Expert Panel Hears GE441 Students’ Presentations on EU-Related Topics
Photograph by Can Aran (CS/IV)
Last month, GE 441: "Transdisciplinary Senior Project on the European Union" students presented their work to a panel of experts that included Tolga Bölükbaşı (Bilkent University), Emin Çapa (CNN-Türk), Yusuf Işık (economist), Fatih Özatay (Radikal, TOBB-ETU/TEPAV), Elisabeth Özdalga (Bilkent University) and Başak Yavcan (TOBB-ETU).
Organized into nine groups, the students had worked intensively during the 2012 fall semester on their individual topics related to the European Union, ranging from energy policies, minority rights and balance of power among the members, to the changing role of institutions and the ongoing debt crisis. The end-of-semester presentations were proof of the students' hard work and provided a great opportunity to reap the fruits of their progress over the course of the semester, according to course instructors Selin Sayek Böke (ECON) and Ali Tekin (IR). The presentations illustrated not only the breadth of knowledge students had acquired across the three disciplines of economics, international relations and political science, but also their acquisition of skills in working in teams and presenting their ideas in a coherent, well-organized and confident manner.
The panel of experts awarded first prize to the presentation by Ali Antekin, Öncü Güneş, Mehmet Can İrhan, Merve Ezgi Özbakan and Buğra Polat, entited "Fiscal Union as a Prelude for Deepening Political Integration within the European Union." The award was presented to the team by FEASS Dean Dilek Önkal.
In addition, three of the groups, who completed the course with the highest grade for their projects, will be publishing their work in the journal İktisat ve Toplum in the coming two months.