Programs by Country: Turkey + Dialogue of Civilizations
Istanbul, Turkey and Berlin, Germany – Diaspora and Urban Studies in Europe and the Middle East (Closed)
Dialogue of Civilizations | Istanbul, Turkey
Faculty leader: Prof. Berna Turam (b.turam@neu.edu)
Study Abroad Coordinator: Daisy Biddle (d.biddle@neu.edu)
Summer: II
Courses: SOCL3471 Social Conflict & Community Services Abroad and INTL4944 Berlin-Istanbul Dialogue of Civilizations: Diaspora and Urban Studies in Europe and the Middle East
Description:
This program will provide students with an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the contrasting issues surrounding the Turkish migrant population in Berlin, Germany, and the counter understanding of these immigration issues from Istanbul. The second part of the program will extend to Istanbul, the largest metropolitan area in Turkey.
In both cities, our focus will remain on socio-political contestation in urban space over religion, gender, class and possibly ethnicity. Put differently, we will explore how urban space, specifically neighborhood, is contested by ordinary people, who differ and/or disagree over religion, gender and class? Students will read an exciting literature and be encouraged to ask questions about neighborhood politics. In what ways and why are urban space and political processes intimately mapped onto each other? Under what conditions and why does it become difficult to share the city and/or a particular neighborhood? What are the similarities and differences between minority/diaspora neighborhoods (such as Kreuzberg Germany and Tesvikiye in Istanbul) and less contested homogeneous urban space? What role does gentrification play in all of this urban politics?