European Institute: over ten years of European Studies at BİLGİ by Gülperi Vural
2017 was a special year for BİLGİ’s European Institute. In this tenth anniversary the European Institute Team wanted retrace our footsteps and share a short history of the last decade…
Background
Since its foundation in 1996, Istanbul Bilgi University has always been a firm believer of the European Union perspective, as clearly stated in the BİLGİ mission statement. Thus, BİLGİ became a pioneer in developing and supporting academic study programs, research and political and social debates on the European Union in Turkey.
BİLGİ's European journey continued with the establishment of a “European Union Center for Practice and Research” in April 2005. The center was established for the purpose of undertaking academic research and studies on EU politics, economics, law, and the expansion of Turkey-EU relations. In addition to academic discussions in these areas, the Center created a platform for international researchers by organizing meetings and conferences in which EU institutions and policies and Turkey's EU accession perspectives were presented. These activities later paved the way for a more diversified platform on EU Research: a European Institute. This Center functioned as a core group of academics paving the way for today’s European Institute. An important step in BİLGİ’s European journey was the establishment of the second “European Institute" in Turkey in 2007.
European Institute: first steps…
Decided by Bilgi University’s management in 2006, the application to establish a European Institute was submitted to YOK (Turkey’s Higher Education Council) and YOK’s positive recommendation was then confirmed by the Council of Ministers during the same year on 06 May 2006.
The Institute was established in 2007 with three main pillars: EU politics, EU economics and EU law. The Institute aspires to provide substantial support to the already existing EU-oriented academic programs offered at BİLGİ, notably the BA program in European Union Studies, the MA Program in European Studies, two Certificate Programs within the framework of Life-Long Learning programmes.
The Institute management was then in place: Ayhan Kaya as Director, Gülperi Vural as Administrative Coordinator, Refika Saldere as Administrative Assistant were the first persons on board. The composition of the first European Institute Executive Board reflected the multidisciplinary approach and counted academics from different Faculties of BİLGİ such as Prof. Dr. Alan Duben (anthropologist from the Faculty of Political, Social and Economics), Prof. Dr. Yonca Aslanbay (Faculty of Communication), Prof. Dr. Yeşim Atamer (Faculty of Law), Prof. Dr. Nihal İncioğlu (International Relations from the Faculty of Political, Social Sciences and Economics) and Prof. Dr. Durmuş Özdemir (Economist from the Faculty of Political, Social Sciences and Economics).
By then, a very successful European Studies Certificate Programme destined to professionals and civil society was launched. Another Certificate Programme focusing on Management of EU Funded Projects was also launched and reached out to the public sector as well as NGOs covering the needs in İstanbul but also of many distant locations such as Van, Diyarbakır, Afyonkarahisar and Antalya. The Institute’s Certificate Programmes enabled us to reach over 1500 adults within the spirit of Lifelong Education.
DAAD Berlin Study Trip, 2010 International Mother Language Day, 21 February 2012
CIFE Summer School, 2009
European Institute: support to academic programmes
Academics affiliated with the Institute gave considerable support both in teaching and management of EU-oriented academic programs offered at BİLGİ, notably the BA program in European Union Studies, the MA Program in European Studies, two Certificate Programs within the framework of Life-Long Learning; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Senem Aydın –Düzgit, Assis. Prof. Dr. Özge Onursal-Beşgül, Emre Gönen, Prof. Dr. Durmuş Özdemir, Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alper Akyüz, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Artıran, Prof. Dr. Nihal İncioğlu, Dr. Ayşe Tecmen are, among many others, only a few of the names from BİLGİ academics who have contributed to the success and sustainability of EU oriented programmes.
European Institute to Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence - internationalisation of European Studies and Research at BİLGİ… so many projects…
Study Trip, Patriarchate 2013 International Mother Language Day, 21 February 2011
The past ten years were marked by a large number of programmes and projects which gave us the opportunity to support teaching EU: research activities, publication of books, papers, book chapters and academic articles as well as the organisation of many seminars, workshops, conferences and book launches at BİLGİ were due to the work of the Institute.
The cooperation with European University Viadrina provided the opportunity to fund exchanges of MA students between BİLGİ and Viadrina. Also Viadrina University established the “Aziz Nesin Chair” in order to be able to invite fellows from BİLGİ to Viadrina for a month for teaching and seminars. Prof. Alan Duben, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serhan Ada, Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bertan Tokuzlu, Assoc. Prof. Esra Arsan and Assist. Prof. Dr. İnan Ruma were the fellows of this ongoing fellowship.
