AMERICAN CORNERS IN TURKEY E-NEWSLETTER NR. 2010/2 EARTH DAY 2010 Earth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity – an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future. Read more: http://www.america.gov/earthday_2010.html PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP President Obama, together with the Department of State and the Department of Commerce, hosted the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC, on April 26 and 27, 2010. Participants from over 50 countries on 5 continents have been invited to participate. The Summit highlighted the role entrepreneurship can play in addressing common challenges while building partnerships that will lead to greater opportunity abroad and at home. Read more: http://www.america.gov/entrepreneurship_summit.html 1 US HELPS TO PRESERVE CULTURAL HERITAGE Treasures from ancient civilizations are being conserved and restored through U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Program dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage around the globe. Read more: http://www.america.gov/preserving_world_cultures.html OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE AMERICAN CORNER ERZURUM The American Corner Erzurum, which was established in 2007 with the bilateral agreement between the Atatürk University and the Cultural Affairs Section of the American Embassy in Turkey, was officially opened on April 8, 2010. Ambassador James Jeffrey cut the ribbon with the Rector Prof. Dr. Hikmet Kocak. Mr. Jeffrey pointed out that the “American Corner” would provide the students and staff of Atatürk University the opportunity familarize with the USA and he thanked the administration for their contribution. INFO BOOTH AT THE BOOK & EDUCATION FAIRS IN BURSA The Bursa 8th Book Fair and the 6th Domestic - Abroad Education Fair were held between February 27 and March 7, 2010. Both fairs are very popular and received more than 200.000 visitors this year. The American Corner Bursa had a booth at the fairs and welcomed many visitors. Publications on the various issues of the U.S.A. and study in the U.S.A. were disseminated to the visitors. EXHIBITION IN GAZIANTEP The art exhibition of Mr. Selcuk Basaran was on display at the Gaziantep University between March 24 and 31, 2010. The opening ceremony of the exhibition took place with the participation of the US Consul in Adana Ms. Daria Darnell, the Vice Rector of the university Mr. Fahrettin Gogus and many visitors. 2 SPEAKER PROGRAM IN KAYSERI Ms. Helen Schwartz informed the students of the Erciyes University about writing in the internet age, new forms of writing that have emerged with the development of new media, e-mail, web page, blogs etc. The participants stated that the talk was very informative as the speaker talked about very practical tips. The talk gave the audience an idea of how to use blogs, which is a very popular form of writing recently. The program was filmed by the Kampus TV, which is a local TV governed by the university. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN BURSA Ms. Helene Silverberg is a Fulbright Senior Lecturer and is currently conducting her studies at the Bogazici University in Istanbul. On March 12, 2010 Ms. Silverberg had a program at the Uludag University and talked about the US foreign policy to a group of more than 70 students of the International Relations Department who were eager to know about the US foreign policy concerning Turkey and the whole world and the domestic policies such as the financial matters and the healthcare issues. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN IZMIR On April 13, 2010 American Corner Izmir hosted Rodney Hunter in İzmir University of Economics. Mr. Hunter, who is currently working in the US Embassy in Ankara-Turkey, gave his lecture on human rights, informing the participants about how he collected information in Turkey related to the topic and how he reported them. During the lecture which 30 participants included both the academics and students asked different questions about Amnesty International Reports, human rights in Turkey reports prepared by the USA, the effects of foreign powers on human rights of a country, and development of Turkey in recent years. The lecture was highly appreciated by all the participants. 3 FILM SHOWING IN KAYSERI The American Corner Kayseri organized a film showing event on March 19, 2010. The documentary called “In Good Faith” gave the viewers an idea of what Americans think of Islam and how they approach Islam and Muslims. The speaker Mr. Matthew Porter and the documentary gave a very clear view of the issue. The audience stated that they learned a lot from the documentary. 55 people attended the program. