CURRICULUM VITAE

Victoria Rowe Holbrook

2007

 

 

E-mail: vrholbrook@gmail.com

 

EDUCATION

 

Ph.D. 1985  Princeton University, Near Eastern Studies (Ottoman history and literature)

M.A.  1979  Princeton University, NES (Persian history and literature, Ethnomusicology)

B.A.  1977  Harvard University, Near East Languages & Civilizations (Arabic, Persian, Islamics)

 

RESEARCH AND TEACHING EXPERTISE

 

Middle East and Mediterranean studies; Islamic mysticism and intellectual culture, modern and medieval; Ottoman and modern Turkish literature; literary theory, translation, psychoanalysis and literature.

 

LANGUAGES

 

Near-native fluency in Turkish.  Reading knowledge of Ottoman Turkish, Persian, French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, German, Ancient Greek.

 

MAJOR HONORS AND AWARDS

 

2006       Victoria R. Holbrook’a Armağan (Festschrift for Victoria R. Holbrook), ed. Walter G. Andrews & Özgen Felek (Istanbul: Kanat), 303pp.

2005       American Philosophical Society Research Award

2004       Fulbright Research Award

2003       American Research Institute in Turkey research grant

1996       The Turkish Studies Association M. Fuat Köprülü Book Prize (for The Unreadable Shores of Love)

1994-95  American Research Institute in Turkey research grant

1993-94  Social Science Research Council Advanced Research Grant

1992-      Honorary Lifetime Fellow, Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society, Oxford, England

1990       The Independent Foreign Fiction Award, London (for The White Castle)

1987-2005  Various research leaves, sabbaticals, and travel grants awarded by Ohio State University

1987-88   Fulbright Council for International Exchange of Scholars Islamic Civilization Program

Languages Research Award

1985-87   Mellon Post-doctoral Teaching and Research Fellowship, Columbia University

1978        Iranian Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellowship, Tehran

1977-82   Various fellowships awarded by Princeton University

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Spiritual Couplets Commentary by Kenan Rifâî.  Translation from Turkish.  In progress, 657pp.

 

Rana by Osman Necmi Gürmen.  Novel translated from Turkish. Forthcoming, 457pp.

 

Beauty and Love by Şeyh Galip.  2 vols. Verse translation of the eighteenth-century Turkish romance and new edition of the text, with introductions and key.  New York: Modern Language Association Texts and Translations Series 2005, 245 and 240pp.

 

High Heels by Murathan Mungan. Novel translated from Turkish. Forthcoming, 527pp.

 

“Hüsn-ü Aşk’a Önsöz,” Yasak Meyve 12 (January/February 2005), 52-59.

 

"Concealed Facts, Translation, and the Turkish Literary Past," in translations: (re)shaping of literature and culture, ed. Saliha Paker. Istanbul: Bogaziçi University Press 2002, 77-107.

 

“Poetry in Translation,” in Cultural Horizons: A Festschrift in Honor of Talat S. Halman, ed. Jayne L. Warner. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press 2001, 429-438.

 

Iran ve Turan: Türkiye’de Edebi Tartışmalar” (Iran and Turan: The Literary Debates in Turkey), Hece, Türk Şiiri Özel Sayısı 5:53/54/55 (May/June/July 2001), 269-271.

 

“Oceanic Feeling, Narcissism, and the Post-Classical Image,” in The Ottomans and the Sea. Oriente Moderno XX (LXXXI) , n.s. (2000), 245-254.   

 

"Alegorinin Ölümü, Hüsn-ü Aşk'ın Özgünlüğü," in Osmanlı Divan Şiiri Üzerine Metinler (Texts on Ottoman Divan Poetry), ed. Mehmet Kalpaklı. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yay. 1999, 403-412. Reprint.

 

“The Intellectual and the State: Poetry in Istanbul in the 1790’s,” in The Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century. Oriente Moderno XVIII (LXXIX), n.s. (1999), 233-251.

 

“In the Mirror of European Fantasy: Greeks and Turks,” Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 23:2 (Fall 1999), 5-11. Reprint.

 

"Batı'nın Tahayyülünde Yunanlılar ve Türkiyeliler" (Greeks and Turks in the Western Imagination), Defter 32 (Winter 1998), 55-63.

 

"Klasik-Sonrası İmge, Okyanussal Benlik" (The Post-Classical Image, The Oceanic Self), Toplum ve Bilim 70 (Fall 1996), 199-214.

 

"Alegorinin Ölümü, Hüsn-ü Aşk'ın Özgünlüğü" (The Death of Allegory, The Originality of Beauty and Love), Defter 27 (Spring 1996), 65-80.