The collaboration agreement signed with CİFE (Centre International de Formation Europeenne) in Nice which is one of the top five academic Institutions funded by the European Commission allowed us to organise yearly MA in European Studies Programmes and many Summer Schools and Seminars for distinguished Universities from the USA, Japan and Chile and to receive students from many countries all over the World at BİLGİ Thus, BİLGİ hosted over 600 international students with this programme.
Another very important support came from DAAD (the German Academic Exchange Organisation) which funded a full time Lecturer (Fachlektor) at BİLGİ who carries out teaching, research and dissemination activities. As a landmark, Dr. Peter Widmann focused on a research on Turkey-EU relations from the mediatic angle, lectured at BİLGİ’s International Relations Department, organised many visits of German Academics to BİLGİ and accomplished a 5 year DAAD fellowship. He was followed by Dr. Malte Fuhrmann who focuses on 19th Century historical changes in Eastern Mediterranean while lecturing for the International Relations Department of BİLGİ.
This being said, the area in which the Institute really excelled was EU funded projects which include: INTERACT (INTERACT – EU, France, Turkey: Universities Dialogue) in collaboration with Sciences Po-Paris and IFEA; three Jean Monnet Module Projects; a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence “EU Values at School EUducate” Project; partnerships in FP7 Projects focusing on political and social diversity such as “Identities and Modernities in Europe (IME)” and “Tolerance in the EU (ACCEPT PLURALISM)”; three Marie Curie Fellowships e.g. Dr. Alper Kaliber on EU and the Kurdish Question, Dr. Claire Visier on European Funded Projects in Turkey: From design to implementation”, and Dr. Cristiano Bee on social movements in the Turkish and European context in the “Active citizenship and young people in Turkey: organised and non-organised forms of participation” Project.
A very important development in the European Institute’s history was being awarded the “Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence” title with the “European Values at School – Euducate Project”. Within the framework of this Project the European Institute Team in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Istanbul branch, ORAV (Teachers Academy NGO) and the Istanbul Beyoğlu and Şişli Municipalities reached out to over 200 high school teachers for week long interactive seminars on “European Values” while in parallel continuing the social responsibility “EU Boat” project in the framework of the European Values at School project reaching over 5000 high school students in five years with the contribution of BİLGİ and Institute academicians. The academicians held seminars on different subjects involving European Values and Europeanness at the high schools within Beyoğlu and Şişli Municipalities.
Other outcomes of the “European Values at School” Jean Monnet Project were an Academic Workshop on the "Perception and teaching of EU in Primary, Secondary and Vocational Schools in Turkey” where Academics, Education experts from the İstanbul Directorate General of National Education, ÖRAV, Post Doc and PhD students from BİLGİ but also other Universities working on the same subject discussed and prepared the final academic book “Educating on European Values: diversity and participation in Education“ published in Turkish in 2016.
The Institute was also awarded two Jean Monnet Chairs: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya in 2011 and Assoc. Prof. Senem Aydın-Düzgit in 2013.
At the present the Institute is participating in two Horizon 2020 projects:
COHERE (Critical Heritages) which seeks to identify, understand and valorize European heritages, engaging with their socio-political and cultural significance and their potential for developing communitarian identities. CoHERE addresses an intensifying EU Crisis through a study of relations between identities and representations and performances of history. In COHERE, BİLGİ is focusing specially on Research on the rising populism in Europe.
FEUTURE “The Future of Turkey-EU Relations: Mapping Scenarios and Testing Dynamics” Project where BİLGİ is responsible of the Migration work package.
The Institute also will shortly start collaborating in a new Horizon 2020 Project: RESPOND “Multilevel Governance of Refugees in Europe and the Middle East”.
Finally, at present, Dr. Meltem Sancak-Finke has joined the Institute for three years as a TÜBİTAK Fellow and is working on the “Living with Indeterminacy: not deported but abandoned-undocumented in Istanbul” which focuses on undocumented foreign labor in Istanbul.
European Institute: Many High-Level Guests
During the past decade BİLGİ’s European Institute hosted many national and international high-level guests for conferences, speeches and events…. Among the Turkish personalities who honoured the Institute with their presence we can cite İsmail Cem (former Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mehmet Ali Birand (Journalist, TV Anchorman, author), Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (Minister of Foreign Affairs) and many Members of Parliament and leading Academics.
From the EU we remember fondly the visits and events with Margot Wallström (Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and former EU Commissionner), José-Manuel Barroso (former President of the European Commission), Martin Schulz (President of SPD and Former President of the European Parliament), George Papandreou (Former Prime Minister of Greece), Yves Leterme (Former Prime Minister of Belgium) and many Members of European Parliament and important Academics.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, 2012 Conference on Woman and Politics: Best Practices, 2011
European Institute: Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, Book launches
It is very difficult to describe and write up all the workshops, seminars, conferences, book launches and events which the European Institute organised at BİLGİ during the last ten years. Every year, we organised over ten events since the establishment of the Institute at BİLGİ and our academics participated at also many events outside BİLGİ, be it abroad or in Turkey.
