Preparing for Adventure in Istanbul--Crossroads Between East and West!

The impetus behind starting this blog is to create a venue for sharing thoughts and ideas, but also travel experiences and discoveries.  Over the years, I have had the very good fortune to participate in a wide variety of travel and study programs around the world.  On many of those trips, I developed blogs, podcasts, or other content to bring my experiences back for others to discover.  Those trips abroad included visits to the following places:

1999: England

2002: Italy
2003: Japan
2004: Greece and Italy
2005: Mexico
2005: Egypt
2006: Saudi Arabia
2006: Germany
2006: South Africa and Swaziland
2007: Ireland, Scotland, England
2007: Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
2008: South Korea
2009: China
2010: Germany, Austria, Italy
2011: Norway and the Svalbard Archipelago

This summer, I will set out on a new adventure!  I have been selected to participate in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute entitled, "Istanbul Between East and West: Crossroads of History."  This Institute is centered around a three-week academic experience in Istanbul, Turkey during late June and early July.  The Institute will provide an intensive overview of a city and region that has played a pivotal role in ancient, medieval, and modern world history.  The Institute uses Istanbul as the base for exploring the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and modern Turkey.  Our study of Istanbul's past and present will be placed in the larger context of the Mediterranean and Middle East with emphasis on cross-cultural encounters and global comparisons, in the broader framework of world history. 

Currently, I am reading a number of books on the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, and modern Turkey, as well as trying to study some basic Turkish.  Feel free to follow my adventures by visiting this blog, subscribing to the blog's RSS feed, subscribing to have new posts sent to you by email, or following me  on Twitter @KWSojourn!