Turkish Studies

The University of Texas at Austin offers the most developed program in Turkish studies in the South and Southwest. Students can learn Turkish at all levels and take a variety of courses on Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, and Central Asia. Undergraduate and graduate students who wish to concentrate  on Turkish Studies have available a number of established programs, expert faculty, and a first rate research library, as well as Turkish publication series and special Turkish events.

The establishment of the Turkish Studies  as part of the university's academic life reflects over a decade of institutional commitment in which  the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and  the Center for Middle Eastern Studies  have played  leading roles, through their own programs and the support they have provided to activities in other departments. The Center coordinates one of the most comprehensive Middle East programs in the country, with over fifty affiliated faculty from a variety of disciplines who annually teach every year about 150 language and area studies courses on the region, including Turkey. Building the strength of Turkish studies is a major goal of the Middle Eastern Studies program.

Training in the Turkish language is accompanied by other course offerings. University of Texas faculty based in various departments offer courses and expertise in a number of areas, including Ottoman and modern Turkish history, Turkish music and folklore, the geography and urban development of Turkey, the Turkish economic system, the Turkic languages and cultures of Central Asia,  Turkish minorities in the Balkans, and Turkish migrant workers in Europe. The Center periodically invites Turkish scholars to campus to teach courses in their fields of specialization.

Undergraduate Program

Students who wish to concentrate their work on Turkey have a number of degree programs available. These programs include, at the undergraduate level, a major (or minor) in Turkish Studies and  Islamic Studies; or Middle Eastern Studies. For graduate students, the interdisciplinary M.A. and Ph.D programs offered through the Department of Middle Eastern Studies (Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Turkish Studies) and in various departments (including  Anthropology, Geography, Government, History, and Sociology) allow students to specialize on Turkey in their course work and research projects.

Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships that provide tuition and a stipend are available for the study of Turkish through an annual campus wide competition coordinated by the Center. University of Texas graduate students in  Turkish studies have also won major outside fellowships for study and research work in Turkey.