McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies
Encyclopedia
The McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies is an overseas academic center operated by Georgetown University
in Alanya, Turkey
. The McGhee Center was founded in 1989 after Ambassador George Crews McGhee
, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and West Germany, donated his Mediterranean villa to Georgetown University to create a center for the study of the history and culture of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. The McGhee Center is academically affiliated in Turkey with Koç University
and presently offers three types of programming: semester abroad, the Summer Institute in Intensive Turkish Language, and study tours and short programs.
and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
, Alanya’s trade routes were severed and its Christian community departed for Greece. The villa, like many of Alanya’s grand old Ottoman homes, fell into disrepair and was gradually abandoned as more and more families came to prefer the comfort and convenience of modern apartment buildings. The villa was discovered by George McGhee and his wife Cecilia on a visit to Alanya during his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey in the 1950s. McGhee purchased the property in 1968 and renovated it for his family’s use. In 1989 he donated the villa to Georgetown University with the intention that it should endure as a center of learning and scholarship.
Students and guests at the McGhee Center attend classes, meetings, special events, and take meals at the villa. The villa also houses a library, study areas, kitchen, faculty and staff offices, and space for visiting lecturers. The property includes a terraced garden that rises behind the villa, culminating in a gazebo with spectacular views of the sea and the city. The gardens are planted with tangerine, olive, lemon, pomegranate, bougainvillea, cypress, oleander, loquat, oregano, and cactus.
Students at the McGhee Center are lodged in a student residence, a modern apartment building located halfway between the villa and downtown Alanya – a fifteen-minute walk to each. Student apartments are furnished, including fully equipped kitchens, bed and bath linens, wireless internet access, and a study area with printing facilities.
The semester begins with a two-week orientation program in Istanbul
and Ankara
, with excursions to Bursa and Edirne
. Following orientation, classes begin in Alanya. Weekly excursions from Alanya introduce students to the cities and monuments of southern Turkey, complementing classroom study with field experience. Destinations include Antalya
, Konya
, Aspendos
, Perge, Side
, Anamur
, and Antioch
. A ten-day mid-semester study tour to Syria
offers another perspective on the Eastern Mediterranean and a rare opportunity to visit early Christian, Islamic, and Crusader monuments as well as the modern Arab cities of Damascus
and Aleppo
. In years when political conditions do not permit the Syria excursion to run, the group travels instead in central and eastern Turkey.
The language of instruction at the McGhee Center is English. The curriculum is interdisciplinary. Students in the program typically represent a wide range of faculties and majors. Courses of study on offer vary from year to year according to the specialization of visiting faculty. Course offerings in recent years have included:
Some courses offer the option to earn additional academic credit by engaging in service learning activities with local educational and environmental organizations in Alanya.
The semester abroad program is open to undergraduate university students. Applications for the fall semester abroad are normally due during the preceding February and are made to Georgetown University's Office of International Programs. Competitive scholarships for participants in the semester abroad are provided with support from the Institute of Turkish Studies and the Turkish Cultural Foundation.
. The summer institute runs for eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August. Students receive 20 hours per week of Turkish language instruction and participate in cultural programming including field trips, lecture and film series, and Turkish conversation practice sessions.
The Summer Institute in Intensive Turkish is part of the Critical Languages Scholarship Program operated by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) with funds provided by the U.S. Department of State. This program is designed to promote the study of less commonly studied languages that are deemed crucial to diplomacy, commerce, and international security. The program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students as well as some early career professionals. Only U.S. citizens are eligible. Application is made directly to the Critical Languages Scholarship Program. Successful applicants receive full scholarships including tuition, travel and stipend.
., a Georgetown University summer program directed by Dr. Josiah Osgood and Dr. Charles McNelis of the Department of Classics. This program ran for two weeks in late May and early June 2008, visiting Roman historical and archaeological sites in Istanbul and the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. The second week of the program was spent in residence at the McGhee Center.
