(no subject)
Well, I'm at the Büyük Otogar waiting to be whisked off to Çanakkale (beach resort in striking distance of both Troy and Gallipoli) but the bus isn't for another hour and a half. So.
Exciting news re: Oxford. Mum received a letter from one of the professors there, but she hadn't opened it when we spoke on the phone yesterday, because, she said, it "looked personal." To my repeated chants of "Open it! Open it! Open it!" (I was nurturing a wild and insane hope that it might be some last-minute funding offer) she did so and read it aloud. The professor first said she was very impressed by my application, and pleased to have a student who was so keen and dedicated to learning Turkish and studying modern Turkey (this was explained when I checked her out on Oxford's website and found that her research interests are all centred around the Turkish language). But she then went on to say she wanted to make sure that I understood what I was "letting myself in for" with the programme, because they have very few resources in Ottoman history, and I had included something in my personal statement about wanting to have a background in Ottoman history in order to better understand the contemporary Turkish situation. (This doesn't really put me off, there are at least four other essay options, in addition to the one on modern Turkey, that interest me, and I only need to choose a total of three.)
She said that she hoped I'd got my funding situation sorted out (ha!) and that I would still be interested in the programme, because if so, she would be my supervisor!
Then, she finished off by saying that she herself would be in İstanbul between -- I forget the exact dates, basically the middle of July and the middle of August, but anyway, the point is she's here NOW!
"You MUST contact her!" said Mum, putting on her best I'm-your-mother-and-I-KNOW-what's-best-for-you voice. No real need. I emailed that very evening -- yesterday evening.
And this morning I got a response! She said she'd be very happy to meet me while we're both here, and Thursday or Friday would be good for her. Three days should be ample for Çanakkale, Troy and Gallipoli, so I'll be back in time. :o)
I know this woman won't be able to pull funding from mid-air for me (and it's gone up in the past two years -- to 21,000 pounds per annum for all tuition and living costs, exclusive of travel to and from Oxford). But perhaps she can give me advice on other programmes to look at once I tell her about my research interests, being an expert in Turkish studies herself.
Speaking of which -- after emailing her, I decided to search a few schools. I got no further than two. The London School of Economics had nothing to tempt, but then I checked the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and found an M.A. in Turkish studies that surely wasn't there last year! Here's the info page if anyone's interested: http://www.soas.ac.uk/studying/courseinfo.cfm?courseinfoid=53 Given that my main complaint about what Turkish studies programmes I've found have been that they tend to focus too much on language and literature, too much on the Ottoman period, and not nearly enough on the religion, government and politics of modern Turkey, this seems ideal, given that it deals with culture, politics (internal and international), a nod to the larger Middle East, the Caucasus, and, yes, a bit of lang and lit. Except, of course, that it's a taught M.A., when I should really be moving to a master's by research at least.
Exciting news re: Oxford. Mum received a letter from one of the professors there, but she hadn't opened it when we spoke on the phone yesterday, because, she said, it "looked personal." To my repeated chants of "Open it! Open it! Open it!" (I was nurturing a wild and insane hope that it might be some last-minute funding offer) she did so and read it aloud. The professor first said she was very impressed by my application, and pleased to have a student who was so keen and dedicated to learning Turkish and studying modern Turkey (this was explained when I checked her out on Oxford's website and found that her research interests are all centred around the Turkish language). But she then went on to say she wanted to make sure that I understood what I was "letting myself in for" with the programme, because they have very few resources in Ottoman history, and I had included something in my personal statement about wanting to have a background in Ottoman history in order to better understand the contemporary Turkish situation. (This doesn't really put me off, there are at least four other essay options, in addition to the one on modern Turkey, that interest me, and I only need to choose a total of three.)
She said that she hoped I'd got my funding situation sorted out (ha!) and that I would still be interested in the programme, because if so, she would be my supervisor!
Then, she finished off by saying that she herself would be in İstanbul between -- I forget the exact dates, basically the middle of July and the middle of August, but anyway, the point is she's here NOW!
"You MUST contact her!" said Mum, putting on her best I'm-your-mother-and-I-KNOW-what's-best-for-you voice. No real need. I emailed that very evening -- yesterday evening.
And this morning I got a response! She said she'd be very happy to meet me while we're both here, and Thursday or Friday would be good for her. Three days should be ample for Çanakkale, Troy and Gallipoli, so I'll be back in time. :o)
I know this woman won't be able to pull funding from mid-air for me (and it's gone up in the past two years -- to 21,000 pounds per annum for all tuition and living costs, exclusive of travel to and from Oxford). But perhaps she can give me advice on other programmes to look at once I tell her about my research interests, being an expert in Turkish studies herself.
Speaking of which -- after emailing her, I decided to search a few schools. I got no further than two. The London School of Economics had nothing to tempt, but then I checked the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and found an M.A. in Turkish studies that surely wasn't there last year! Here's the info page if anyone's interested: http://www.soas.ac.uk/studying/courseinfo.cfm?courseinfoid=53 Given that my main complaint about what Turkish studies programmes I've found have been that they tend to focus too much on language and literature, too much on the Ottoman period, and not nearly enough on the religion, government and politics of modern Turkey, this seems ideal, given that it deals with culture, politics (internal and international), a nod to the larger Middle East, the Caucasus, and, yes, a bit of lang and lit. Except, of course, that it's a taught M.A., when I should really be moving to a master's by research at least.