Turkish (TURK)

This is an intensive beginning language class based on the Elementary Turkish textbook by Kurtulu? Öztopçu, available from the Bookstore or on-line (www.oztopcu.com). Our aim will be to master basic communicative skills and the fundamentals of Turkish grammar. In the spring semester, we will work through the rest of the textbook, using various extra resources. Each student will be required to keep two separate composition notebooks according to fairly specific rules ('Ders Defteri' for exercises, 'Gramer Defteri' for grammar review – separate instructions will be provided). Students will have opportunities to practice their speaking skills with a native speaker TA.

Prerequisite should be TURK 1011-01 or permission of instructor.

Materials for this course will be provided by the instructor. Some of the sources for materials are: the TÖMER Hitit series, D?LMER workbook,on-line materials, newspaper articles, and short pieces of Turkish literature. The handouts should be neatly completed and handed in to be graded. Then, each student should develop a tidy method to keep all worksheets in one folder or binder. It may be worth buying the comprehensive yet expensive grammar book by G Lewis: Turkish Grammar. It has clear organization, comprehensive treatment of grammar, and wealth of examples. You must own (and put to good use) an approved English-Turkish/Turkish-English dictionary. (Redhouse ordered to Bookstore) Grading: Handout exercises: 40% of final grade Compositions: 20% of final grade Verbal participation, including conversation sessions: 15% of final grade Midterm exam: 15% of final grade Final exam: 10% of final grade The four skills in language acquisition must work together: Listening (in class, with Blackboard materials, in chat sessions, with films) Speaking (spontaneous in class and in chat sessions; also with pre-formed dialogues) Reading (as homework: with textbook, literature, newspaper articles, specialized articles) Writing (compositions)

Prerequisite should be TURK 1501 or permission of instructor.

Course description pending

This language course is a continuation of TURK-201 and requires the completion of that course or its equivalent, as determined by the professor.

In this Advanced, 3 credit, Turkish class, we will use a range of readings and exercises to improve fluency in the four main language skills of: Reading Comprehension Listening Comprehension Speaking Writing Various Materials will be required including DILMER workbooks, the Penn Modules, and selections from Turkish Literature Grades will be based on: Graded compositions and worksheets: 50% Class and Discussion Group Participation: 25% Midterm Exam: 15% Final Exam: 10%

This is a seminar class that will focus on improving language skills through the discussion of topics from contemporary Turkey. It will be taught entirely in Turkish making use of texts as well as audio-visual material that describe and analyze major current trends in Turkish culture and politics. The starting point will be recent developments in Turkey, but it would be safe to expect the following themes guiding class discussions: Turkish domestic politics and the approaching elections, Turkish-U.S. relations, perception of the U.S. in Turkey, the media in Turkey and recent dynamics in Turkish culture. Students will be asked to read texts of various lengths, ranging from academic sources, newspaper articles to social media messages. Instruction will be complemented by videos and podcasts on the issues discussed in class. Students will be expected to write short essays on topics of their choice. A major component of the class will be the speaker events where students will be able to interact with leading experts on various aspects of Turkish politics and culture. These events will be conducted entirely in Turkish.

Delicious Turkish: Learning the Language through Cuisine. This is a 1-credit course to help learners of Turkish to reinforce their language skills through reading and speaking about different aspects of Turkish food culture. Each student will research a recipe from a specific region in Turkey and present it in class, focusing on the factors, such as climate, that shape the food customs in that region. Students will summarize their findings in a short essay. The classwork also includes the reading of short pieces on Turkish culinary tradition. Students at Intermediate and Advanced levels are encouraged to take this course along with the main sequence Turkish classes. This course counts toward the Turkish minor.

This course is designed to approach contemporary Turkish culture through a variety of sources: ethnographic, literary, cinematic, ethnomusicological, historical, architectural, and critical. The study of modernities will begin with late Ottoman fashions and move through the establishment of a republican national culture with its own modernist styles and philosophies. Readings from the Turkish internationalist communist poet Nazim Hikmet, “village novelist” Yasar Kemal, and political satirist Aziz Nesin will be examined in the larger Cold War context of American influence, Turkish nationalism and militarism. Ethnographic sources on the movement of villagers to the cities and ethnomusicological studies of the cultural movement called “Arabesk” will lead up to an examination of the fracturing and fragmenting of modernist discourses into post-modern multiplicities of ethnic and gender identities, literary and cinematic possibilities, and critical trends such as human rights activism, conscientious objection, Islamist feminism, and environmentalism.

Dramatic Turkish: Learning Turkish through TV Drama. This is a 1-credit course to help students improve their listening and speaking skills by engaging with popular Turkish TV series. Students will watch episodes from a variety of TV shows and learn how to detect different registers in spoken Turkish. They will learn common idioms and practice expressing themselves across different degrees of formality. The classwork includes the reading of news reports and short commentaries in Turkish related to these shows. Students at Intermediate and Advanced levels are encouraged to take this course along with the main sequence Turkish classes. This course counts toward the Turkish minor.