Dr. Kathryn A. Ebel is Academic and Administrative Director of the McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Georgetown University. She is the on-site administrator for all programs at the McGhee Center and is responsible for program development and coordination. A specialist in the cultural and historical geography of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, her forthcoming book is titled City Views, Imperial Visions: Cartography and the Visual Culture of Urban Space in the Ottoman Empire 1453-1603. At the McGhee Center she teaches Cultural Geography of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Alanya, Turkey
Alanya
Alanya , formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a component district of Antalya Province in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey, from the city of Antalya. On the southern coast of Turkey, the district has an area of 1,598.51 km2 and 248,286 inhabitants...
. The McGhee Center was founded in 1989 after Ambassador George Crews McGhee
George C. McGhee
George Crews McGhee was an oilman and a career diplomat in the United States foreign service.-Early life:McGhee was born on March 10, 1912 in Waco, Texas, the son of a Waco banker. He studied at the University of Oklahoma, graduating with a degree in geology in 1933...
, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and West Germany, donated his Mediterranean villa to Georgetown University to create a center for the study of the history and culture of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. The McGhee Center is academically affiliated in Turkey with Koç University
Koç University
Koç University is a private, non-profit institution, founded in 1993 and located in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the top universities in Turkey, it is supported by the financial resources of the Vehbi Koç Foundation, set up by Vehbi Koç, a leading Turkish businessman, “to serve humanity by increasing...
and presently offers three types of programming: semester abroad, the Summer Institute in Intensive Turkish Language, and study tours and short programs.
The McGhee Villa and Student Residence
The principle facility of the McGhee Center is the McGhee Villa, an Ottoman-era mansion located in the historic district of Alanya, within the old walled city overlooking the harbor. The villa was built in the early nineteenth century by a local Orthodox Christian merchant who specialized in the export of timber to Egypt. After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Alanya’s trade routes were severed and its Christian community departed for Greece. The villa, like many of Alanya’s grand old Ottoman homes, fell into disrepair and was gradually abandoned as more and more families came to prefer the comfort and convenience of modern apartment buildings. The villa was discovered by George McGhee and his wife Cecilia on a visit to Alanya during his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey in the 1950s. McGhee purchased the property in 1968 and renovated it for his family’s use. In 1989 he donated the villa to Georgetown University with the intention that it should endure as a center of learning and scholarship.
Students and guests at the McGhee Center attend classes, meetings, special events, and take meals at the villa. The villa also houses a library, study areas, kitchen, faculty and staff offices, and space for visiting lecturers. The property includes a terraced garden that rises behind the villa, culminating in a gazebo with spectacular views of the sea and the city. The gardens are planted with tangerine, olive, lemon, pomegranate, bougainvillea, cypress, oleander, loquat, oregano, and cactus.
Students at the McGhee Center are lodged in a student residence, a modern apartment building located halfway between the villa and downtown Alanya – a fifteen-minute walk to each. Student apartments are furnished, including fully equipped kitchens, bed and bath linens, wireless internet access, and a study area with printing facilities.
Academic programs
Semester Abroad Program
The semester abroad program is the oldest and most established program at the McGhee Center. From 1990-2008 it was offered as a spring semester program, but beginning in Fall 2008 it will be offered in the fall semester instead.The semester begins with a two-week orientation program in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, with excursions to Bursa and Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
. Following orientation, classes begin in Alanya. Weekly excursions from Alanya introduce students to the cities and monuments of southern Turkey, complementing classroom study with field experience. Destinations include Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
, Konya
Konya
Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...
, Aspendos
Aspendos
Aspendos or Aspendus was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey. It is located northeast of central Serik.- History :...
, Perge, Side
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
, Anamur
Anamur
Anamur is a town and district of the province of Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey, between Antalya and the city of Mersin.Anamur is Turkey's southernmost point, a coastal resort famous for its bananas and peanuts.-Etymology:...
, and Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
. A ten-day mid-semester study tour to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
offers another perspective on the Eastern Mediterranean and a rare opportunity to visit early Christian, Islamic, and Crusader monuments as well as the modern Arab cities of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
. In years when political conditions do not permit the Syria excursion to run, the group travels instead in central and eastern Turkey.