 

"Muhalefetin Kimliği, Kimliğin Muhalefeti" (The Identity of Opposition, The Opposition of Identity), Defter 26 (Winter 1996), 10-32. Collaborative interview with Edward Said by Meltem Ahıska, Ruşen Çakır, Müge Gürsoy, Victoria Holbrook, and Orhan Koçak.

 

"Mazmun mu Klişe yoksa Devralınmış Mazmun Kavramı ?  Galib'in Hayalinde Renk ve Yorumu" (Is it the Trope which is Cliché, or the Received Concept of Trope?  Color and its Interpretation in Galip's Work) in Şeyh Galip Kitabı. Istanbul: Istanbul Büyük Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı Yay. 1995, 131-141.

 

The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance. Austin: University of Texas Press 1994. 217 pp. Winner 1996 M. Fuat Köprülü Prize for best book in Turkish Studies.

 

Major reviews: Giampiero Bellingeri, Annali di ca’ foscari, XXXV, 3 1996 and Edebiyat n.s.9:2 1998; Sarah G. Moment Atiş, International Journal of Middle East Studies 8:1 1996; Walter G. Andrews, Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 19:1 1995; Nüket Esen, Gösteri (July 1994).

Turkish translation: Aşkın Okunmaz Kıyıları: Türk Modernitesi ve Mistik Romans, trans. Erol Köroğlu & Engin Kılıç. Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları 1998. 290 pp. Reviews: Ali Tökel, Dergah 109 (March 1999).  Selim Kuru, Virgül 15 (January 1999). 

 

"Philology went down to the Crossroads of Modernity to meet Orientalism, Nationalism, and... Ottoman Poetry," New Perspectives on Turkey 11 (Fall 1994), 19-41.

 

"Who is Beauty? Subjectivity and Interpretation," in God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty, a Festschrift in honor of Annemarie Schimmel, ed. Alma Giese & Peter Brugel. New York: Peter Lang 1994, 267-289.

 

"Rumi, Galib, and the Fortress of Forms," in Poetry and Mysticism in Islam: The Heritage of Rumi, ed. Amin Banani, Richard Hovannisian & Georges Sabagh, 11th Giorgio Levi Della Vida Biennial Conference Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge UP 1994, 178-197.

 

(Guest Ed. + Intro.) "Papers of the Second Graduate Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Language Arts," TSAB 17:2 (Fall 1993), 43-135.

 

"A Technology of Reference: Divan and anti-Divan in the Reception of a Turkish Poet," Edebiyat NS 4 (1993), 49-61.

 

"Imagery, Ideology and Representation," TASG News (Newsletter of the Turkish Area Study Group, Oxford) 37 (November 1993), 30-35. Reprint.

 

"Ibn 'Arabi and Ottoman Dervish Traditions: The Melami  Supra-Order," Parts One and Two, Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi Society IX (1991), 18-35 and XII (1993), 15-33.

 

"Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life: Textual Play in the Diffusion of Rumi's Order," in The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism, ed. Leonard Lewisohn. London: KNP 1992, 99-120.

 

"A Postmodernist Turkish Novel," in Contacts Between Cultures: West Asia and North Africa vol. 1, ed. A. Harrak. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen 1992, 194-8.

 

"Imagery, Ideology and Representation," Gözlem 20 (1992), 4-6.

 

"Originality and Ottoman Poetics: In the Wilderness of the New," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112:3 (1992), 440-54.

 

(Guest Ed. + Intro.) Papers of "The Graduate Student Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Literary Arts," TSAB 15:1 (1991), 64-132.

 

(Guest Ed. + Intro.) Papers of "The Graduate Student Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Literary Arts," TSAB 14:2 (1990), 167-233.

 

The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk. Novel translated from the Turkish.  Manchester: Carcanet Press 1990. New York: George Braziller 1990 (hardcovers). London: Faber and Faber 1991, Manchester: Carcanet 1993 (paperbacks), and many other reprintings. 161 pp. Novel translated from Turkish.  Winner of The Independent Foreign Fiction Award, London, 1990.

Reviews: John Updike, The New Yorker, September 2, 1991; Paul Berman, The New Republic, August 1991; Jay Parini, The New York Times Book Review, May 19, 1991; Christopher Lehman-Haupt, The New York Times, April 29, 1991; Savkar Altinel, The Times Literary Supplement, October 12-18, 1990.

 

(Article) "The Future of Turkish Literary Studies and Proficiency: A Different Set of Guidelines," American Association of Teachers of Turkish Newsletter No. 8 (1990), 26-30.

 

"Galib's Beauty and Love: The Ultimate Romance."  Doctoral Diss. Princeton 1985, 618 pp.

