Above is a picture of trip participants visiting the Celsus Library ruins at Ephesus.

 The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg

 recently sponsored three teachers from Harrisburg area schools to travel to Turkey for two weeks studying the country through the Turkish Cultural Foundation's Teacher Study Tour program. During their visit, the teachers met with fellow teachers and students learning about the Turkish educational system. The teachers were also introduced to the history, culture, and landmarks of Turkey.  The Turkey study tour was a cooperative venture of The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, the World Affairs Council of America and the Turkish Cultural Association. The teachers - Cynthia Hartman and Mark Hafer of John Harris High School; and Jake Miller of Cumberland Valley High School will now develop lesson plans about Turkey for their classrooms.

The Harrisburg teachers were part of a group of thirty educators to take part in the first of two Study Tour trips the summer of 2011. During their time in Turkey, the teachers met with fellow teachers and students, learning about the Turkish educational system at various schools including Darussafaka, a school for ophaned children; the Besiktas Anatolian schoool; and the Atakoy Ilkogretim Okulu in the Turkish village of Karacasu. This last school has been adopted and is being supported by American teachers from previous Study Tours.

The teachers visited numerous cities and villages across the country, beginning in Istanbul, where they toured
famous historical sites such as the St. Sophia, the Spice Bazaar, Topkapi Palace and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which holds over a million artifacts representing the span of world history.  Other highlights of the trip included a visit to Bursa, the first capital of the former Ottoman Empire, where the teachers learned shadow puppet techniques to share with their students, and a trip to Ephesus, where they toured the site of the Celsus Library,
one of the richest libraries in the ancient world when built in 117 A.D. The teachers also visited the archeological excavation of Catalhoyuk, a 7,000-year-old Neolithic settlement that has been nominated for
UNESCO's World Heritage List, and toured the Cappadocia region,
known for its famed landscapes and ancient cave churches.

By the end of the second trip of the 2011 Teacher Study Tour, TCF will have introduced
348 American educators to the history, culture and landmarks of Turkey since 2007. 
As part of the same collaborative program, nearly 2,500 teachers across the United States
have attended educational workshops on Turkey held by local World Affairs Councils.

 
2012 Programs

March 7 - Spotlight Turkey!
The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg - Local teachers toured Turkey to study its educational system.

April 4 - Cameroon: Colorful Customs and Culture
by Deb and Paul Haken, who lived there as missionaries for 15 years.

May 2 - PAIRWN - Harrisburg Area Immigrant & Refugee Social Services
Several women tell their stories of arrival in the United States, and the challenges of adjusting to a new culture and environment.

June 6 - The Renaissance: A Cultural Movement in Europe, Asia, & the Americas
Christopher Couch is a career educator with majors in Medieval & Renaissance literature and Nineteenth-Century literature.

For more information, call 717 566 3553             www.worldcultureclubpa.org

Additional educational programs can be found at the International House in Harrisburg, PA. 
For more information, go to:   http://www.ihousehbg.org/events.htm 

PAST PROGRAMS in 2012
February 1, 2012
Jim McConkey  Origins of Ancient Indian Philosophy

January 4, 2012
Jennifer Monahan    New Zealand - A Small Country that Delivers BIG

PAST PROGRAMS in 2011
December 7, 2011
John B. Craig  Arab Awakening with Focus on Syria

November 2, 2011
Frank Little Bear  Native American History & Culture

October 5, 2011
Dr. Alaa Awad  Egypt: History, Culture, Revolution & Beyond

September 7, 2011  Cancelled due to flooding... rescheduled March 7, 2012
The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg presents Spotlight Turkey! 

August 3, 2011
Jorge Lopez  The Mayan Influence on History & Culture of El Salvador
 
July 6, 2011
Jennifer Monahan  ALASKA - An Insider's Look at the Inside Passage

June 1, 2011
Paul Nevin  Rock Art - A Cultural Legacy in Earth & Stone

May 4, 2011
Matt Willen   Iceland - Living on the Edge of the World

April 6, 2011
Elena and Paul Millar  Sleeping with the Angels: Story of Polish Heroine, Irena Sendler

March 2, 2011
Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Peace Corps

February 2,  2011
Jim McConkey  Those Crazy Americans  and Their Inscrutable Cultural Ways

January 5, 2011
Keith Cheng, MD, PhD   The Inner Mind, Body & Soul of Music: A Way of Life and Science   
                                                                                                         
PAST PROGRAMS in 2010

December 1, 2010
Daniel George   Alzheimer Disease - Fact, Fiction, and Fear

November 3, 2010
Bill Strosnider   Safe Water for Bolivian Highlands - Engineers, Scientists, and Medical Professionals Working Together

October 6, 2010 
Rodrigue Mortel, MD    Journey from Haiti to Hershey and Back - Tracing Its Colorful History, People, Culture, and Current Conditions

September 1, 2010
Moriah Newman   Two Years as a Sensei in Hiroshima, Japan

August 4, 2010
Nadine Amina Kim   Morocco - An Inside View

July 7, 2010
Juliet Waldron   Melting Pot v. Cultural Diversity - Germans in Pennsylvania

June 2, 2010
Jennifer Monahan   Australian Odyssey - Two Months in the Land Downunder