[Discussion] Leiden Üniversitesinden

[Gonul]

From: "E.J.Zurcher" <e.j.zurcher@umail.leidenuniv.nl>

>From September 2003 onwards, the Turkish Studies Department of Leiden
University will offer a unique programme for graduates with an interest
in Turkey, the Ottoman Empire and Central Asia.  This programme offers
two options: a one-year MA degree programme in Turkish Studies and
a two-year research MA in Turkish Studies with the option to continue
with a Ph.D. research programme.  The courses are offered in Leiden and
in Istanbul, at Bilgi University.  Fieldwork in Turkey or Central Asia
is
a compulsory part of the programme.  Students of the two-year programme
can opt for spending time at the Khazar University in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The objectives of the programme are to gain insight into the dynamics
of modernisation in Turkey and Central Asia, with an eye on the
legacy of the past as well as on long term political, social, economic
and
cultural developments. Furthermore, to gain research experience in
Turkey
or Central Asia.  The degree programme prepares students for a career in

the media, the public sector, or international relations.  Successful
completion of an MA can also lead to more advanced PhD research and
eventually to an academic career.  Academic responsibility rests with
Prof. Dr. E.J. Zürcher, who holds the chair of Turkish studies at
Leiden University.

In the first semester (September-December) four courses in Turkish
studies
are offered in Leiden. Students choose two courses out of the following
four:

>From Empire to Republic

This course focuses on the legacy of the Young Turk era; Kemalist
nation building and the transformations of the interbellum;
socio-economic developments in the Kemalist republic, and on Turkish
and foreign historiography.

The Ottoman Empire and Europe

The course concentrates on diplomatic relations between the Empire and
Europe; Ottoman and Islamic legal concepts regarding foreigners; the
role of intermediaries; and the perception of the "other".

Great debates about East and West

The focus in this course is on the provocative ideas about the
relationship between Europe and the Middle East formulated by authors
like Said, Huntington, Naipaul, Lewis and Fukuyama.

>From Protectorate to Sovereign States: Soviet and post-Soviet
Central Asia and the Caucasus

This course focuses on the political, ideological and economic
nineteenth/twentieth century and recent history of this region and
the sociology of its developments.

In addition, students take a course in research methodology.

In the second semester (February-June) students spend 12 weeks
in Istanbul. In this period they take two compulsory courses:

The Impact of the West

This course deals with the influence of European science and technology
from the Eighteenth Century onwards and with the way lifestyles and
mentalities changed in the late Ottoman Empire and in the Turkish
Republic

Changing Patterns of Gender Relations

This course is on the real and imagined changes in the position of women

in society. The relationship between gender issues and nationalism is a
particular concern.

In addition, they collect material for their MA thesis from Turkish
archives or libraries. The MA thesis itself is written in Leiden in
May-July. The thesis must be related to a subject of one of the courses
followed.

The two-year Programme

The students of this programme in the first and second semester have the

same programme as the one-year students. After the courses in Istanbul,
they have the option of either collecting material in Turkey and writing

a term paper in May-June, or spending eight weeks at the Khazar
University
in Baku (Azerbaijan).

In their third semester these students take the two Turkish Studies
courses which they have missed in their first semester and take a course

from one of the other MA programmes in the Humanities or Social Sciences

in Leiden. Students can also opt for an extra language course in one of
the languages of the Middle East or Central Asia. (E.g. Arabic, Persian,

Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Aramaic, Hebrew, Armenian, Azeri or Kazakh).

In their final semester students go to Turkey for eight weeks of
field work, after which they return to Leiden to write their MA thesis
(April-July) The topic of the thesis must be related to their fieldwork.

Non-degree study

Students may also be admitted to study part of the conversion and
MA programme without aiming at a degree.

The Turkish Studies Department of Leiden University is one of the
largest
research and teaching departments in its field in Europe. It has a
permanent staff of six, one of who is permanently stationed in Istanbul
and six additional staff members with non-tenured positions. It offers
BA, MA and Ph.D. degrees. The department has close links to the Turkish
academic and intellectual world, resulting in a constant inflow of
Turkish MA and Ph.D. students. The Department offers two MA programmes
jointly with Istanbul Bilgi University, one in European Studies, and the

other in Turkish Studies. These programmes are taught partly in Istanbul

and partly in Leiden. The teaching is enhanced with regular guest
lectures
by professors from other universities from the Netherlands and abroad.
The department of Turkish Studies combines expertise in the languages
of the region with strong historically oriented research programmes.

More detailed information on the department and its teaching and
research
programmes can be found at www.let.leidenuniv.nl/tcimo/tulp . More
information on the courses and application can be found at:
www.leiden.edu
"Programmes in English" or directly from Dr. Saskia Gieling at Leiden
University World Wide Programmes <s.gieling@luwp.leidenuniv.nl>.