 

SERVICE ON EDITORIAL AND ADVISORY BOARDS

 

2006-  Advisory Board, Cunda Translation Workshop

2004-  Advisory Committee member, Rumi Institute at Near Eastern University, Mersin/Lefkoşa

2003-  Middle Eastern Literatures (book series, Routlege)

1999-The Journal of Turkish Literature (Ankara: Bilkent University)

1998-2004  Virgül (Istanbul: Pusula Press)

 

REVIEWS

 

Orientalism by Edward Said (in Turkish translation), Virgül 28 (March 2000), 6-10.

A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani (in Turkish translation), Virgül 7 (April 1998), 32-35.

Rhetorics and Politics in Afghan Traditional Storytelling by Margaret A. Mills, Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research Bulletin VII:1 (Spring 1994), 13-14.

Turkish Sampler: Writings for all Readers by Müge Galin, Middle East Studies Association Bulletin 26 (1992), 240.

The Ottoman Lady: A Social History from 1718 to 1918 by Fanny Davis, Journal of the American Oriental Society 111:3 (1991), 605-606.

Tales Alive in Turkey by Warren S. Walker & Ahmet E. Uysal, The Middle East and South Asia Folklore Bulletin 8:2 (1991), 4.

Never Pass This Way Again by Gene LePere, The New York Times Book Review, February 14, 1988.

Kings of Love: The History and Poetry of the Ni'matullahi Sufi Order of Iran by Nasrollah Pourjavady and Peter Lamborn Wilson, JAOS 107:2 (1987), 374.

A Persian Sufi Poem: Vocabulary and Terminology by Bo Utas, JAOS 107:3 (1987), 529-530.

Mystical Poems of Rumi, trans. A. J. Arberry, JAOS 107:3 (1987), 530.

 

TRANSLATIONS FOR TURKISH CINEMA AND THEATER

 

2005  (screenplay)  Solo by Ziya Öztan and Tarık Akan.

2002  (play, produced in 2002 at La Mama theater in New York City) Dumrul and Azrail by Murathan Mungan.

2001  (Film treatment) Mr. J’s Point by Rüstem Batur.

1999  with Aron Aji (play, produced at the Berlin, Avignon, and Edinburgh Theater Festivals), Deer Curses by Murathan Mungan. 

1998  (Full shooting script) Via Beyrut, screenplay and dir. Derviş Zaim.  In production.

         (Dialogue list) Journey to the Sun, screenplay and dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu.  Released.

         (Screenplay) Ataturk, The Blonde Wolf by Atilla İlhan.

         (Screenplay) Stateless, screenplay and dir. Semih Kaplanoğlu.

1987  (Dialogue list) Somersault in a Coffin, screenplay and dir. Derviş Zaim.  Released.

    (Treatment) Seashells on the Steppe, screenplay and dir. Ahmet Ulucay.

 

CONSULTING and OTHER ACTIVITIES

 

2001  Appeared in PBS 3-hour documentary film “Islam: Empire of Faith,” dir. Robert Gardener.

 

1995  Translator from the Turkish for Divan, a non-profit foundation for group translation of poetry, based in Istanbul while affiliated with similar foundations in France, Greece, Portugal, Catalonia, Rumania, and Ireland, the entire project being supported by the Council of Europe and funded locally.  I was invited to Ireland by the Tyrone Guthrie Center as part of the Divan team which joined Irish and English poets in a week-long session with the Turkish poets Hulki Aktunç and Lale Müldür to translate their selected works, to be published in Ireland.

 

1992  Mentor and Lecturer in Islamic Literature at the New York Council for the Humanities High School Teacher Training Institute, "Islam and World History: An Interdisciplinary and Multicultural Approach."

 

1992-present  Consultant to Stephanie Capparell, producer of the documentary film, "Nazım Hikmet: Living is a Beautiful Thing."

 

1991 Consultant to the Pegasus Literary Prize Committee which awarded its prize to the Turkish novelist Bilge Karasu for his Gece (Night, trans. Güneli Gün, Louisiana State University Press 1994).

 

TEACHING

 

AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, 1987-2005

Courses designed and taught:

 

--Turkish 811, Seminar in Turkish & Ottoman Studies

TOPICS (listed in year when taught for the first time) 1998: Critical Approaches to Modernist Literature and Culture.  1997: International Modernism and the Turkish Second Modern.  1996: Modernism and Authenticity in Turkish Poetry.  1994: Literature and Culture of the Turkish Left.  1993: The Philosophical and the Fantastic: Ottoman Literature 1600-1800.  1992: Poetics of Change: Religion and Representation in Modern Turkish Culture.  1991: Sufism and Ottoman Intellectual Traditions.  1990: The Theory of the Other and the Turkish Novel.

