CCP Students and Faculty in Turkey, Professors Cynthia Giddle and John Joyce
Report to Community College of Philadelphia Foundation
Istanbul Site Visit
May 2007
Photos and text by Cynthia Giddle and John Joyce
From May 23rd to May 31st, we traveled with three CCP students from Philadelphia to Istanbul; all three students–Jean Germain, Affi Inyang, and Ana Ramirez–took Humanities 170: Middle East Culture and Civilization in Spring 2007 and were selected for their academic success (two students receiving Bs, one an A) in the course, as well as their interest in visiting Istanbul and helping to plan future visits (perhaps connected to a one-credit addition to Humanities 170). The three students (two women and a man) represented different academic interests–International Relations (Affi), Social Work (Ana), and Psychology/Creative Writing (Jean)–as well as different ethnic backgrounds. Ana grew up in Venezuela; Jean’s parents immigrated from Haiti and Cuba, Affi’s from Nigeria. Though all three had traveled some outside the US, none had visited Europe or Asia. All were thrilled to participate and said repeatedly that the trip changed their lives and dreams, as well as their views of Turkey and the world. In fact, it was hard for them to leave Istanbul after a week.
We required the students to prepare reports after they returned which principally included 1) their responses to Istanbul and the cultures of Turkey; and 2) recommendations for organizing future such weeks in Istanbul to provide the most enriching cultural and social experience for students. We have excerpted from these fascinating reports to offer an overview of their thoughts and suggestions. As their responses emphasize, this experience was for them remarkable and transformative and should be repeated for future CCP students; this site visit should, according to the students, mature into a permanent program/course supplement at CCP.
During the week in Istanbul, we attempted to introduce the students to different important periods in Turkish/world history, and a variety of religious practices and beliefs, as well as the beautiful and strategic geography of Istanbul. We also tried to include different kinds of cultural expression–traditional Turkish music at the meyhane Despina’s, a Mevlana dervish performance, a concert of Ottoman military music on the holiday May 29th, as well as art, history, religion, and architecture. Because we had participated in the CCP Middle East Istanbul Conference in Summer 2006 (funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant, and supported by the University of Pennsylvania Middle East Resource Center) with an array of impressive and informative lectures and tours (and had been studying the history of the Middle East through Title VI grants since summer 2004 (with a conference in Cairo in 2005)), we chose to lead the visits to the museums, mosques, churches, and classical sites ourselves rather than pay for guides.
Because the students had just studied many of the sites and much of the history in Humanities 170, our site visits offered opportunity for interesting discussions with the students making connections and offering background as well. Although in our mini-grant proposal, we had hoped to visit at least one university (Bosphorus University), in planning with the students, we decided that it was more important, in our short visit, to learn from the unique cultural sites in Istanbul than to visit a college campus. If we had more days in future trips, a college connection and visit would be a great addition for students to gain the perspective of their Turkish contemporaries.
We organized an itinerary that grouped the sites by historical period, including pre-classical, Classical (Greco-Roman), Byzantine, Ottoman, and Kemalist Istanbul. In our original itinerary, we left afternoons (from 1pm on usually) free for students to explore; however, these students seemed eager for us to accompany them and plan more of their time, so we visited together more sites than in the original plan. (We include both original itinerary and the actual itinerary). We stayed at the Hali Hotel in Sultanahmet, convenient to many of the sites. Thanks to the generous support of the Community College of Philadelphia Foundation, TAFSUS, and the Turkish Cultural Foundation, we had money enough to pay for the students’ airfare, hotel rooms, food, and entrance fees.
This site visit not only transformed the students, but will inform our own teaching of Humanities courses, Humanities 101 and 102, as well as Humanities 170. This fall we plan to give a presentation on the site visit in the Teaching Center (hoping to interest other faculty in participating in Humanities 170 and the Istanbul week in the future), as well as offer Humanities faculty materials for teaching the literature and culture of Turkey.
Goals, Objectives, and Assessment as specified in the Mini-grant Application
Goals: We met and exceeded all three of our original goals. Instead of funding travel to Istanbul for two students, we were able–with an additional $1000 grant from TAFSUS and supplementary money contributed to a new dedicated Humanities fund by CCP faculty–to fund three students’ travel and expenses for the week. In addition to the extra grant money for this year, we have already received a $10,000 grant from the Institute for Turkish Studies towards an expanded program in Istanbul, based on this site visit, next year, 2008. After our return from Istanbul, we, along with two of the students, attended a TAFSUS dinner at which the students conveyed how much they learned about Turkey and Istanbul and how wonderful their experience had been. We feel that we have a great itinerary for next year, as well as some good suggestions for preparing students in advance to be more educated visitors. The students seemed to love the variety of the itinerary.
