Course Descriptions

POLS 320 Europe and Islam: In Search of a Model for Political Transformation   (4 semester credits)

Students investigate potential models of peaceful transformation in Central Europe of 20 years ago and today’s Turkey for current political shifts in the Islamic world.

(This is a new course. Further information will be published as it becomes available.)

SOC  342 Social Stratification and Migration in Europe: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class  (4 semester credits)

This course explores patterns of population migrations within and to countries of the European Union and various models of social and cultural integration of ethnic minority communities, class structures, and gender roles.

Migration, post-industrial economic change, and changing female participation in the workforce are reflected in new patterns of ethnicity, class, and gender in economic, political, and educational institutions. Meanwhile, European local, regional, and national policymakers face the challenge of reconciling the social, economic, and political demands of aging native populations with those of their burgeoning and increasingly diverse migrant populations. The experiences of established ethnic minorities and of new migrants allow students to compare applications of various models of cultural integration/assimilation across cases and over time. Net exporters of human capital such as Turkey also face political and social pressure as diaspora networks engage in mobilization strategies that transcend the nation-state. Fieldwork includes site visits; interviews with representatives of minority and women’s organizations, policymakers, and social activists; and possible service-learning opportunities.

Seminars at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and academic lectures at Bilgi University in Istanbul include sessions on the role of ethnicity, gender, and class in contemporary social theory; the impact of post-industrial transitions on social stratification; political-economic transition and class formation; and comparative national identities.

Examples of past seminars and related program activities:

• “Introduction to Social Stratification: Class, Ethnicity and Gender,” lecture by Prof. Krzysztof Gorlach, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
• Meeting with feminist organization  EFKA, Dr. Slawomira Walczewska, Krakow, Poland
• Visit to Asylzentrum (asylum center) and discussion with refugees, Tübingen, Germany
• “Minorities in Poland,” lecture by Prof. Hieronim Kubiak, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
• Meeting with Union of Expellees, Ms. Steinbach, MP, German Bundestag, Berlin
• “Turkish Participation in Politics in Germany,” lecture by Mr. Sedat Samuray,  CDU  representative of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district, Berlin
• “Multiculturalism in Germany,” lecture by Mr. Hakan Tas, German Advisory Council on Integration and Migration, Berlin, Germany
• Visit of Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps, Poland
• “NGOs and Human Rights in Turkey,” lecture by Dr. Laden Yurttagüler, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• “Social Exclusion,” lecture by Asst. Prof. Dr. Pinar Uyan-Semerci, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey

HIST 260 Europe and Islam in Historical Perspective (4 semester credits)

Students examine the dynamic history of the relationship between Europe and Islam from times before the Ottoman Empire through the Crimean War and until today.

(This is a new course. Further information will be published as it becomes available.)

POLS  390 Independent Research and Practicum  (4 semester credits)

Students plan and execute an independent research project on a comparative issue of Europe and Islam. Student topics are proposed and discussed with program faculty before the program begins so that fieldwork can be planned and conducted at all relevant program sites. Students investigate comparative and transnational issues and phenomena by combining library and field research (interviews, systematic field observation, etc.). Regular seminars and individual consultations provide a supportive forum in which students review their theoretical approaches, methodologies, and fieldwork strategies. The final outcome of students’ work in this course is a well-argued research paper, many of which have become the basis for senior theses and graduate school applications. This is an opportunity for students, in consultation with their academic advisors, to tailor the program to their specific field of study.

Examples of past projects:

• Shifting Relations between Religion and National Identity in Turkey and Poland
• Social Inequalities in Central European Schools: A Comparative Ethnography
• Representations of Migrants in German-Turkish Cinema and Their Impact on Public Perceptions
• Human Rights in Turkey: The Headscarf Issue and Sexual Minorities’ Rights