--Turkish 721, Studies in Turkish & Ottoman Literature & Criticism

TOPICS (listed when taught for the first time, not when repeated) 1999: The Modernist Novel.  1997: Orientalist Reception of Ottoman Dervish Thought and Culture.  1996: Ottoman Literary and Intellectual Culture, 17th-18th Centuries.  1994: Beauty and Love by Şeyh Galib.  1993: Language and National Identity in Central Asia.  1993: Ideologies and Fictions: Nationalism, Gender, and Ethnicity in Turkey.  1992: Modernism and Modernity in Turkey.  1990: From Romance to Realism in Turkish Fiction.

-- Comparative Studies 672, Poetry and Politics in the 20th-Century Mediterranean

--Near Eastern Languages and Cultures/Comparative Studies 675, Intellectuals in the Middle East

--Turkish 651, Modern Turkish Poetry and Prose

--Turkish 641, Travels in Turkey

--Turkish 627, Classical Turkish Poetry

--Turkish 611, Ottoman Orthography, Conventions and Style

 

Fulfilling Undergraduate General Education Requirement:

 

-- Near Eastern Languages and Cultures/Comparative Studies 374, The Novel in the Middle East

-- Near Eastern Languages and Cultures 372, Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World

--Turkish 372, Turkish Literature in Translation

--Turkish 371, Turkish Sufism

--Comparative Studies 358, Film and Literature as Narrative Art in the Middle East

--Turkish 241, Turkish Culture

--Turkish 101, 102, 103, 104, 401, 402, Modern Turkish, first and second years

 

Other courses taught at OSU:

 

--NELC 272, Masterpieces of Near Eastern Literature in Translation

--Comparative Studies 103, Psychological Themes in Literature (Western literature)

 

As a Visiting Professor at BILKENT UNIVERSITY, Ankara, Turkey 2000-2001

 

--Edeb 503, Divan Edebiyati

--Edeb 513, Tasavvuf Edebiyati

--Edeb 514, Divan Edebiyati Semineri

--Edeb 530, Edebi Çeviri

 

As a Visiting Professor at KOÇ UNIVERSITY, Istanbul, Turkey 1998

 

--Phil 202, Philosophy and the Modern Mind

--Soci 320, History and Foundations of Sociological Theory

 

As a Visiting Professor at BOSPHORUS UNIVERSITY, Istanbul 1995

 

--TKL 429 Problematics in Theory of Mesnevi Literature

 

As a Mellon Fellow at COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 1985-87

 

--Turkish/Comparative Literature G4113x, Islamicate Romance: Faces of Beauty and Love

--Literature Humanities C1001x-C1002y, Masterpieces of Western Literature and Philosophy

--Oriental Humanities V3399x (Guest lecturer in Islamic texts)

 

B.A thesis supervised:

"Farid ad-Din `Attar," Department of Religion

 

SUPERVISION OF THESES AND DISSERTATIONS

 

1.   Hulya Adak, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature 2001, University of Chicago:

Intersubjectivity: Halide Edip or the ‘Ottoman/Turkish Woman’ as the Subject of Knowledge.”

 

2.   Ahmet Ağır, M.A. in Turkish 1998, Ohio State University:

"The Intellectuality of Gunay Rodoplu, Main Character of Alev Alatlı's Quartet: By God, You Threw me to the Wolves, Viva la Muerte, Nuke Turkey, Musti Turkey is OK.

 

3.   Zekeriya Başkal, M.A. in Turkish 1998, OSU:

“Identity, Intellectuals and the Generation of ’68 in the Trilogy by Adalet Ağaoğlu: Lying Down to Die, A Wedding Party, No

 

4.   Bülent Bekçioglu, M.A. in Turkish 1997, OSU:

"The Experience of Modernity and Turkish Poetry."

 

5.   Hülya Bulut, M.A. in Turkish 2001, Bilkent Üniversitesi:

Yeniliklere Dolu Yüzyıldan İkiYeniİsim: Nedim-Levni ve Eserlerindeki Sevgili Figürleri.”

 

6.   Victoria Clement, M.A. in Turkish 1999, OSU:

"The Politics of Social Reference in Soviet Turkmenistan: Alphabet Reform and National Identity Formation."

 

7.   Natalie Corvington, M.A. in Comparative Studies, OSU:

Transcoding the Madwoman in Internationalist Surrealist Texts.”

 

8.  Hatice Coza, M.A. candidate in Turkish, OSU.

 

9.  Hiclal Demir, M.A. in Turkish 2001, Bilkent Üniversitesi:

Çağlarını Eleştiren Divan Şairleri: HayretiUsuliHayali.”

 

10.   Kerim Demirci, M.A. in Turkish 1998, OSU:

"Temel: New Figure in the Academic Sphere, Stereotyped Character in Turkish Humor."

