Dr. Charles Vaughan, history teacher at Richland Northeast High School, was part of an educational mission to Turkey June 28-July 12, hosted by the Turkish Cultural Foundation

Vaughan completed the 2012 Teachers Study Tour to Turkey, organized and sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation in conjunction with the World Affairs Councils of America and participating WACA chapters around the United States.

The study tours consisted of two weeks of rigorous cultural and academic immersion to Turkey, and each participating teacher received a certificate upon completion of the program. The Turkey study tours have been designed to meet educators’ requirements for continuing professional development, and prior to the tour, teachers attended a preparatory workshop on Turkey under the auspices of our affiliates.

In addition to the travel aspect of the program, participating teachers have received 45 hours of lecture ranging from in depth presentations of the sites visited as well as lectures on the history of Anatolia and Turkey, including the art, culture and architecture of the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires; the evolution of the modern Republic of Turkey; the accomplishments and impact of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as present day relations with the United States.

Teachers received a briefing on the economy, foreign policy, and current issues of Turkey by a Turkish non-governmental think-tank and presentations by a number of key Turkish charitable groups, ranging from the environment, education, children’s and women’s issues.

Visits to educational institutions included Darussafaka, a school for talented fatherless children, Besiktas Koleji and Atakoy Ilkogretim Okulu in the village of Karacasu, near the excavations of Aphrodisias.

The private site visit to Catalhoyuk the Neolithic Anatolian excavation was led by Dr. Ian Hodder of Stanford University and Dr. Shahina Farhad of Cambridge University.

The teachers also had guided tours of the Mausoleum of Ataturk and a museum dedicated to Turkey’s War of Liberation, as well as the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Since the inception of this program, a total of 422 American teachers have visited Turkey as guests of the Turkish Cultural Foundation.