Foreign students flock to Cunda for Ottoman summer school
by AA
BALIKESİRAug 19, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by AA
Aug 19, 2014 12:00 am
Run by Harvard and Koç Universities, Sevgi-Doğan Gönül Ottoman Research Institute Summer School on the island of Cunda in Ayvalık, Balıkesir has been attracting foreigners who want to learn the Ottoman language or extend their knowledge of the language for the last 17 years Sevgi-Doğan Gönül Ottoman Research Institute Summer School takes place every year between July 1 and Aug. 15. The summer school enables many students from the U.S., England, Norway, Greece and other European countries to extend their knowledge of the Ottoman language. In her statement to Anadolu Agency (AA), Gönül Tekin, one of the founders of the institute, said they have been teaching the Ottoman language to foreign students since 1997. She said that since 2002, they have carried out their work with the collaboration of Koç University.
Tekin emphasized that although there are many institutions that teach Ottoman, most people prefer their institute due to its ties with Harvard University. "Most of our students come from abroad. Many of them come from the U.S., some of them from England, Israel, Cyprus, Norway and Greece," Tekin said. She also said that although students take Ottoman language classes at their home schools, they prefer Sevgi-Doğan Gönül Ottoman Research Institute to study abroad. She said that people who want to do research on history, art and architecture attend the summer school. Tekin said, "Our institute mainly teaches the necessary information for the reading of archive documents.
During the early years of the Institute, approximately 10 students attended the summer school, but for the last five years this number has varied from between 20 and 22. There is a run on our summer school. Yet, as the number of our classrooms is limited, we cannot register more than 22 students. One of the instructors of the institute, Evangelia Balta, teaches Karamanlıca, the Turkish language written in Greek alphabet. She pointed out that Ottoman literature does not include only text written in arabic alphabet. In the Ottoman Empire many ethnic-religious groups used the Turkish language which they wrote with the alphabet of their religion. The Orthodox Greeks wrote Turkish using the Greek alphabet [Karamanlı Turkish].
Every year in our summmer school there are 8-10 foreign and Turkish students who try to understand via the example of Karamanlidika literature some aspects the multi-cultural Ottoman society.
Students who study at our institute finish their master's degrees, write dissertations and become research assistants," said Balta. One of the instructors, Associate Professor Selim Kuru of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilization Department at the University of Washington, said that students take lessons on reading and commenting, analysis and extending their knowledge of Ottoman for five hours a day six days a week. Kuru said that participants of the summer school frequently find opportunities to speak Turkish with the local tourists. "The education we are providing is an important opportunity for foreign postgraduate students who set their mind on improving their Turkish and studying Ottoman.
There are few classes on Ottoman in Europe and the U.S. The students mostly come here with scholarships but we are also able to support them thanks to the Turkish Cultural Foundation and Koç University. This kind of education is not offered at any other institution," said Kuru. Iranian student Anna Boreschan, coming from U.S., recognized that there are connections between the Iranian and Turkish cultures. She said she attended the summer school because of her interest in Ottoman literature. University student Ashly Die Mak, from the U.S. wants to become a curator.
She said that her doctoral dissertation is on Ottoman tents. Mak said, "Learning Ottoman will not only help me to acquire the necessary information about the sultans' tents but also help me to understand how these tents were used as a residence." American Guwendelon Classo said he is interested in Ottoman arts and representative theater and that he chose to attend the summer school to conduct studies on these topics.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.