 

11.   Yücel Demirer, One-of-a-Kind Ph.D. 2004, OSU.

 

12.  Gönül Ertem, Ph.D. in Anthropology 1999, University of Texas/Austin:

"Dancing to Modernity: Cultural Politics of Cherkess Nationhood in the Heartland of Turkey."

 

13.  Sibel Erol, Ph.D. in Comparative Literature 1993, University of California/Berkeley:

 "Narratives of Stillness: A Re-examination of the Bildungsroman."

 

14.   Özgen Felek, M.A. in Turkish 2003, OSU:

“The Death of Narcissus: An Experiment in the Psychoanalysis of an Ottoman Poet.”

 

15.  Todor Kafala, M.A. in Turkish, OSU:

"The Poetry of Ahmet Haşim."

 

16.  Ferhat Karabulut, M.A. in Turkish 1998, OSU:

"The Turkish Woman and Leyla Erbil: Political and Ideological Consciousness of Female Protagonists in Erbil's Works."

 

17.  Abbas Karakaya, M.A. in Turkish 2001, OSU.

 

18.  Duygu Köksal, Ph.D. in Government 1996, UT/Austin:

 "Nationalism and Modern Identity in Turkey."

 

19.  Suzan Osman, M.A. in Turkish 1997, OSU:

 "Jadidist Texts in Context: A Critical Perspective."

 

20.  Sylvia Wing Önder, One-of-a-Kind Ph.D. OSU:

 "Women Healers in a Black Sea Village.”

 

21.  Adem Hakan Özoğlu, Master in Liberal Studies 1993, OSU:

 "Kurdish National Discourse: The PKK and the Şeyh Said Revolt."

_____, Ph.D. in History 1997, OSU:

"Unimaginable Community."

 

22.  Özlem Sert, M.A. in Social Science 2001, Haceteppe Üniversitesi:

Hıristyan ve İslam Kültüründe EshabKehf (Yedi Uyurlar) İnancı.”

 

23.  Nima Shafaieh, M.A. in Turkish, OSU:

"Azeri National Literature: The Case of Fuzuli."

 

24.  Göksun Yazıcı, M.A. in Turkish 2001, Bilkent Üniversitesi:

TaaşşukTalat ve Fitnat’ın İdeal Okuru.”

 

INVITED LECTURES

 

2006    “Modernism, Adultery and Sweat,” at the conference “Narratives: Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” Swiss Ethnological Society, University of Berne, Switzerland.

2005    “A Sword of Attention in the Hand of his Glance,” at the panel, “Reading Oriental Romance,” Modern Language Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.  This was arranged by the MLA Publication Committee to promote my 2005 book translation, Beauty and Love by Şeyh Galip.

2004  High Heels,” Keynote Speaker at the Mediterranean Institute of Women’s Studies, Cyprus.

2003    “Poetry and Politics in the 20th-Century Mediterranean,” at the conference Mediterranean Studies: Identities and Tensions, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

2002    “Terrorism and the Trust,” at the symposium Teaching Islam after September 11, University of Kansas.

           “Intellectual Culture and the Voice of the Ottoman Lyric,” at the conference The Impact of the Ottoman Empire on Early Modern Europe, Folger Library, Washington, D.C.

2001    Day-long seminar on Ottoman literature as part of a two-week course on Turkish Literary and Cultural Studies at the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul.

           “Poetry Sivil,” at the Center for Transitional Societies Interdisciplinary Faculty Seminar, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.

            “Iran and Turan: Literary Debates,” at the conference Iran and Turan, Center for Documents and Diplomatic History, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tehran, Iran.

2000    “Divan Şiirinde Zamanın Mekanı” (The Space of Time in Divan Şiiri), at the conference Osmanlı Dünyasında Kültürel Yapılanma ve Mimarlik (Architecture and Cultural Structuring in the Ottoman World), Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey.

“The Death of Allegory and the Birth of the Novel,” University of Michigan.

            “Social and Literary Form: A Comparison of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Poetics,” University of Michigan.

            Beauty and Love and the Question of Where Truth Comes From,” University of Michigan.

1999 "Indian Style Imagery," at the conference Osmanlı Dünyasında Şiir (Poetry in the Ottoman World), Istanbul.

             “The Ottoman Ghazal as Part of a Trans-linguistic Culture,” at the conference Ghazal as a Genre of World Literature, Orient-Institut, Beirut, Lebanon.

1998  "Invoking Secularism, Blaming Modernism," at the conference The Use and Abuse of the Past, Swedish Research Institute, Istanbul.

         "Turkey: Emerging Regional Power or State in Crisis," Columbus Council on World Affairs.