This course will examine the role of anthropology and anthropologists in the history of the contact that Europe and the U.S.A. have had with the Muslim World. Examples will include anthropological writing produced both during and following the period of British, French, and Russian colonialism in places such as Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Yemen, India, Afghanistan, North Africa, Lebanon, and in the Caucasus and Central Asia (all readings are in English). More recent ethnographies of Bosnia, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Indonesia will be examined. An ethnographic study of Muslims in Germany and an examination of global musical trends among Muslim youth will round out the course. Talal Asad’s critique of the Anthropology of Islam will inform course readings and discussions exploring the history of academic orientalism and the theoretical challenge to it as elucidated by Edward Said. Intellectual engagement with both primary anthropological texts and critical responses will be required. The Muslim reform movement of Jadidism, the Naqshibendi response to colonialism, the work of Muslim anthropologists and folklorists, and other topics of individual interest may be addressed in the case studies. The grading for the course will be based on multiple essays posted to the class site, a case study research paper and presentation, a timeline assignment, and a connective final essay. This course is open to both upper level undergraduates and graduate students.

The class will combine primary readings (all in English) from the oral and written artistic traditions of Central Asia with secondary readings from scholars who study Central Asian cultures and their artistic heritage. Students will be guided to look for cultural information in fiction, epic, and song verses (in translation). This course will examine Central Asian literature in translation as well as the region's architectural, musical, and dance traditions in order to produce an awareness of the background and current conditions of expressive culture in the area. Although this course is not a general introduction to the history and politics of the area, historical and political themes will be examined through literature and the arts. Students are not required to have any previous knowledge of the area or its peoples. Students who do have particular interests in the area will be directed to readings which will advance their own studies.

This 1-credit course focuses on searching for and reading academic articles in Turkish. Each student will search for an article relevant to their own academic interest. Along with reading this article, the student will study the background of the author, write a summary of the article and a commentary on it. Finally, each student will compose an email to the author. The coursework for this class also includes the writing of abstracts, in Turkish, on students’ current research projects. Through this process they will develop their knowledge of relevant vocabulary, enhance their writing skills, and learn how to network with academics in Turkish. This course is meant to help students who are aiming to do academic research in Turkish. Academic terms appropriate to students' topics and fields will be introduced. Readings will be chosen from the students' fields of study. It can be counted toward the Turkish Minor. Permission of the instructor is required to take this course.

The objective of this 1-credit course offered in the first session is to help students of Turkish at relevant levels enhance their speaking skills around academic topics. These topics will be selected based on students’ academic interests. Students will build vocabulary and prepare presentations, which they will regularly deliver in class and occasionally to a wider audience. Heritage speakers of Turkish are encouraged to contact the Turkish Program to see if Presentations Skills I or Presentation Skills II is a better fit for their language level. This course can be counted toward the Turkish Minor. Instructor permission is required to take this course.

This 1-credit course will be offered in the second session. Presentation Skills I is not required to take this course, but permission of the instructor is. The focus will be on developing speaking skills around academic topics. Students will build vocabulary on academic topics of their choice and prepare presentations, which they will regularly deliver in class and occasionally to a wider audience. Heritage speakers of Turkish are encouraged to contact the Turkish Program to see if Presentations Skills I or Presentation Skills II is a better fit for their language level. This course can be counted toward the Turkish Minor. Instructor permission is required to take this course.

Presentation Skills in Turkish: The objective of this 1-credit course is to help students of Turkish at relevant levels improve their speaking skills on topics of interest to them. Students will build vocabulary around topics of their choice and prepare presentations, which they will regularly deliver in class and occasionally to a wider audience. Heritage speakers of Turkish are encouraged to attend. This class can be counted toward the Turkish Minor. Instructor permission is required before registering.

Turkish Literature in Translation is a course for both undergraduate and graduate students and will be taught in English. The class material will include excerpts from novels, short stories, and poems published since the 1950s. Through the works of names such as Nazım Hikmet, Yaşar Kemal, Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak, and Latife Tekin, students will discuss social change in Turkish society and trends in the Turkish literary scene. Secondary sources analyzing these works will also inform these discussions. The students in this class will be asked to express their own creativity through specifically designed assignments. For example, they will be asked to write a film scenario based on a scene from a novel or a short story on the syllabus. In another assignment, they will be expected to incorporate AI as a tool that helps them be creative instead of remaining passive receivers of information. They will use AI to create a mock interview with a literary figure of their choice. Additionally, they will post weekly commentaries on their readings. This course is open to learners and speakers of Turkish who will have the option to submit part of the classwork in Turkish and receive feedback on their linguistic skills.