Objectives: We have completed the first two of our four objectives–the choice of student participants and the site visit itself. We are working on the second two objectives: creating a 1-credit academic option for the Istanbul week as an extension of the course work of Humanities 170; and sharing our experiences and academic materials (including some sample assignments and a brochure for Humanities 170 and the Istanbul week in Spring 2008) with CCP Faculty during the fall semester. This work is now over a month ahead of the schedule proposed in the mini-grant application.
Assessment: Based on the enthusiastic written student responses as well as oral feedback during the trip, and based on our own continuing learning about Turkish history and culture, the two CCP professors leading the 2007 Istanbul Workshop/ Site Visit enthusiastically endorse the goal of an expanded yearly program in Istanbul beginning in May 2008. We would like to expand the study-abroad experience to include between five and ten students with an additional accompanying faculty member and pursue the financial possibilities of a longer time in Turkey with explorations outside of Istanbul. Fay Beauchamp has continued in a role as liaison/grant writer to TAFSUS and the Turkish Cultural Foundation, and in conjunction with Professors Giddle and Joyce sent edited versions of this report to those organizations in August 2007.
Excerpts from the Student Responses:
On the trip in general:
“Istanbul is a place that I will never forget. It changed me intellectually and spiritually with its amazing culture. It brought happiness to my life. Istanbul opened my eyes to the magnificence of the world. Now I feel that I have a greater respect for other cultures, traditions and religions. I would love to go back, to smell the ocean breeze and feel the warmth of the air and its people. I never in my life felt so much love for a place in this way. When I walked around those streets that are thousands of years old and in every way foreign to the places I have been, strangely I feel at home. Istanbul sparked my curiosity in so many ways. Now I want to know more about the Middle East. Istanbul planted in me a deep desire to learn more about far away places.”
“My world view has grown a thousandfold as has my willingness to try and understand people. I was able to experience a country and a culture that’s wholly alien, yet strangely familiar to me, all thanks to your generosity and kindness. This experience helped me decide to pursue a career in psychology and writing because both fields work to bridge cultures. I now plan to travel more…”
“I’m so fortunate that I took Humanities 170 because this class has given me the chance to learn about different cultures as well as experience Istanbul. My week there was truly the experience of a lifetime, something I will never forget for as long as I live. It’s influenced me in ways you’ll never know. I am now more proud of my skin being dark; before I used to sometimes hate it and wish to be lighter. In Istanbul, unlike Philadelphia, my looks were exotic and beautiful (I became almost a celebrity to schoolchildren especially). I’m also now eager to study the Turkish language.”
On specific valued sites:
“All of the sites were amazing. It is really hard to choose a favorite; however, the New Mosque meant something special to me. There was something so animated about it. It is very close to the southern end of the Galata Bridge on the Eminonu waterfront, which was packed with people fishing. The mosque itself is stunning. Outside the courtyard is the Egyptian Market where Turks buy everything from seeds and flowers to chickens and leeches.”
“My favorite site was undoubtedly the Chora church. As a Christian, I felt myself connected to its history and symbols. The mosaics were absolutely gorgeous and it was so fun to figure out which story in the Bible was represented.”
“An activity that took my breath away was the Whirling Dervish performance at the old train station. We saw the sema (ritual dance) on a very hot night and the group of young sufis with their great circular skirts was amazing. They seemed to be in a profound state of meditation and elation which gave me goosebumps. The sublime looks on the faces of the audience were a testament to the hypnotic, soothing, inspiring, blood-pumping effect of the dancers and their music.”
On new experiences:
“On the first night I couldn’t sleep; I was too excited. Around four thirty in the morning I was struck by the call to prayer by the muezzins of the city. I put my head out of the window expecting to see people walking around on their way to the mosques, but I didn’t see anybody. I have never experienced anything so magnificent in my life. The voices were almost angelic. I am not a religious person but in a strange way being in Istanbul connected me with my spiritual side. I fell in love with the call to prayer.”
“Being in Turkey, a Muslim country, I had expectations of what I was going to see and hear. I remember when we arrived at night, and I first heard the call to prayer on the Hali roof while looking at all the glittering lights of the houses, skyscrapers, and mosques, I was awestruck. Later I began to look forward to the calls at different times of day and would sit outside of mosques or in the parks and listen to the calls going back and forth between mosques. Each muezzin sounded a little different and had a distinctive style; when the call was over, I always would feel disappointed because I wanted the beautiful singing to continue.”