         "Cultural Re-Imagining and World War I: Ottoman Defeat, Turkish Victory," Ohio State University, Western European Studies Center.

          "Secularism and Intellectual Culture," Koç University, Istanbul.

1997  Paper: "Batı'nın Hayalinde Yaşamak" (Living in the European Fantasy), at the conference Yunanlılar, Türkiyeliler, Ulusal Kimlik (Greeks, Turks, National Identity), BİLAR, Istanbul.

1996  "Concealed Facts: Moments in the History of Turkish Translation," at the International Conference on Translation Studies in memory of Prof. André Lefevere: translations: (re)shaping of literature and culture, Bosphorus University, Istanbul.

        "Oceanic Feeling and Post-Classical Ottoman Poetry," at the Skilliter Library Colloquium on Ottoman History: The Ottomans and the Sea, Newnham College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.

        "Authenticity of the Self, Modernism, and Turgut Uyar" American Research Institute in Turkey, Istanbul.

1995  "Modernism and Authenticity," Sarıca Toplantısı, Istanbul.

         "Şeyh Galip ve Alegori Üzerine" (About Şeyh Galip and Allegory), BİLAR, Istanbul.

         "Mazmun mu Klişe yoksa Devralınmış Mazmun Kavramı ?  Galip'in Hayalinde Renk ve Yorumu" (Is it the Trope which is Cliché, or the Received Concept of Trope?  Color and its interpretation in Galip's Work), at the conference  Şeyh Galip Sempozyumu, Tarık Zafer Tunaya Kültür Merkezi, Istanbul.

1993  "From the Classic to the Postmodern," Bosphorus University, Istanbul.

         "Nationalism, Philology, and Culture in Modern and Ottoman Turkish Literary Studies," the Eighth Annual Middle East History & Theory Workshop Conference, University of Chicago

         Same topic, Columbia University.

         "Who's Afraid of Unity?  Revolutionary Desire and Vahdet-i Vücud," at the 10th Annual Symposium of the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society: Prayer and Contemplation, Collingwood College, Durham University, England.

1992   "Subjectivity and the State: Poetry in Istanbul during the 1790's," at the First Skilliter Library Colloquium on Ottoman History: The Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century, Newnham College, Cambridge University.

          "Ibn 'Arabi and Ottoman Dervish Traditions: The Melami Supra-Order, Part Two," 9th Annual Symposium of the Ibn `Arabi Society: "Theophany and Imagination," Wadham College, Oxford University.

         "Postmodernism and Turkish Fiction," Columbia U.

1991  "Yunus Emre, Filoloji ve Türk Halk Geleneği," at the conference Uluslararası Yunus Emre Semineri, UNESCO Türkiye Milli Komisyonu, Ankara, Turkey.

         "The Tower of Difference: Translation of Ottoman Poetry," annual meeting of the Mid-East Literary Seminar, The Impact of Translation, Princeton University.

         "Postmodernism and the Turkish Novel," University of Washington College Seminar Series, Seattle.

1990  "Ibn 'Arabi and Ottoman Dervish Traditions: The Melami Supra-Order," 4th Annual Symposium of the Ibn 'Arabi Society: Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, 1165-1240 A.D., His Life and Times, University of California/Berkeley.

         "Turkish Culture: Narratives of Turkish Studies," Ohio State University.

1989  "Polemicizing the Poetic: Divan and anti-Divan in Turkish Criticism," first annual meeting of the Mid-East Literary Seminar, Canonicity and Middle Eastern Texts, OSU.

1987  "The Castle of Forms: Rumi and Galib," Eleventh Biennial Conference of the Giorgio Levi Della Vida Award in Islamic studies, The Heritage of Rumi, in honor of Annemarie Schimmel.

         "Images of Turkish Romance: From Metaphor to Symbol," Society of Fellows in the Humanities Symposium, Begetting Images, Columbia U.

        "Turkish Romances," New York University.

        "The Paradigm of Love and Turkish Romance," OSU.

        "Turkish Romances," School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia U.

1986  "The Paradigm of Love and Types of Romance," Washington University, St. Louis

         "Bektashi Lyrics: A Question of Style," at the conference University of Strasbourg, L'école des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, l'Institut Francais d'études Anatoliennes d'Istanbul, Groupe de Recherche d'études Orientales: International Round Table, "L'Ordre des Bektachis et les Groupes se Réclamant de Hadji-Bektach," Strasbourg, France.

         "Christian Disciples at the Funeral of a Muslim Saint," Society of Fellows in the Humanities Symposium: "Cultures in Confrontation," Columbia U.

1985  "Aesthetics of Shaykh Galib," Columbia University Seminar in the Language and Culture of the Turks.