It is essential to point out that our organisations could not have been carried out without the permanent support of BİLGİ’s Board of Trustees, Rectorate, Management, Academic and Administrative teams to whom we owe gratitude.
Conference on Contemporary Turkish Studies at a Glance - Topics, Institutions and Future 13-14 October 2012
European Institute publications: newsletters, working papers, books, e-book, web site and social media
The European Institute also produces a large number of publications the yearly Newsletter has reached its tenth edition in 2017, the various Institute Working Papers cover subjects as diverse as ”Rediscovery of the Balkans”, “Gender in International Migration Studies”, “The perception of the Armenian in Turkey”, “The European Financial Assistance in Turkey”, “Free Speech in Multicultural Europe”, ”Globalisation and Recession” and many others. The ninth Working Paper to be published in 2018 will focus on “Nation Branding in Turkey: seeking cultural recognition”.
The very productive Academic and Project teams at the Institute also share the credentials -as teams but also individually- of many book publications for example: as a team the Institute published the first University text book on European Union in Turkish (2011). The editors of this book were Ayhan Kaya, Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Yaprak Gürsoy and Özge Onursal-Beşgül. Senem Aydın-Düzgit published “Constructions of European Identity: Debates and Discourses on Turkey and the EU” (Palgrave, 2012) and “Turkey EU Relations – with Natalie Tocci (Palgrave 2015), Ayhan Kaya “Europeanization and Tolerance in Turkey” (Palgrave 2013) and “Islam, Migration and Integration: The Age of Securitization” (Palgrave 2012).
The Institute also published the very first E-Book on “Digital European Union: a Handbook for Turkish Students” in Turkish (2015) with its companion “Guidebook for Teachers” within the framework of Jean Monnet projects in collaboration with the Istanbul National Education Directorate General and ORAV, the Teachers Academy Foundation, a highly renowned NGO (see http://dijitalavruba.bilgi.edu.tr).
The Institute published “Educating on European Values: diversity and participation in Education” in Turkish in 2016 within the above mentioned “EU-Ducate” Jean Monnet Project. And finally, as all academic platforms, the European Institute has its website (http://eu.bilgi.edu.tr), and social media accounts on Facebook (BILGI.EuropeanInstitute) and Twitter (BILGI_European) which are followed by a mailing list of stakeholders of over 6000 persons both in Turkey and abroad to whom our gratitude goes.
EU Student Club
BİLGİ Students are also very active and many student Clubs exist within the University. The European Institute has collaborated and had the support of the very active EU Students Club during these past years. The members of the EU Club supported our events, workshops, conferences as well as the EU Values Seminars but also organized many events in their capacity as a Student Club.
And finally: the European Institute as a group of persons working as a team
Institute Staff 2011 Celebration Ayhan Kaya’s Professorship, 2009
Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Jean Monnet Chair 2013-2016
It is very difficult to describe in a few sentences the days, months, years we all spent together in order to achieve our common objective of contributing to strengthen academic work, research and dissemination activities on European Studies and Universal and European common values in Turkey.
Behind all this effort and considerable work there was a group of highly motivated, very focused and well-functioning multinational integrated team. Some names to be recalled within this context are: Suna Gökçe, Peter Widmann, Refika Saldere, Aslı Aydın, Cristiano Bee, Alper Kaliber, Claire Visier, Gülperi Vural, Malte Fuhrmann, Özge Onursal-Beşgül, Emre Gür, Ayşe Tecmen, Meltem Sancak-Finke, Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Mareike Rump, Alper Baysan, Elvin Çetin, Kevin Smets, John Mc Manus, Thomas Schad and many others…
Outside work, we also shared highlights of our lives in the past ten years: four marriages (Suna Gökçe, Refika Saldere, Aslı Aydin and Malte Fuhrmann), many babies (Ayhan Kaya, Senem Aydın-Düzgit, Özge Onursal-Beşgül, Refika Saldere, Suna Gökçe, Cristiano Bee) and many happy and some less happy events in our personal lives that bound us together with strong personal ties, even though many of us are not at the Institute anymore.
Dr. Ayşe Tecmen, Master's Degree Graduation Ceremony 2009 Kuzey&Rüzgar&Refika 2017. Former Secretary of the Institute
Wedding of Aslı Aydın, in Charge of Education Programs, 2017
It is with gratitude and thanks to all those at Istanbul Bilgi University -Board of Trustees, Rectorate, Management, General Secretariat, Academic and Administrative Staff- and outside who supported the European Institute to reach this landmark that we end this short history of the past decade…..
The European Institute Team
