Workshop on the “History of Turkey” Course
On January 30, 2012, a workshop on the newly designed research-based "History of Turkey" course was held under the auspices of Rector Abdullah Atalar and FEASS Dean Dilek Önkal, with speakers from the Departments of History and International Relations and the Faculty of Business Administration. All HIST 200 and HIST 203 instructors as well as graduate assistants for these courses were in attendance. Rector Atalar addressed the new learning objectives of the course, and Dean Önkal introduced the new format and course flow.
These introductions were followed by a series of talks on various aspects of history research. Prof. Özer Ergenç discussed methods of urban/local history research, followed by Asst. Prof. Nur Bilge Criss, who dwelt on methodology in diplomatic history research. Asst. Prof. David Thornton spoke on the efficient usage of the Bilkent Library, documentation centers and internet sources in historical research. Asst. Prof. Mehmet Kalpaklı discussed cultural history and sources, followed by Asst. Prof. Oktay Özel, who spoke about conducting oral histories as well as researching local history. Asst. Prof. Zeynep Sayım's presentation was about group dynamics and group work, topics which are of utmost relevance to these courses.
The workshop was found to be extremely useful by all participants, who are eagerly looking forward to working with the more than 1,000 Bilkent students from across all departments who will be taking the newly designed course every term.