         "Genre and Style in Turkish Narrative Poetry," Princeton U.

1983  "Hüsn-ü Aşk'ta Kale-i Zat'üs-Suver" annual Türkoloji Kongresi, Istanbul University.

         "Truth and Poetry in Beauty and Love," American Research Institute in Turkey, Istanbul.  In Turkish and English.

1982  "Mevlevi Music and Calligraphy," School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia U.

1981  "History of Turkish Music," Austrian Cultural Center, Istanbul.  In Turkish and English.

 

CONFERENCES DIRECTED

 

1998  "Modernism and Social Change: In Honor of Adalet Ağaoğlu," Ohio State University.  On the occasion of the awarding to her of an honorary Ph.D. by OSU.

1997  (Co-directed) "Yunanlılar, Türkiyeliler, Ulusal Kimlik" (Greeks, Turks, National Identity), Bilim ve Araştırma Enstitüsu (BİLAR), Istanbul, Turkey.

1994  "Culture and Society: The Third Graduate Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Language Arts," Ohio State University.

1992  "Poetics of Change: The Second Graduate Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Language Arts," OSU.

1990"The 'Other' Turkey: A Graduate Student Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Literary Arts," OSU.

1989  "Canonicity and Middle Eastern Texts," first annual meeting of the Mid-East Literary Seminar, OSU.

1987  (Co-directed) "Begetting Images," Society of Fellows in the Humanities Symposium, Columbia University.  The symposium brought together 20 Columbia University faculty    from departments of history, literature, comparative literature, social science, art, architecture, music, political science, and history of science.

 

OTHER LECTURES AND THE LIKE

 

1999  Turkey and the Enlightenment,” for the panel, Middle Eastern Encounters with the Enlightenment, at the Tenth International Congress on the Enlightenment, Dublin, Ireland.

1998  "The Coup Novel: An Interview with Adalet Ağaoğlu," at the conference Modernism and Social Change: In Honor of Adalet Ağaoğlu, Ohio State University.

         Paper: "The Second Modern and the Ottomanesque," Middle East Studies Association (MESA) annual meeting, Chicago.

1995  Respondant for Walter Andrews, "Metin Nerede?  Hangi Metin? Kimin Metni?  Latifi Tezkiresi''nden Derrida'nın GLAS'ına, Bilgisayardan Metinler Üzerine Post-Modern Teorilere..." (Where's the Text?  What Text?  Whose Text?  From Latifi's Tezkire to Derrida's GLAS), Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

1994  Discussant: "Historiographies of the Ottoman Empire," at the 6th Biennial Conference on the Ottoman Empire, Binghampton University, New York

1993  Paper: "Theory's Not Dead—It's Just Moved to Istanbul," annual MESA meeting, The Research Triangle, North Carolina

         Chair: "Beyond Margins: Turkish Cultural Studies and the New World Order," MESA

1992  Paper: "Nationalist or Modernist?  The Poet Yahya Kemal," annual MESA meeting, Portland, Oregon

         Chair: "That Obscure Object of National Desire," MESA

1991  Paper: "You and I and the Language of Verse," annual MESA meeting, Washington D.C.

         Chair: "The Subjects of Ottoman Verse," MESA

         Faculty advisor and Chair: "The Republic of Turkey: Its Role in the Context of Recent Global Changes," Turkish Students' Association conference, OSU

         Faculty advisor and Chair: "Graduate Student Conference in Greek and Turkish Modernism," OSU

1990  Chair: "The Legacy of Persian Sufi Literature to Classical Persian Culture," a the conference Legacy of Persian Sufism, School of Oriental and African Studies, London

         Director of special meeting of The Graduate Conference in Difference and the Turkish in the Literary Arts, annual MESA meeting, San Antonio, Texas

         Paper: "Postmodernism and Turkish Fiction: Orhan Pamuk's Beyaz Kale," MESA

         Chair: "The Sign at The Crossroads: Discourses of of Turkish Culture," MESA

         Chair: "The Greek Others," Ohio State University Second Interdisciplinary Conference of Graduate Students and Recent Ph.D.'s, "Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies: The Next Wave."

