Study Philosophy, History, Religion, Culture, Languages, Economics and Politics in the Capital of Empires

COURSES

All Duke in Istanbul students are required to take four courses per semester. Each Duke course is valued at four credit hours and meets a minimum of 35 contact hours. All courses are taught in English. Full academic credit with Duke grades is earned for the successfully completed courses. Registration at Bogazici takes places one week prior to the beginning of the semester (second week of February for the Spring semester) and course selection can be made in Istanbul during this period.

 

Curriculum

The Duke in Istanbul program has two mandatory and two elective courses. The first mandatory course is the one offered by the program director, Guven Guzeldere: Phil 132, Cognitive Science of Religion and Morality. The other mandatory course is on Turkish Language and Culture, specifically designed for non-Turkish students at Bogazici University (this course comes in different levels, based on initial language competency of the students). Prior to or following Duke in Istanbul, Duke students can take Turkish at beginning, intermediate, or advanced levels and also minor in Turkish through the Duke Turkish Language Program. [For more information, please contact Professor Erdag Goknar.]

The remaining two courses may be selected from among the Duke in Istanbul courses and a selected set of Bogazici courses offered by the departments of History, Philosophy, Sociology, Turkish Language and Literature, Fine Arts, Psychology, Economics, and Political Science, among others. Non-Duke students are responsible for making arrangements in their home institutions for credit transfer.

A full range of courses in the Humanities, Natual and Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration, as well as Engineering are regularly offered at Bogazici University every year. For a preliminary list of sample courses that are especially relevant to Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East, and Islam, please click here: Bogazici sample course list.

Academic Home of the Program

The academic home of the Duke in Istanbul Program is Bogazici University. Formerly Robert College, Bogazici University was founded in 1863 as a Liberal Arts and Engineering College in the 19 th Century Ottoman Empire and administered by a Board of Directors in the U.S. Although it is now a state university of the Turkish Republic, it still runs entirely on the model of an American university. The language of instruction in Bogazici is English for all courses (except courses in Turkish Language and Literature) and the curriculum offers a full range of topics in all areas of Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences, Economics and Business Administration, and Engineering.

The most prestigious institute of higher education in Turkey, a great majority of Bogazici's faculty members hold doctoral degrees from the best universities in the U.S. and the faculty body consists of a sizeable number of non-Turkish instructors. Bogazici's participation in international exchange programs also brings an international body of students to its campus every year.

Language of Instruction, Materials, Evaluation

The reading materials and books used in the courses (in English), the manner in which the courses are taught and the faculty interact with the students, and the methods of evaluation are very much congruent with those of the U.S. colleges and universities. A sample set of Bogazici courses is attached to this proposal; detailed syllabi together with CVs of instructors will be provided if the program receives preliminary approval.

Several of the courses that have to do with the art and architectural history of Istanbul, or the political and historical heritage of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey incorporate into their curricula excursions within the city. This is also true of the course offered by Professor Guzeldere, Phil 132: Cognitive Science of Religion and Morality.

Bogazici University also regularly sponsors cultural activities, concerts, and a movie series on campus, as well conferences, workshops and seminars, all open to the student body. The Duke in Istanbul program provides full access to the campus, library, computer clusters, and gym facilities and opportunities to mix and interact with the other Turkish and international students of the university.

Phil 132 • Cognitive Science of Religion and Morality

Taught by Professor Güven Güzeldere of Duke University's Department of Philosophy, this interdisciplinary course offers a review of the recent theories of the mind in the cognitive science literature as they pertain to the nature of belief in God, religious practices, and moral attitudes against the magnificent backdrop of a city that has been a major center to all three religions of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition for centuries.

In the first part of the course, we will look at whether cognitive science and evolutionary psychology can shed light on questions   about the prevalence of religious experiences, beliefs, cultures, and institutions. Is the belief in God the result of a natural proclivity that was furnished into the human species within its evolutionary history as a byproduct of some other selected trait? Is there a module in the brain that underwrites the acquisition and maintenance of religious and moral beliefs, on a par with what Noam Chomsky suggested for our linguistic capacities -an innate "language acquisition device"?

In the second part, we will examine how these recent theories in cognitive science bear on deep-rooted questions in the philosophy of religion and ethics, such as the problem of evil, the problem of the plurality of religions, the belief in an eternal soul and an afterlife, specifically within the three monotheistic religions of the Middle East, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. How do these three religions differ in their formulations of such questions, and in the solutions they put forth in response to them? Are they equally amenable to explanations proposed by cognitive scientific accounts or are there essential differences among them? This part of the course will also involve intermittent visits to the historical sites of worship in Istanbul and conversations on these questions with local representatives of the three religions (the deputy chief Rabbi of Istanbul, a Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchy, and the head Imam of the Lalei Mosque complex).

Finally, we will examine to what extent the ingredients of human culture as they pertain to religious practices and moral behavior are shared in the biological world of non-human animals? How, if at all,   is the neuroscientific work on extraordinary experiences relevant to religious experience? Does a naturalized account of human moral behavior undermine the religion-based accounts of morality?  

This is a research (R) and intensive writing (W) designated course, taught exclusively in the Duke in Istanbul semester program. It will involve several writing assignments through the semester, and a significant research project that makes use of the local resources in Istanbul at the end of the term.

For a preliminary syllabus, click here: Phil132.Syllabus

As part of the course, we will also briefly consider the similarities and differences among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, while intermittently visiting historical sites of worship in Istanbul, such as the Byzantine churches of Hagia Sophia and the Holy Savior of Chora (both museums at present), the Blue Mosque and the Suleymaniye Mosque complex, and the Ahrida and Beth Israel synagogues.  

As the only city located between Asia and Europe, and the capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, Istanbul is home to numerous magisterial sites of worship, and presents a truly unique opportunity for an on-site study of the nature of religious thought.

This is a course with a R (research) and W (writing) designation, which involves a substantial research and writing project, and it can be used as part of senior thesis or a larger research project that involves Turkey, Islam, or a comparative study of the cultures, political systems, and religions of the region.

 

 

The course also includes a week-long trip down the Aegean Coast, visiting the most important Greco-Roman sites that hold a central place in the philosophical and religious history of Asia Minor.

Excursions

Duke in Istanbul has several day-long trips to cultural and religious sites within Istanbul and its vicinity as an integral part of its curriculum. The program also includes two week-long excursions, covering the Cappadocia region of Central Anatolia; Antioch, one of the most important ancient cities of Christianity; Urfa, the birthplace of the prophet Abraham, and some of the most important Greco-Roman sites that hold a central place in the philosophical and religious history of Asia Minor along the Aegean Coast. Among these sites are: Assos (the home of Aristotle's Academy), Troy , the Pergamom Acropolis (where the ruins of Zeus Altar are located), Ephesus and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the World ),   the House of Virgin Mary and the Basilica Of St John, Miletus (the city of the first recorded Ancient Greek Philosopher, Thales), and the Castle of St. Peter and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Bodrum .

Transportation for the long excursion will include air travel and an air-conditioned private coach with a designated professional driver and a tourist guide.   Accommodations will be in 3-star or small boutique hotels. These expenses are included in the program fees.

 

Program participants only: Detailed up-to-date information about the course can be accessed at the Duke Blackboard site under PHL132. Once registered, please log in at blackboard.duke.edu.