Teaching and Studying Turkish Politics through Literature (second edition, 2025)

VIRTUAL PART Session 1: 10 February 2025 a) Introduction to the course, course aims and methodology b) A brief outline of the modern and contemporary history of Turkey: 19th century – today Session 2: 17 February 2025 a) Literature and politics: What can literature offer to political studies and our political understanding? b) A brief outline of Turkish Literature in the 20th and 21st century Session 3: 24 February 2025 The power of literature in Middle East politics Session 4: 3 March 2025 a) The politics of translation: European influence and local literary traditions b) The politics of language Session 5: 10 March 2025 Love, marriage and family as political metaphors in Ottoman and Turkish novels Session 6: 17 March 2025 The new Turkish Republic and the rise of Kemalism Session 7: 24 March 2025 Leftist identity in literature and politics in Turkey Session 8: 14 April 2025 In search for democracy in Turkey Session 9: 28 April 2025 Gender issues in contemporary Turkey Session 10: 5 May 2025 Islam and politics: the dimensions of the Islamic movement in Turkey Session 11: 12 May 2025 Ethnic minorities and religious groups in Turkey Session 12: 19 May 2025 Geopolitics of Turkey Final session (13/14): 9 June 2025 For delayed papers and presentations; conclusions; evaluation and assessment of the course. PLUS: 2 sessions for tutoring and guiding students / One of them in March 2025; the other in May 2025. Explore key topics and issues of politics, ideology and society in Turkey through the lens of the literary production of some significant Turkish authors and their work.

Application Deadline

Virtual Part starting date 2025-02-10

Virtual Part closing date 2025-06-09

Total student workload 162

Specific field of studies Literature, Languages and Translation, Social and Political History, Turkish Studies, Middle East Studies, Gender Studies.

Pre-requisite for selection CV Motivation Letter Level of English (According to CEFR)

Academic pre-requisites for applicants This course is open to students enrolled in Bachelor's, Master's and PhD programs within Turkish studies, Middle East studies, Southeast European Studies, Social and political sciences, History, World literature, Comparative literature, Linguistics, Translation studies or Philosophy at CIVIS member universities. Participants should have a good level of written and spoken English (B2), team spirit, critical analysis, synthesis and argument skills, oral and written presentation skills and willingness to cooperate and participate in a multinational and multidisciplinary framework.

Physical Part starting date 2025-03-31

Physical Part Description 31 March to 4 April 2025 The program of the physical part in Rome is scheduled to comprise 30 teaching hours, with morning, noon and afternoon sessions: - Monday-Friday: 6 hours per day The program will include: paper presentations by students, lectures and seminars by academic instructors /professors, and talks by invited speakers/ experts. A welcome reception and a closing event will be part of the program. The library of the host Department will be available for study and bibliography search. The physical part program will address topics related to politics, identities, literature and intellectuals in Turkey. The professors will focus on how the assigned novels express and mirror the political, ideological and social realities in/of Turkey. The topics discussed during the virtual part will be further elaborated, and key themes and novels of significant authors of contemporary Turkey will be discussed. Additional to the assigned novels the program will discuss aspects of the literary work of authors such as Halide Edip Adıvar, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu, Sabahattin Ali, Yaşar Kemal, related thematically to the course. During the program of the physical part, 8 hours will be devoted to workshops of paper presentations by students: each student will have to choose and read two from the five novels listed below. The topics of the assigned essays/ papers will be relevant to these novels as well as to the lectures. Novels for reading (authors in alphabetical order): - Nazım Hikmet, Letters to Taranta Babu - Emine Sevgi Özdamar, The Bridge of the Golden Horn - Orhan Pamuk, Snow - Elif Şafak, The Bastard of Istanbul - Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, The Time Regulation Institute

Physical Part closing date 2025-04-04

Language level required B2

Field of studies related to the course Social Science and Humanities

Course location Rome, Italy

Course language English