         Paper: "A Postmodernist Turkish Novel," 33rd International Congress of Asian and North African Studies, University of Toronto

1988  Departmental representative: "Intertextuality and Middle Eastern Texts," Mid-East Literary Seminar, Princeton University

         Director of lecture series: "Modes of Discourse in Turkish Texts," Professors Talat Halman, Annemarie Schimmel, and Ilhan Başgöz, OSU

1986  Chair: "Narrative Genres," annual MESA meeting, Boston

         Paper: "The Paradigm of Love and Types of Romance," MESA

         Respondent for Þerif Mardin, "Turkey: Religion in a Secular Islamic State," Columbia University Seminar on the Middle East: "Religion and Politics in the Middle East"

         Paper: "Shaykh Galib's Masnavi Commentary," American Oriental Society annual meeting, New Haven

1985  Paper: "The Turkish Symbolists' Narrative Roots," annual MESA meeting, New Orleans

         Paper: "Personality and Literary Criticism," MESA

1984  Paper: "Aesthetics of Shaykh Galib," annual MESA meeting, San Francisco

 

UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

 

At Ohio State University, 1987-2005:

Coordinator of the Turkish Program in Ottoman and Modern Language, Literature, and Culture

Associate Faculty of the Division of Comparative Studies

Affiliate of the Center for Folklore Studies

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

- Initiated a faculty exchange agreement between Ohio State University and and Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, 1999.

- Initiated a student exchange agreement between OSU and Koc Unıversity, Istanbul, 1999.

- Co-authored with Margaret Mills an OSU Academic Enrichment Funds proposal for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures ($150,000), 1998.

- Since 1997 engaged in on-going negotiations for an agreement between the Agha Khan Educational Foundation and OSU, for OSU to offer a one-year certificate program for instruction in educational technology to Tajik educators.

- Initiated in 1997 and continue to coordinate an annual faculty exchange agreement between OSU and Koç University, Istanbul.

- Authored the Turkish Studies Developmental Proposal, submitted to The Republic of Turkey on behalf of The Ohio State University College of the Humanities, the Department of Near Eastern, Judaic, and Hellenic Languages and Literatures, and the Committee on Turkish Studies, 1993 ($1,500,000).

- Founded in 1990 a biennial international conference on Ottoman/Modern Turkish/Turkic Literary and Cultural Studies for graduate students and recent Ph.D.'s.

- Designed course offerings and degrees in Ottoman and Modern Turkish, 1988-present.

- Helped draft proposals for departmental B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees.

- Wrote Strategic Plans for Turkish and Persian programs in 1988.

- Founded Turkish and Persian video film library, 1988.

- Wrote proposals for funding of lecture series, conferences, and scholarships, 1988-present.

 

SERVICE ON COMMITTEES:

 

     Professional

Turkish Studies Association Nominating Committee, Chair, 1990-92

     University

Research and Graduate Council - Research Committee - Senate - Faculty Council - Mediterranean Progam (founding member) - Internal Review Committee, Department of Near Eastern, Judaic, and Hellenic Languages and Literatures

     College

Turkish Studies Development (Chair), Dean's Advisory

     Interdepartmental

Middle East Studies Program

    Departmental

Faculty Duties and Responsibilities (Chair) - Language Instruction - Chair's Advisory - Chair's Council - Graduate Studies (Chair) - Colloquium and Lectures - Graduate Associates and Lecturers - Curriculum – Cultural Theory Search - Chair Search - Arabic search - Hebrew search - Persian search - Instructional Unit Representatives - Strategic Planning - Ph.D

 

RESEARCH ABROAD

 

2003  6 months' research on Turkish cultural politics, Istanbul, Turkey

1994-96  15 months' research on modernist Turkish poetry, Istanbul

1993-94  6 months' research on Turkish modernism, Istanbul

1988-89  9 months' research on Ottoman manuscript commentaries on Persian poetry, Süleymaniye and Topkapı libraries, Istanbul

1979-84  5 years' research on Ottoman poetry, music theory, voice, reed flute and the art of making flutes, calligraphy, and Sufism at the Turkish National Classical Music Chorus, National Conservatory, Istanbul and Bosphorus Universities, and with private teachers, Istanbul

1978  3 months' research in classical Persian poetry and vocal music at the Iranian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Conservatory of Iran, Tehran

 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

 

2005-present  Self-employed writer and translator.

1987-2005  Assistant, then Associate Professor of Turkish at Ohio State University, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures; Associate Faculty in Comparative Studies; Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Folklore Studies.

2000-2001  Visiting Professor, Bilkent Unversity, Ankara, Turkey.

1998  Visiting Professor, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey.

1995  Visiting Professor, Bosphorus University, Istanbul.

1985-1987  Mellon Teaching and Research Fellow, Society for Fellows in the Humanities, and Lecturer, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Columbia University.

1980-1984  Part-time teacher of English at primary and secondary schools, the Turco-British Association, and privately, Istanbul.

1977  Assistant Director, Cambridge Civic Association, Massachusetts.

1975-1977  Research Assistant to Professor Wilson B. Bishai, Harvard University, Arabic-English computer dictionary project.

1972-1980  Employed and self-employed, full-time or part-time, as singer, musician, band leader, composer and lyricist under contracts in New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Boston, and Istanbul.