – June 29, 2012).

In this six-weeks program, two classes will be offered: ASIA 244-History of Istanbul and ASIA 243-Turkish Culture and Society. These courses will fulfill both General Education and Elective course requirements.

The program will be hosted by the Middle East Studies Institute of Marmara University, which is located in the district of Sultanahmet. Marmara University is a large public university that was officially established during 1982-1983 academic year with nine faculties, one vocational school and one institute, although it has a much longer history over more than a hundred years as an institution of higher education in Turkey.

Turkey, geographically situated at the meeting point of Asia and Europe, has a rich multi-ethnic culture. The city of Istanbul is one of the magnificent historic cities of the world, having been continuously populated for about 3000 years. For many centuries, Istanbul has been a capital city for different imperial powers such as the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and it retains multiple traces of those past civilizations.

You can see its flyer here.

By Joe Parkinson

Don’t talk to Togra Saydan about the global downturn. The Istanbul-based tour guide is working 18-hour days and has had to cancel his vacation.

Unrest in the region, a weak Turkish currency and Ankara’s closer ties with neighbors are driving up tourism in Turkey. Hotels in Istanbul are clocking the highest occupancy rates in Europe, while many of the city’s conference halls are booked well into next year, industry groups and analysts said. Turkey’s coastal resorts say they are turning away customers.

“Istanbul is having a renaissance; our economy is strong and political problems on our doorstep are all bringing tourists here,” Mr. Saydan said. “These are the kinds of problems I always wanted to have.”

The latest data on Turkey’s $25 billion tourism industry show the number of tourists—local and foreign—increased by almost 11% in the first seven months of this year compared with the same period in 2010, according to the Ministry of Tourism. And 2010 was a bumper year.

The visitors include record numbers arriving from Europe and the Mideast. The crowds are bringing with them a welcome injection of foreign currency. Turkey’s economy is cooling from heady growth earlier this year and needs to finance a huge trade imbalance and a current-account deficit forecast to hit as much as 10% of gross domestic product by year’s end.

Read more at Wall Street Journal.. (Subscription required)