While most people might view a trip to Turkey as just a site-seeing expedition, Mark Siprut, associate professor in the School of Art, Design and Art History, wants the trip to represent something more.
"I feel like this is the little bit I can do to promote the global cause of peace" he said. "I think that there are too many misunderstandings in this world and it really has to do with not understanding other cultures and realizing they are real people."
And that's exactly what 14 San Diego State students will be doing this summer. The program - Study Art and Design in Turkey - is the first of its kind at SDSU. Siprut said the travel-study course isn't only offered to art students. Participants can enroll in Art 502, which is for art students, or Art 357, which is open to all students because it can be applied to SDSU's humanities general education requirements.
Siprut said he chose Turkey for a number of reasons. He said that he has spent a number of years establishing contacts and fostering relationships with universities in Turkey. Through those relationships, Siprut said that he has been able to organize exchange programs between Turkey and SDSU. However, he said that many students, for whatever reason, choose not to visit Turkey - or anywhere in the Middle East - as part of the SDSU semester Study Abroad program. He said this trip is a way of getting students involved.
On a personal level, Siprut admitted that he has a Turkish background and has visited the country on numerous occasions.
Siprut said Turkey is an ideal location for study because it is at "a crossroad between the East and West." While 95 percent of the population is Muslim, he said Turkey has a mixed society.
"Traditional Middle Eastern flavor permeates culture in terms of music, dance, architecture, food," Siprut said
And, according to Siprut, culture is a big part of this 21-day trip to Turkey.
It isn't necessarily about looking at and studying art, it's about experiencing culture," Siprut said. "I want there to be some sort of creative, interpretive aspect where they are commenting on the culture experience in some creative way."
He said that this trip is unique because the students will not spend most of their time getting on and off buses at different sites. Instead, Siprut said he planned a lot of time for the students to really explore the art and culture of Turkey. He said there will also be ample time for the students to interact with Turkish students and experience Middle Eastern culture.
"I want (the students) to come away with an understanding of the Middle East," Siprut said. "And it's more about understanding the culture - breaking down myths about different cultures."
While experiencing the Turkish culture, the group will also be visiting a variety of artistic and architectural locations.
From an artistic point of view, Turkey was a prime choice because all major movements of people can be traced there, Siprut said.
"We'll see this when we go to the (Museum of Anatolian Civilizations), which goes back to prehistoric times," he said.
Siprut said the group will spend the first four days of the trip in Istanbul, Turkey. While there, they will visit a number of museums and palaces such as the Topkapi Palace, which was the home of the Ottoman sultans for four centuries, according to www.virtualistanbul.com.
From Istanbul, the group will travel via train to Anadolu University, which is also where they will stay in a guesthouse on the grounds. The first day on campus, the SDSU students will view presentations by Turkish art students and mingle over lunch.
From the university, the group will travel on a number of fieldtrips to architectural sites, restaurants, bazaars, mausoleums and villages. One such trip will be to Sorkun, which is a ceramic village where the students will visit studios and learn about silver workmanship.
Another village the group will explore is Safranbolu, a historic musical town that has been preserved by the inhabitants for centuries. Some of the houses are more than 300 years old, Siprut said.
Siprut stressed that neither of the classes are art history courses. Students will not only learn about the museums, mosques, architecture, paintings and other forms of art and the history behind them, but will also engage in social activities with Turkish students, visit a marketplace and attend lectures at Anadolu University.
Siprut said the trip to Turkey is more about experiencing the culture than anything else.
He said that he wants the students to learn using their own creativity.
Still, the trip won't be all "fun and games;" students will be required to keep a journal and the art students will make a sketchbook. As part of their sketchbook, the art students will either take pictures or produce drawings as a visual commentary on the trip. The projects will include documentation of experiences, analyses of the monuments, galleries, architectural sites and performances, while also including what they've learned from lectures, readings and Internet research.
Regardless, Heather Carter, an interior design and art history senior, said that she is excited about the trip. She said that her sister has traveled to Turkey but never thought she'd get the chance herself. So, when the summer trip was made available, she jumped on it.
"I'm excited because it's studying culture and art," Carter said. "Seeing it in a book versus experiencing it in real life causes a new respect for those places."
By: Raven S. Tyson, Editor in Chief
Issue date: 5/15/06
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