Why History at IHU
Because (1) we have a great and growing department comprising highly qualified academics who have all obtained their PhD’s in some of the best American, British or Continental European universities. (2) We are very much into the mainstream of history as universally practised. (3) We keep abreast of all leading edge developments in history and historiography through both our own departmental efforts, and our extensive international networks, including our elite advisory board.
(4) Our specialties cover (a) world and European history; (b) world and Turkish historiography; (c) historical sociology; (d) Islamic history; (e) history of the Middle East; (f) Medieval Anatolia; (g) all main sub-periods and topics or themes of Ottoman history, from c.1300 to c.1900; (h) Modern Turkey; (i) Greek and Roman Antiquity; and (j) Medieval Europe and Byzantium. (5) In addition, within the department as well as through our School of Languages and our various Summer School programs, we offer rigorous training in all key research languages, including Modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Persian, plus our newly acquired Armenoturkish, Classical Armenian and Classical Greek capabilities.
(6) This means that we have a great range of teaching. Together with our double-coding system, we are regularly able to offer around 20-25 undergraduate and another 20-25 graduate courses per semester. (7) In turn, this rich instructional infrastructure sustains five overlapping BA, MA and PhD programs. (8) All our courses and programs combine empirical rigor, involving skills of source critique, with broad comparative and theoretical horizons. (9)
We are especially strong on historiographical sensitiveness, paying attention to both the internal requirements of our discipline and the external pressures surrounding it, against which we teach and practice critical self-awareness.
(10) We have one of the best (and most highly rated) BA programs in Turkey. Our undergraduates come from the top one-to-three thousand on the nation-wide university entrance exam. (11) We have a strong and growing group of MA and PhD students who constitute an internationally flavored graduate student community with a high degree of academic conversation within itself. (12) Such interaction is further enhanced by the opportunity we provide to our graduate students to serve as Teaching Fellows (section instructors) in our University Courses core curriculum, which enables them to acquire valuable teaching experience at this early stage in their careers.
