Dear readers,
I have started a group in Facebook. Unlike this blog where I attempt to keep up a more academic posture, In Yes to Turkey group, I am experimenting campaign grouping. I don't know yet what it will lead to but you are welcome to join and contribute....
Last night at around 10 pm, I got the letter from The Humanities Research Center at Rice University. I had been expecting this letter since Monday as the results would be originally announced at that day. My application for a dissertation writing fellowship was rejected. As in a typical rejection letter, it was stated that:
The Humanities Research Center has completed reviewing the Dissertation Writing Fellowship applications for academic year 2007-08, and we regret that your proposal was not selected. In its first year, the fellowship program garnered great interest and we could only accept one of every five applications that we received from departments across the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences. Thank you for providing us a chance to examine your work. I am especially pleased to have been able to take some measure in this way of the quality of graduate level scholarship at Rice University. While it is disappointing not to be able to provide the fellowship, I believe that your work will contribute to a tradition of superior research and learning for which this University is recognized.
blah blah blah
My father discloses a new bit of information every year and last night when he called me for my birthday I was told I was born around 11 pm on 12 April 1976 at a home in Vakfıkebir, Trabzon. I knew the latter part but i could never learn at what time I was born. I am not really sure if my dad is right, but at least this is the first time he specifically names it (so i can learn more about my horoscopical situation). Therefore HRC sends me the worst birthday celebration.
My dear readers,
I would like to state that it has been a long time since I gave up trusting selection committees. Academic merit itself is an abstract issue. I have seen shitty proposals that won big fellowships because of their timeliness or because of their owners' networkedness in the academia or something else. Academic merits among the applicants are relatively equal so other factors determine the results. In any case, I could never be in a favorable position, could not have those factors favor me and I always lost in these competitions. So here i am, in my sixth year, I cannot pay the tuition Rice demands any more, no fellowships won, my dissertation writing pace goes slower than an average turtle walks and i have not received a reply message from my advisor for more than two months.
Maybe I have made a great disciplinary mistake. I don't know. I believe in the timeliness and academic merit of my thesis. This was confirmed by my professors whom I worship scholarwise and through this blog I received thousands of positive feedback. Therefore, I take this rejection personal to a minor extent and I dedicate this Slayer song to all selection committees that rejected my applications....
slayer (I hate you)
I would like to thank my dear friends for their late night consolations yesterday: Çetin, Sinan, Güney. And I would like to thank all other dear friends who celebrated my birthday despite my attempts to hide and not celebrate my birthday...
Pierre Bonnard, Toilettenzimmer mit rosafarbenem Kanapee, 1908 VIA
Continue reading "All previous interviews (no. 1-19), for the record..." »
real estate agent fee: 750,000,000 TL = $500
rent: 550,000,000 TL = nearly $ 400
deposit: $500
i am grateful to my parents who are very helpful. We need to do some painting and cleaning before moving in...
Good news. Ebru and Eric are coming to Istanbul next week!
Several issues have been bothering me recently and i even began to ignore this online diary (and in general, everything in my life)
First of all, i will sign the contract for my apartment tomorrow! Yes, i finally made it. i have been living like a nomad since i arrived here and i have been postponing some of the research stuff because i wasn't settled yet.
Secondly, I began to live problems of 'studying up'. last week i had two appointment with well-known journalists. i wasn't that successful in expressing my research objectives but they weren't interested in at all! Today, i had a good and productive chat with Prof. Ugur. Hopefully, next week he will introduce me NTV's and Referans' chief editors. He also discussed my objectives so he will look/negotiate for a position for me accordingly! And in a less determinate future, he will talk to Ertugrul Ozkok, chief editor of Hurriyet, about me. So far, this newspaper, which is very significant for my research objectives, has been inaccessible for me...
My USB storage device is washed within a pocket of my pants. All files of this year are gone. Probably most of the stuff can be retrievable but some is certainly gone.
