RELEASED: Aug. 18, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—This year Centre College's highly regarded study abroad program adds Turkey to its roster of foreign locations. Tom McCollough, Rodes Professor of Religion, will be the director of the fall 2005 program leading students from Centre and eight other institutions.

McCollough and the students arrived in Istanbul on Aug. 14, and are currently studying at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where they will undergo intense three-hour-per-day instruction in Turkish. In addition, students will study a core course curriculum, including such topics as the Turkish economy, Byzantine and Turkish culture, and Turkey's relations with the European Union.

McCollough also plans to lead various field trips in and around Istanbul, a city that has been considered a seat of major political and religious power throughout both classical and modern history. During the rise of Christianity, the city (then Constantinople) was a seat of Roman imperial authority. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the ruling Ottoman Turks, who brought Turkey under Islamic hegemony, changed the name to Istanbul.

Scheduled field trips include excursions to the Basilica of St. Sophia (the Ayasofya Mosque) as well as the Blue Mosque and Suleymaniye Mosque, named for the famed Ottoman sultan Suleiman I. Centre students will also be in Istanbul during Victory Day, a Turkish national holiday celebrating the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who guided Turkey into modernity following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the close of World War I.

Following their three weeks in Istanbul, the students will depart for a tour of Western Anatolia. Students of classical studies will have the opportunity to visit and study Troy. Students of religion will appreciate the site of Ephesus, the location and topic of one of St. Paul's epistles.

At the conclusion of their stay in Western Anatolia, the students will depart for Ankara where they will undertake the bulk of their studies at either Bilkent University or Middle East Technical University (METU).

Bilkent University, founded in 1984, will host courses detailing the study of the arts and archaeology of Turkey. Students studying at METU will take courses oriented to the technical and scientific study of Turkey. The fall semester at both institutions will run from Sept. 16 to Dec. 22.

The program in Turkey, sponsored by the Global Partners Project, brings together three collegiate consortia: the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, the Great Lakes College Association and the Associated Colleges of the South, of which Centre is a founding member.

Centre is in the top 10 of the nation's 3,500 post-secondary institutions for percentage of students who study abroad. Three-fourths of Centre's graduating classes have studied abroad. For more information visit http://web.centre.edu/studyabroad/.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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