Welcome to the Global Seminar Website!
I encourage you to participate in this exciting academic and personal adventure in Summer 2010. Be part of this remarkable experience in the world's only city which straddles both Europe and Asia. This city served as an imperial capital for nearly 1,700 years, for the Byzantine and then Ottoman Empires! Istanbul is a fascinating destination which reveals layers of history and tradition in interaction & competition:
Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Turkish;
Pagan, Christian, Jewish, Muslim;
Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-modern;
Empire and Nation;
Cosmopolitan and Provincial;
East and West.
The Global Seminar program is not limited to the University of California San Diego and is open to all college and university students. The program consists of a package of two UCSD courses (for a total of 8 credits and students must enroll in both classes) taught by a UCSD faculty member (in this case, Matthew T. Herbst). All instruction is in English and there is no need to know any Turkish. Lodging, site-visits, transportation within the city, and daily meals are provided (though transportation to Istanbul is not). The program is five weeks long from Tuesday, June 29 through Friday, July 30, 2010.
Class meets on three days each week from morning to the early afternoon and is often followed by an excursion to an historical location in the city (mosque, church, synagogue, museum, etc.). We may, for example, discuss Hagia Sophia or the Walls of Constantinople in class and a few hours later you will be looking up at the Cathedral's dome or walking along the historic fortifications. The class format interweaves lecture, discussion, student presentations on city sites and historical issues, and site visits. A fourth day each week is dedicated to a longer site visit (Bosphorus cruise, Topkapi palace, etc.), but otherwise there is no lecture on that day. This leaves three "free" days each week when there is no required activity. You may use this time for rest, course work, and for exploring and enjoying the city and surrounding area.
The two courses* in the Istanbul Global Seminar program are:
MMW 4: Early Modern World History (1200-1750), 4 Credits
A lower division history course which examines world history from 1200 to 1750, with particularly attention to the Ottoman Empire and its place in the Early Modern World; and
HIEU 106GS: Constantinople, Imperial Capital, 4 Credits
An upper-division history course which focuses on the city's history from its fourth-century foundation by Roman Emperor Constantine to its transformation into the Muslim Ottoman capital in the early modern period.
*Students must enroll in and take both courses
In addition to the Istanbul program there will be a Global Seminar in Athens, Greece. The Athens program offers a lower-division world history course called "MMW 6," covering the period 1914 to the present, and an upper division course on the history of Athens. If you are interested in obtaining more information about Istanbul (or Athens), feel free to use this website, contact me (see information below), or see the UC San Diego Programs Abroad Office website < http://icenter.ucsd.edu/pao/GSHome.html > which has information about cost, application procedures, and other important information.
Sincerely,
Matthew T. Herbst, Ph.D.
Director, Making of the Modern World Program
University of California San Diego, E. Roosevelt College
9500 Gilman Dr. MC 0546, La Jolla, CA 92093
Email: matthewherbst[at]ucsd.edu
Phone: 858 822 4859
