The Office of Global Programs has announced a new study abroad program in Istanbul, Turkey, focused on the city as a cross-roads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The program brings together Boğaziçi University and the Columbia Global Center in Turkey.

Students in the program will take four or more courses, including two taught by Columbia faculty members: History 4152: Byzantine Encounters: Western Europeans in Constantinople and Comparative Literature: Greek Modern 3920: The World Responds to the Greeks: Modernity, Postmodernity, Globality. Byzantine Encounters will be eligible to count for the History major; Comparative Literature will fulfill a Global Core requirement.

Byzantine Encounters, taught by Martha Howell, the Miriam Champion Professor of History, will explore the history of western Europeans’ relationship to Byzantine culture when Constantinople reigned as a cultural capital of Christendom. Comparative Literature, taught by Karen Van Dyck, the Kimon A. Doukas Professor of Hellenic Studies, will examine through literature how the world has responded to Greece being at the crossroads of East and West, since the fall of Constantinople. 

In addition to the two seminars, students will enroll in a Turkish language course and choose at least one elective course from various disciplines at Boğaziçi University while studying alongside local students. The program will include an orientation and field trips which will help familiarize students with the academic culture and life in Istanbul. No prior knowledge of Turkish is required.

For more information about the program, visit: http://columbia.studioabroad.com/?go=IstanbulG lobalSeminar.

This program was developed with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.