University of Greenwich: New grant available for history students to visit Istanbul
Throughout their degree, University of Greenwich History students have the opportunity to study the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, and this grant will afford them the chance to see the sites and walk the streets that they will have encountered in their studies and research projects.
The funds for this grant have been provided by the BCCI, a registered charity that supports British residents, visitors, and institutions in Istanbul, and which additionally provides grants to encourage the study of Turkey in the United Kingdom and educational links between the two countries.
Applications were anonymised and judged, by a panel, solely on the merits of the statement students were required to submit. This statement was up to 500 words and required the applicant to specify the reasons for wanting to visit Istanbul, what they hoped to get out of the trip, and how the trip would help their future studies and/or careers.
The awarding panel was comprised of Dr Gavin Rand and Dr Vanessa Taylor on behalf of the University of Greenwich History Programme, Sophie Hassell-Richardson on behalf of the University of Greenwich Alumni & Development Office, and Dr Michael Talbot on behalf of the trustees of the British Community Council of Istanbul.
The three students selected are Samuel Ashdown (third year BA Honours History), Aatika Ayoub (third year BA Honours History & Politics) and Tayyabah Tahir (third year BA Honours History English).
In response to news of their successful application:
Samuel Ashdown
Samuel said: “Parts of my degree have been spent looking at the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to 20th centuries, and I am fortunate to be currently undertaking a work placement at the Palestine Exploration Fund. I am grateful to be awarded this travel grant to visit Istanbul, an opportunity that I am excited to make the most of.”
Aatika said: “To say I am incredibly delighted and honoured to be a recipient of the BCCI travel grant is very much an understatement. I look forward to immersing myself in the history of a place I’ve spent much of my degree studying, and getting acquainted with the social and cultural landscape of Istanbul, something important to me given a growing interest I have in social and cultural anthropology in the MENA region.”Aatika
Tayyabah said: “I am very grateful that the BCCI has awarded me the opportunity to go to Istanbul, and I hope to use this opportunity to visit some of the sites I have studied about. I feel that this will widen my horizons and help me to get a better understanding of the topics that I have been studying as part of my history degree.”
Tayyabah
Jonathan Collis, Honorary Secretary at the BCCI said:
“The British Community Council of Istanbul is the inheritor of historic funds which have assisted the education of those who would not otherwise be able to afford it. It is therefore heartening to see them being used to enrich the education of contemporary British students and at the same time to develop knowledge of the Turkish world. The trustees of the BCCI have themselves found their experience of Turkey immensely valuable, and are delighted that these opportunities are being offered at the University of Greenwich.”
Dr Michael Talbot, Associate Professor in the History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Middle East:
“I am thrilled that we will be sending Aatika, Sam, and Tayyabah to Istanbul as the first set of awardees of the British Community Council of Istanbul Travel Grant. Our new partnership with the BCCI will allow University of Greenwich students studying the history of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey to visit places of historical importance and experience the culture of modern Istanbul. Going forward, these travel grants will be transformational for our students in their studies and future career plans, and I am very grateful to the trustees of the BCCI for generously funding this initiative.”