Getting Ready...

Well, we're getting close! I'm making my travel arrangements, writing packing lists, and reading the books UT Austin is sending me (this seminar is being facilitated by The Center for Middle Eastern Studies). I've been reading Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds by Stephen Kinzer and Istanbul by Nobel-prizewinning Orhan Pamuk, and I've been using my Rosetta Stone to learn a bit of Turkish too. For anyone interested in knowing more about Turkish history and society, I would highly recommend the Kinzer book. It reads nicely (not as dense as a political theory or history book), and I find it to be absolutely fascinating!