Hi Bill,
This is David (from a blog called E.G.).
I'm a first-year grad student in philosophy at Wisconsin. Although
it's a little early to begin thinking about where I'd like to be
employed, I know my top choice: I want to get on the tenure track at
Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. (Of course this might be an
impossible goal. For one thing, the chances are they won't even be
hiring at the time I graduate.)
Browsing your main site, I notice you spent a short spell teaching in
Ankara. You would be doing me a great favor if you would share your
memories, feelings and experiences from that time. I realize you
probably do not have time to answer all of the following questions, so
please answer all, some, or none of them, as your time and inclination
permits.
1. Was your time in Ankara an overall positive or negative experience?
Although I lived in Ankara for about a year, I travelled extensively in Turkey visiting such places as Istanbul, Efes (Ephesus), Bursa, Bodrum, Fethiye, Antalya, Adana, Gaziantep, Antakya, and others. My experience in Ankara, and in Turkey generally, was overall very positive. Turkey is Asia Minor, after all, and a lot got started there. Herakleitos was from Efes (Ephesus), St. Paul was from Tarsus, the Christians were first called Christians in Antioch (Antakya), Alexander of Aphrodisias hung out in — Aphrodisias, a beautiful and romantic place, and on and on. Fabulous for archaeology and history buffs. Interested in the ancient Hittites? Want to visit King Midas' tomb? More Greek ruins than in Greece, etc.
Then there is the fascinating Turkish language with its rich case structure reminiscent of Latin and its agglutinative grammar. "The Turks do it with suffixes," I used to quip. The vocabulary is also totally foreign, but learning it one learns a number of Arabic loan-words — which can come in handy these days.
There is fabulous food and weird soporific beverages such as Ayran, good beer (may I recommend Efes?) and don't forget the Raki. (The 'i' should not have a dot.) Turkish pipe tobacco will blow your head off.
2. What do you think is the single biggest difference between college-level education in Turkey, and college-level education in the U.S.?
It is hard to say. Lack of money? Unavailability of books? There is rampant copyright violation. Students don't buy books, they make photocopies.
3. In "real," not "nominal," terms, would you say that professors in
Turkey are paid better or worse than professors in the U.S.?
Worse, although my impression is that salaries at Bilkent are among the highest in the country. But that is not saying much. Turkey suffers from manifold economic woes, not the least of which is chronic inflation, although I haven't been keeping up with recent developments.
4. Did you get the feeling that all the best Turkish students are
educated abroad, and therefore that all the ones left in the Turkish
educational system are "left-overs"?
My teaching experience in Turkey is quite limited. I taught exactly one Metaphysics seminar. It was a great experience because four professors attended, two from the regular philosophy faculty at Middle East Technical University (METU), an advanced graduate student who has gone on to earn a Ph.D. from a Canadian university and is now teaching in Istanbul, and an engineering professor, a British fellow, from Bilkent. (As you probably know, 'Bilkent' means knowledge city, from
bilmek, to know, and
kent, city.) Two of them were extremely sharp analytic philosophers, one with a Ph.D. from Ohio State.
In addition to the four profs, there were as I recall six students. To be perfectly honest, I would not have liked teaching the seminar (which involved a lot of lecturing on my part) if it had contained only the six students. (As people, though, they were delightful, and the girls exotic and fascinating with names like Ece (Queen), Yasemin (Jasmine), Berrin, and so on. Turkish culture is less driven, more laid back, more given to the enjoyment of life. There is a lot to be said on this score, both for and against, but I don't have the time to get it exactly right.
But yes, generally speaking, the best Turkish students head for the USA, Canada, the UK.
5. What is good about living in Ankara?
For an American, Ankara, and Turkey generally, is very foreign, very exotic, and so very stimulating. I went alone into places where no foreigners go, but that's how you learn, and I came back in one piece. Get hold of the video
Midnight Express, but realize that it presents a slanted view. In retrospect, I regret nothing, not even a week's worth of dysentery.
6. What is bad about living in Ankara?
To put it bluntly, it is a backward place. For example, Turkey has perhaps the worst drivers in the world. Elementary concepts like that of right-of-way are not understood. I used to quip that Turks believe that might makes right-of-way. They park on the sidewalk — if there is a sidewalk. Hell, they drive on the sidewalk on occasion. One Sunday afternoon I was walking to a restaurant to get some
Iskender kebap when I heard a honking behind me. I was on the sidewalk, and the boneheaded motorist wanted me to get out of his way. I saw things that are just unbelievable to an American, like a driver backing up into oncoming traffic on a busy street (Cinnah Cadessi)because he missed his right-hand turn. If you were to be killed or injured in Turkey, it would most likely be due to some traffic accident. Don't worry about terrorism.
I could go on: the unconcern with safety, the shoddy construction, sidewalks with loose paving stones and gaping, ankle-breaking holes, packs of feral dogs roaming around even the best districts. (I stomped around in heavy boots.) Fancy new highrises cheek-by-jowl with
Gecekondu. Sign at construction site: Hard hats required, but everyone, no matter how high up the scaffold, is dressed like a taxi driver: seedy sportcoat with something like slippers on the feet. I exaggerate only slightly.
7. Did you ever find yourself on the Bilkent campus? If so: What did you think of it?
Yes, I attended some talks, and I read a paper there.
Here is the abstract, which I did not write! METU is a bit outside of Ankara, and Bilkent is even farther out. But there are buses and perhaps you have heard of that conveyance the Turks call the dolmush. (I can't capture the diacriticals.) Bilkent is privately funded, I believe, and it is apparently well-funded. The physical plant, for example, is much better than METU's.
It's worth saying that I have never been to Turkey. Although I know a fair amount about Turkish history and politics, I know very little about the practicalities of daily life in Turkey or about Turkey's higher education system.
How did you come to be fascinated with the place? Your surname looks Irish. Maybe I'll comment more later and/or type up some materials from my Turkish journal.
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