The long history, rich culture, and geopolitical importance of Turkey is of increasing interest to the United States. Americans, while progressing through the 21st century, will look for an understanding of Turkey, a strategic country connecting Europe and the United States to Central Asia and the Middle East. Besides a focus on Turkey, learning the Turkish language also offers a gateway into that understanding as its students gain an essential skill to relate to Turkey and beyond. At the University of Florida, where Turkish language and culture has been offered since 2002, the Turkish Studies Program was established in the Center for European Studies in August 2008. Currently, a Turkish Studies faculty member coordinates the program with support provided by sessional instructors and Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA).
The Turkish Studies program at UF strives to thrive as an interesting, important, and relevant program that serves students and the public interested in global and local issues that connect Turkey with the wider world.
The program has already created summer study programs in Turkey, hosted a three-year prestigious Project Go Turkey scholarship, and developed a wide array of area-studies and language courses connecting Turkish Studies to Europe, the Middle East, and the wider world. Its long-term objectives also include the following:
- Development. Alongside UF’s commitment to global engagement, the Turkish Studies Program enriches its curriculum by adopting novel courses designed in interdisciplinary and g-local ways.
- Recruitment. The Turkish Studies Program addresses and appeals to a greater number of students and the public in a sustained and accessible manner.
- Experiential Learning. The Turkish Studies Program affords students and the public to learn and apply their studies in native, immersive, and authentic settings when possible. Therefore, various opportunities including internships, fellowships, and study abroad programs (if not cancelled for international reasons) will be available within the program, the home unit, or internationally.
- Outreach. By way of local events, movie screenings, public lectures, and social media appearances, the Turkish Studies program remains rigorously engaged with the larger mission of the Center for European Studies.
Contact
Emrah Sahin
Senior Lecturer
3326B Turlington Hall
emrahsahin@ufl.edu
(352) 294-7143
Resources
- Application to Add or Cancel a Minor
- Turkey, Europe, and the Wider World
- Turkish Language Distant Learning
- U.S. IIE Study Abroad to Turkey
- US Critical Language Scholarship to Turkey
- Turkish Consulate General in Miami
- Turkish Cultural Foundation
- UF Turkish Student Association
- University of Florida Turkish Central (UFTC)