But what is worse, my wallet was stolen last evening and i have realized it just after the USB disaster. My texas id, SSN number card, 2 AMEX cards, 2 chase bank cards, turkish driving licence and Turkish social security card were inside it, not to mention some amount of money.
life seems to be harder than ever today.
A small financial contribution to my fieldwork. This is the first grant i got for my research project. thanks to Ertan, who called me in the morning to give the good news!
Posted by erkan at 04:33 PM
From the right-wing daily, TURKIYE:
NATO TORTURE
When the arteries in Turkish capital Ankara were closed to traffic due to U.S. President George Bush's visit, transportation was paralyzed. Many streets in Istanbul were also closed to traffic while many events have been cancelled. Some passengers missed the plane as traffic was paralyzed due to police control at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.
...And an American friend of mine, Julie, is coming to Istanbul. I have planned a 4-day trip plan despite many limitations. As Prof Ugur told a group of visiting Greeks yesterday, these days are the worst days in the century to visit the city. Anyway, i am still hopeful:)
NINTH ADJUSTMENT PACKAGE SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT
The Ninth Adjustment package was submitted to the parliament. The package includes changes in a number of laws in line with the recent package of constitutional amendments. Under the package, expressions of death sentence will be removed from all laws including the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMUK) and the Forestry Law. The package also envisages amendment to the law enabling the General Staff to appoint a member to the Higher Education Board. Under the package, representative of the National Security Council (NSC) will not take place among members of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) any longer. (Radikal)
RIGHTS FOR ANIMALS
Turkish parliament approved the draft law about animal rights at last. Under the law, those who kill stray animals will be sentenced to pay a fine of 500 million Turkish liras (TL). Those who force animals to work during their illness or pregnancy, who have sexual intercourse with animals and who torture animals will be sentenced to pay high amounts of fine. Those who injure an animal, will be responsible to pay all expenses of treatment (Milliyet)
I will become a TA in Istanbul Bilgi University by the end of August. After I get the disappointing decline from NSF (shame on the positivist panel!), working seems to be the only option to fund my fieldwork. But i should admit, TA job in the school of communication is the best possible job to have in my situation.
Dean of the school, Aydin Ugur, is a parental figure to me and he is my main source to have access to senior journalists. The chair of Media Studies, where I will be TAing, Asli Tunc, is also cordial and helpful. Nothing is certain right now but as far as I can see, i will not be able to use my workload as a pretext for procrastination (in relation to my project).
Things change so fast, and you get to know people better as you live with them. so the following ideas may change (!) but i can hopefully say that people in the School are exceptionally good people and that's a relief for me. From time to time, i will probably talk about them. Let me just mention Asli Telli, who has just finished her Ph.D thesis. I am so happy to work with her.
Bilgi University (www.bilgi.edu.tr) is located in the city centers and works with many independent intellectuals and scholars. It has a liberal working environment [i use 'liberal' in a positive, non-ideological manner whatever this means:) ]. It has one of the biggest communication schools and most significantly as an institution, it is an active intellectual contributor to the European Union process. Enough flattering for today!
This is a test.
I wish I could start with a better entry but this event has just happpened and it was one of the bus stops I had frequently used (In fact, i don't see use it any more). Still, it has a personal touch. My sister has just called me to see if i were 'alive'.
Two Dead, Seven Injured In Istanbul Bomb Explosion Ahead Of NATO Summit
CihanNews: 6/24/2004
ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - A bomb has exploded in the quarter of Fatih in Istanbul today killing two people and wounding seven others.
This is the second blast in Turkey today following the bomb explosion in Ankara earlier this morning which wounded three people including two police officers.
This latest explosion took place in the quarter of Fatih, on the European side of Istanbul; according to reports, people waiting at the bus stop outside the Istanbul University Medical Faculty suffered the brunt of the blast which occurred aboard a public bus, the Turkish NTV channel said.
