As part of the new Green Library Project, Bilkent University Library recently collaborated with students from Dr. Yasemin Afacan’s course IAED 342: Sustainable Design for Interiors. The students designed posters to promote the Green Library Project, as well as logos for the project. The students’ posters and logos were exhibited at the Library Art Gallery last week on Monday and Tuesday (April 27-28). The Library would like to thank all the students for their excellent and imaginative posters and logo designs.
Also last week, on Wednesday, April 29, the Library hosted the second session in the new Student Seminar Series. International Relations students Nurten Çevik and Cansu Kahraman delivered a presentation entitled “BRICS & Development in Africa: An Alternative to the Attempts of Empowering Development Nations?” In their talk, Nurten and Cansu considered whether the so-called BRICS coalition (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, South Africa) can reform the current global governance structure, which is inadequate in dealing with complex issues such as security and poverty in the 21st century. Specifically, the two speakers argued that the involvement of the BRICS states in Africa, with regard to the development agenda led by the UN and other global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, is crucial in assessing their ability to assume a leading role in addressing these issues and possibly reforming the governance structure. In conclusion, Nurten and Cansu argued that currently the BRICS coalition has failed in Africa to resolve these issues. Following their presentation, the students answered questions from the audience and also discussed the course GE 445: Transdisciplinary Senior Project on Power and Development, from which their research emerged. The Student Seminar Series will continue next academic year, and the Library is happy to hear from students who would like to participate.