MUNCIE, Ind. – Eighteen faculty and professional staff members have returned from meeting many of their Turkish counterparts in a field trip to the Mediterranean country as part of Ball State University’s international training and academic development efforts.

"The participants learned a lot about the current population and social and economic structure and its history, and they saw the contrast of the modern urban centers with the small, rural villages," said Istanbul native Erdogan Kumcu, Ball State marketing professor and Istanbul Exchange Program director.

The trip was designed to enrich faculty members knowledge of Turkey and to exchange ideas with faculty, students and staff at Istanbul University.

Istanbul University is more than 500 years old and is one of the 20 oldest universities in the world. It has 73,000 students and 5,000 faculty members for its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Trip participants were Kumcu; Pat Nelson and Sally Myers, art; Judy Lane, Bureau of Business Research; Thad Godish, natural resources and environmental management; Diana Godish, physiology and health sciences; Linda Putman, university computing services; Joan McFadden, family and consumer sciences; J. Paul Mitchell, urban planning; Ron Kovac, communication and information sciences; Carolyn Vann, biology; Barb Stedman, English; Cindy Van Alst, accounting; Jim Ruebel, Honors College; Mary Kite, psychological sciences, Marina Guntsche, modern languages and

classics; Enar Tunc, management and Martha Hunt, landscape architecture.

"There is no substitute for physically being in a place to get a flavor of it," said Mitchell.

Kumcu said many of the participants have shared these same thoughts with him.

"To have seen the remains in their original place is priceless and will change the way I teach not only the political culture but to some extent the literature of the ancient world," said Ruebel, Honors College dean and group leader for the trip.

Faculty members also got a chance to make presentations related to their fields.

"It was amazing to be at the turtle beach and have Carolyn Vann there to lecture about the turtles, and to stand amongst the marble columns of an antique city and have Pat Nelson talking about the Doric columns," said Putman.

The trip was funded in part by grants received by the Ball State’s Center for International Programs.

Future faculty and professional field trips to Turkey are being considered, said Kumcu. Interested people may contact him at (765)285-5186.

Earlier this year Ball State was cited in Peer Review, a quarterly published by the American Association of Universities and Colleges, as one of the nation’s best examples for the manner in which it supports faculty members to conduct international teaching and research. Ball State was one of four universities commended as a "best practice" institution.

By Nancy Prater, Web Editor

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Kumcu by e-mail at ekumcu@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-5186.)