• Check In: July 1
• First Day of Class: July 2
• Last Day of Class: TBA
• Check Out: August 1

Class Size: 16-28
Istanbul will be our classroom.  The program focuses on the Ottoman Empire from its foundations in the thirteenth century through its expansion in the sixteenth century into Europe, Asia, and Africa, creating a new cultural synthesis from North African, Arab, Armenian, Greek, Jewish, Hungarian, Italian, Kurdish, Mongol, Persian, Slavic, and Turkish traditions. The course starts with the history of the Middle East before the Ottomans and then examines the feudal economic and legal structures the Ottomans inherited and transformed. Other topics include Ottoman imperialism; pre-modern ethnic, class, gender, and religious identities found in the Ottoman Empire; and the development of the early modern self and society.  This program includes field trips to the ancient cities of Assos where Aristotle started working on his Politics, to Ephesus where the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her last days, and to the rock sites of Cappadocia.

View the handout and slide show from the information session. Note the handout includes a list of titles for each slide in the presentation.

Other programs of similar interest:

• Vienna & Prague: At the Crossroads on Central Europe
• History of the Andean Region
• South African History, Nature and Culture—From City to Safari

Courses

This Program carries a total of 8 units. Enrolled students must take both courses listed. Auditing is not an option.

• History 190C (4 units)
  Middle Eastern History III: the Ottomans, 1401-1730
  Middle Eastern history from the foundation of the Ottoman Empire on the border-lands of Byzantine Anatolia through its expansion into Europe, Asia, and Africa, creating a new cultural synthesis including the Arab, Greek, Islamic, Mongol, Persian, Slavic, and Turkish traditions    
  GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, Wrt
• History 198 (4 units)
  Directed Group Study
  GE credit: none.

Course Requirements

Classes are held Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.11:30 a.m. with related field trips in the afternoons. The classroom is on the top floor of your residence. Please view the course syllabus or program announcement for more information. You are also invited to contact the program coordinator, Erin Schlemmer, or Baki Tezcan, the instructor, with questions about the syllabus or course requirements.

Required Texts

• Course reader (provided by Summer Abroad)
• Lonely Planet Guide Turkey (provided by Summer Abroad)

Field Trips and Activities - subject to change

• Istanbul
  • Haghia Sophia
  • Topkapı Palace
  • Mosque of Sultan Ahmed (Blue Mosque)
  • and many other sites
• Bursa and Erdine, which were Ottoman capitals in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
• Four-day trip. Our first stop will be the ancient city of Assos where Aristotle started working on his Politics around 348 BCE.  Then we will visit another ancient city, Ephesus, where the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her last days.  Finally, we will go to Cappadocia, an area well known for its wondrous rock formations and cave settlements. 

Accommodations

Students will be staying in shared rooms in two room flats at the Galata Residence in Galata. Galata is in between the old city across the Golden Horn to the south and Beyoğlu to the north, which happens to be the cultural and entertainment center of Istanbul. Visit the YouTube video of the residence.

Your rooms come with a shared common room, bath, and kitchen. The kitchen is equipped with a refrigerator, oven,  T.V., air conditioning, hair dryer, coffee maker, safe, and free Internet connection.  The rooms are furnished with linens.

Meals

Meals are not provided.

Fees

Fees for Summer Abroad include the Summer Abroad Program Fee, Course Fee, and Accommodations and Activities Fee. The Accommodations and Activities Fee covers lodging, selected meals (if included), selected field trips, group accidental death & dismemberment and emergency health insurance, select publications, and additional program specific costs. Airfare is not included. All fees are subject to change.