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN ERZURUM Prof. Helene N. Silverberg met with the students of the the Faculty of Law of the Ataturk University and informed them on the “U.S. Supreme Courts and Human Rights". U.S. Constitution was disseminated to the students. The students had the chance to compare the Turkish Constitiution and the U.S. one. In Q/A part students asked very interesting questions to the professor. There were about 110 participants to the event. VISITORS FROM THE STANFORD UNIVERSITY TO BURSA The American Corner Bursa welcomed a group of more than 40 students and academicians from the Stanford University on March 26, 2010. The participants were informed about the manufacturing and tourism capacities of Bursa. The students were eager to know more about the life in Bursa in all terms and asked many interesting questions. The history of the American Corner Bursa was also explained to the participants and the important role it plays in the society for knowing more about the U.S.A. was stressed. JAZZ CONCERT IN KAYSERI As the "Jazz Ambassador" of the US State Department, the Ari Roland Quartet is charged with taking jazz to foreign audiences. Within their last tour, they visited Kayseri and gave a great concert on April 14, 2010 to an audience of more than 130 people. The audience liked the concert very much and appreciated the Quartet’s playing some Turkish songs. 4 DVC PROGRAM IN IZMIR On April 21, 2010 students at Izmir University of Economics in Turkey and Albany University in USA met in a DVC program, organized by the American Corner Izmir. During the activity, in which 17 participants were included, students from Izmir University of Economics asked a variety of questions about the student life in USA, graduate programs, scholarship opportunities, useful and important clues for application processes for universities in USA, etc. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN KAYSERI Ms. Laura De Otalvaro, a diplomat at the Political Section of US Embassy Ankara, informed the students of the Erciyes University about the foreign policy of the US government, what the US government is doing against child labor, how the healthcare problem can be solved in the US. The audience appreciated her detailed and sincere answers. 17 participants attended the program. CONFERENCE IN GAZIANTEP A conference about the study in the U.S.A. was held at the Gaziantep University. Ms. Aylin Dewan from the Turkish-American Association addressed the audience on how to apply for the US universities, scholarship opportunities and the education system in the U.S.A. DVC PROGRAM IN ERZURUM Within The Librarianship Week the American Corner Erzurum Turkey held a DVC program with Prof. Ann Carlson Weeks from College of Information Studies of the University of Maryland. The staff and the students of the Information and Documentation Management Department were invited to DVC Program which was titled as “Information and Documentation Management in the USA”. 5 NETWORKING EVENT IN BURSA A networking event was held on April 21, 2010 with the students of the Uludag University. The group of almost 40 students was informed about the history and the activities of the American Corner. The resources and the contributions to the events of the university were especially of interest. Future possible cooperation areas were also discussed. Some documents about the study in the U.S.A. and the U.S. culture were disseminated to the participants who expressed their gladness to be informed on the American Corner. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN KAYSERI Ms. Helene Silverberg talked about the US Supreme Court’s contribution to human rights in America. The talk was very informative in the sense that it was both theoretical and practical and gave the audience a very objective and clear view of the right of freedom of speech in the US. 55 people attended the program. SPEAKER PROGRAM IN ERZURUM On April 12, 2010 the American Corner Erzurum had a program with Prof. Helen Schwartz who is a professor of English Emerita at the Purdue University, Indiana and currently working as a Fulbright visitor professor at the Bilkent University, Turkey. The professor gave her talk with the title of "Shakespeare Online: Reflections of Teaching and Learning". There were about 120 participants in the event. FILM SHOWING IN KAYSERI Split: A Divided America, a documentary reflecting the partisanship dominating the US politics, was shown to the students of the Erciyes University on March 3, 2010. The participants stated that the documentary was very informative and thought-provoking which gave them a chance to compare the situation in Turkey with the situation in the US and a very objective view of the political split in the US. 150 people attended the program. 6 INFO BOOTH AT RENEWABLE ENERGY CONGRESS IN BURSA To emphasize the importance of the renewable energy, a congress was held with the participation of the representatives of the business community, the academicians and the university students.