Istanbul in a Globalizing World

At the international symposium titled "Istanbul in a Globalizing World," organized in cooperation with the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and Bahçeşehir University, the position of Istanbul, which has become one of the world's major metropolises, in the globalizing world will be put under the spotlight.

On Friday, 10 December, and Tuesday, 21 December, leading thinkers from different disciplines will come together at Bahçeşehir Universityto discuss the opportunities and challenges brought by an increasingly globalizing world and to evaluate Istanbul's experience as the 2010 European Capital of Culture.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE SYMPOSIUM

Among the participants of this two-day symposium's first session on 10 December, the doyen of International Relations and Conflict Management, I. William Zartman (Johns Hopkins University, SAIS), will share his thoughts on Istanbul based on his latest book, Borderlands. He will be joined by leading investigative journalist and writer Ece Temelkuran (HaberTürk) and academics Leyla Neyzi (Sabancı University), Feyzi Baban (Trent University), Hande Paker (Bahçeşehir University), Magdalena Góra (Jagiellonian University), the author of the book Odessa, Charles King (Georgetown University), and, from the senior experts of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., Nida Gelazis , who will participate with an Eastern European perspective. The symposium will be held between 12:00 and 18:00.

The participants of the session on 21 December will include leading academics Nilüfer Göle (ECHHR), Sami Zubaida (Birkbeck, University of London), Çağlar Keyder (Boğaziçi University), Murat Belge (Bilgi University), Ömer Taşpınar (Brookings Institution), Chris Rumford (Royal Holloway, University of London), and the author of the bestselling books Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Birds Without Wings, Louis de Bernières . The symposium, to be held between 09:15 and 18:00, will end with a cocktail reception .

The public is cordially invited to the symposium on " Istanbul in a Globalizing World," to be held as part of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture events in the Bahçeşehir UniversityFazıl Say Conference Hall.