Jan. 27 marked another chapter in a series known as “The Middle Eastern Studies.” Esra Tasdelen, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern/North African Studies, showed a documentary on one of history’s most contested cities: Istanbul.
Tasdelen wrote a piece that she shared before showing the 2013 documentary “Byzantium, A Tale of Three Cities,” narrated by Simon Sebag Montefiore. The three cities’ spoilers are Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul. The piece showed the brutal and conflicted history of Istanbul, the betrayal of emperors and the how one city could be fought over so many times.
“It is the magical hues of blue and green interchanging in the glittering water of the Bosphorus, flowing along with history, alongside the mansions and palaces that have witnessed so many intrigues and betrayals. It is waking up at the crack of dawn with the breathtakingly beautiful sound of the ezan, the morning call to prayer, echoing like a sad song in the empty streets. It is the hot sahlep that I drink from a large cup in the winter, with the smell of orchid flowers and cinnamon wafting from it, and warming me up almost immediately.”
An upcoming part of the MENA tour involves international students representing the MENA region by presenting on an array of topics from their home countries on Feb. 16. Additionally, there will be a lecture by Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Maha Mourad on “Women as Powerful Consumers in the Middle East and North Africa” on Feb. 18.
Lastly, there will be a field trip called “Experiencing Middle Eastern Cultures in Chicago” on Feb, 27. Students will study Islamic architecture and art. Furthermore, Dr. Jack Shindler professor of English and director of international programs, said that there will be a new opportunity to study abroad at a second university in Turkey, though this new program would not be an exchange program.
