Entries Tagged 'Research in Turkey' ↓

After an early morning ferry ride across the Sea of Marmara to the city of Yalova, I was walking along when I came across a few pieces of a slot-car race track lying on the sidewalk. They were just sitting there in front of a store. Another ten feet down the road there was a [...]

I traveled two hours outside of Istanbul today to interview Ahmet Okutan, the mufti of Tekirdağ.  He was incredibly helpful both in terms of providing information about sermon preparation in his province and in terms of setting up additional interviews in the region (tomorrow I’m going to Edirne and tomorrow night it’s off to Çanakkale). 
Thanks to [...]

My trip is going great so far.  I’m now at the Ankara bus terminal completely surprised to find they have free wireless.  I don’t think they know they have free wireless; it’s more likely that some of the bus companies have open networks, or maybe I’m catching the signal from a few of the ultramodern [...]

I’m leaving in an hour for an overnight bus trip to Ankara (once again in a suit and tie), where I’ll spend two days meeting with various officials at the Diyanet seeking permission to add another research site and access the agency’s archives. 
Tuesday night it’s an overnight bus trip from Ankara to Bursa for [...]

I just received a packet of mail forwarded by my department secretary that contained anonymous reviewer forms for a fellowship I didn’t win last winter.  I thought the first reviewer was very positive and fair, but the second one, clearly the regional “expert,” made me say, “Huh?”
The line that stands out is this:
“Referees of the [...]

Things in Ankara couldn’t be going better.  I was worried that the meetings I’m observing would amount to short rubber-stamp sessions, but they’ve actually been really lively and fun to watch.  I don’t know how these guys are holding up though since it’s Ramadan and they’re all fasting.  You thought your office meetings were rough?  [...]

I’m leaving for Ankara in a couple hours to observe a sermon selection meeting for the first time.  Observing these meetings has always been central to my dissertation, but I’m anxious to see what they really look like in practice.  I’ll be back in Istanbul Thursday or Friday.