The language of instruction at the McGhee Center is English. The curriculum is interdisciplinary. Students in the program typically represent a wide range of faculties and majors. Courses of study on offer vary from year to year according to the specialization of visiting faculty. Course offerings in recent years have included:
- Cultural Geography of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean
- History of the Crusades
- Introduction to Architectural History Through the Monuments of Turkey
- Pirates, Soldiers, and Diplomats: Islam and the West, 1450-1800
- Empires and the Greater Middle East, 1453-2005
- Environments of the Mediterranean
- From the Village to the Internet: Contemporary Cultural Politics in Turkey
- Encounters in Literature: The Ottoman Legacy
- Political Economy of the Middle East.
- Turkish languageTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
(all levels)
Some courses offer the option to earn additional academic credit by engaging in service learning activities with local educational and environmental organizations in Alanya.
The semester abroad program is open to undergraduate university students. Applications for the fall semester abroad are normally due during the preceding February and are made to Georgetown University's Office of International Programs. Competitive scholarships for participants in the semester abroad are provided with support from the Institute of Turkish Studies and the Turkish Cultural Foundation.
Summer Language Program
During the summer the McGhee Center hosts the Summer Institute in Intensive Beginning Turkish LanguageTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
. The summer institute runs for eight weeks between mid-June and mid-August. Students receive 20 hours per week of Turkish language instruction and participate in cultural programming including field trips, lecture and film series, and Turkish conversation practice sessions.
The Summer Institute in Intensive Turkish is part of the Critical Languages Scholarship Program operated by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) with funds provided by the U.S. Department of State. This program is designed to promote the study of less commonly studied languages that are deemed crucial to diplomacy, commerce, and international security. The program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students as well as some early career professionals. Only U.S. citizens are eligible. Application is made directly to the Critical Languages Scholarship Program. Successful applicants receive full scholarships including tuition, travel and stipend.
Other Programs
Other programs and opportunities at the McGhee Center include alumni tours and Wworkshops, seminars, or retreats organized within Georgetown University and Koç University, or hosting of events organized in cooperation with external organizations. The villa also hosts a program on the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
., a Georgetown University summer program directed by Dr. Josiah Osgood and Dr. Charles McNelis of the Department of Classics. This program ran for two weeks in late May and early June 2008, visiting Roman historical and archaeological sites in Istanbul and the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. The second week of the program was spent in residence at the McGhee Center.
Faculty
Permanent Faculty
Dr. Scott N. Redford is the Faculty Director and founding architect of the semester abroad program. He is Associate Professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and Director of the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations at Koç University in Istanbul. Dr. Redford specializes in the history of art, architecture, landscape, and archaeology of the Seljuk dynasty and late medieval Anatolia. His publications include Landscape and the State in Medieval Anatolia and The Archaeology of the Frontier in the Medieval Near East At the McGhee Center Professor Redford teaches Introduction to Architectural History and History of the Crusades.Dr. Kathryn A. Ebel is Academic and Administrative Director of the McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, Georgetown University. She is the on-site administrator for all programs at the McGhee Center and is responsible for program development and coordination. A specialist in the cultural and historical geography of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey, her forthcoming book is titled City Views, Imperial Visions: Cartography and the Visual Culture of Urban Space in the Ottoman Empire 1453-1603. At the McGhee Center she teaches Cultural Geography of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Visiting Faculty
Visiting faculty at the McGhee Center in recent years have included:- Dr. Gabor Agoston (History, Georgetown University)
- Dr. Timothy Beach (Environmental Science, Georgetown University)
- Dr. Sylvia Önder (Turkish Language and Culture, Georgetown University)
- Dr. Faruk Tabak (Ertegün Chair of Turkish Studies, Georgetown University)
- Dr. Jo Ann Moran Cruz (History, Georgetown University)
- Dr. John McNeill (University Professor of World History, Georgetown University)
- Dr. Barbara Stowasser (Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Director Emerita of the Center for Contemporary Arab StudiesCenter for Contemporary Arab StudiesThe Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States is a notable academic center and "the only academic center in the United States focusing essentially on the Arab world."-Funding:...
)
Turkish Language Instructors
- Necmiye Güneylioğlu (1992–present)
- Nili Bilkur (1995–present)
- Mustafa Tuncer (Summer 2007)