The 20th century saw a great transformation in its last decade. A brave new world emerged. New concepts, new communication channels, and the death of old ideologies has shaped a new kind of man. Global media owned by big financial conglomerates spoke in the same manner for the last 30 years to rivet this process. The old world of the Cold War disappeared to give way to a new repartition which started in the Balkans, continued in Caucasus and within the old Soviet Empire. The mottos of the Globalization was “fragmentation” and “new tribalism”. The old world was based on ideologies concerning the wealth and distribution and class antagonism. The emerging new world interpreted the differences on religion and ethnicity. Thus came the paradox. Democracy and human rights were the main injected concepts in a territory where even the nation building elements were absent.
The Arab Spring took place within these conditions in societies somewhat modernized where tribal associations are key feature, except Egypt. Most of the related countries were colonies of the West and after their independence they sought relations with the Soviet Union rather than the Western Powers. This last issue should be the key in a social scientists skeptical mind. Why there isn’t an Arab Spring in traditionally pro Western Arab states? Has Saudi Arabia met the western standards of democracy and human rights? What about the Emirates or Kuwait? Why these countries are not in the focus of the global media? Other questions arise from the concept of “Acceleration of History”. What will be the tomorrow of the Arab Spring? Democratic states as hoped or autocratic religious states?
During the course, we will systematically analyze the status of Islam within modern nation-states through case studies of Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia. Such case studies will show how Islamic references have been central to building modern national narratives and institutions, and how collective Islamic discourses and actions therefore must be analyzed in political and cultural terms.
Learning outcomes:
In this course, students will familiarize themselves with different modes of resistance, passive or active, collective or individual, through a discussion of theories of socio-political movements as well as the case-studies reflecting the various regions across the modern Middle East. While contemporary in focus, the course will also provide some insights into the long history of rebellions and protests by looking at the case studies from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By the end of the course, students will have a basic understanding of the differing historical contexts and how each led to the outburst of public protests and at times armed rebellions, with the final goal of gaining familiarity with the longer history of rebellions and protests in the region and coming to an understanding of why analyzing the histories of the subaltern matters for today’s world.
Class participation (20%); midterm (25%); Research paper and class discussion (25%); final exam (30%)
content:
Part I. Introduction
Week 1 :Presentation, Expectations, and Overview
Week 2 :What Just Happened? Regional and International Views
Dabashi, Hamid, “Discovering a New World” in The Arab Spring, pgs. 89-118.
El Mahdi, Rahab & Philip Marfleet, “Introduction” and “Conclusion: What’s next?” in El Mahdi &
Marfleet, Egypt: The Moment of Change, pgs. 1-13, 151-155.
Lynch, Marc, “The Arab Uprisings” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 7-28.
Mamdani, Mahmood, “An African reflection on Tahrir Square” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 198-210.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Introduction” and “Afterword” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 1-8, 301-307.
Week 3: The Region in Context: History, Power, Culture
Kamrava, Mehran, “From Islam to the Great War,” “From Territories to Independent States,” “The Age of Nationalism,” “States and Their Opponents,” and “Challenges Facing the Middle East,” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 9-108, 297-344, 374-392.
Lynch, Marc, “Building Toward Revolution” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 43-65.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “An Arab Malaise” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 11-23.
Part II. Case Studies
Week 4: Jasmine Revolution. Tunisia’s Attemps on Democracy
Al-Amin, Esam, “Tunisia: The fall of the West’s little dictator” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 42-50.
Ben Ali, Zine el-Abidine, “Last Official Adress, January 13, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs.404-407.
Khiari, Sadri, “The Tunisian revolution did not come out of nowhere” (interview by Béatrice Hibou) in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 218-230.
Lynch, Marc, “A New Hope” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 67-100.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs.63-95.
Week 5: Islam and Democracy in Egypt
El-Ghobashy, Mona, “The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 21-40.
Mubarak, Hosni, “Last Official Address, February 20, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs.408-413.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Egypt: The Pharaoh Falls” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 96-134.
Shokr, Ahmad, “The Eighteen Days of Tahrir” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 41-46.
Week 6 : Civil War and Intervention in Libia and Syria
Al-Assad, Bashar, “Speech Before the Syrian People’s Assembly, March 30, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 458-466.
Al-Qaddafi, Muammar, “Excerpts from Televised Address, February 22, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 414-420.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Libya’s Revolution from Above” and “The Struggle for Syria” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, 164-194, 215-242.
Lynch, Marc, “The Empire Strikes Back: The Counterrevolution” and “Intervention and Civil War” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 67-100, 161-192.
Week 7: Islam and Democracy in Morocco. Constitutional Monarchy
El Mansour, Mohamed. “Salafis and Modernists in the Moroccan Nationalist Movement,” In Islam and Secularism in North Africa. Edited by J. Ruedy. Basingstoke: Macmillan (1994): 53-71.
Oltaway, David, “Morocco’s Arab Spring,” Woodrow Wilson Center, Middle East Program, June 22, 2011.
Alkadiri, Raad, “Rage comes to Baghdad: Will Iraq’s Recent Protests Lead to Revolt?” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 193-199.
Isidoros, Konstantina, “Awakening protests in Morocco and Western Sahara” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 122-130.
Gause III, F. Gregory, “Rageless in Riyadh: Why the Al Saud Dynasty Will Remain” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 205-209.
Ghettas, Lakhdar, “Unrest in Algeria: the window is closing fast” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 184-189.
Khalidi, Rashid I., “The Arab Turmoil and the Palestinians” (interview by Bernard Gwertzman) in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 175-181.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Bahrain: An Island Divided” and “Disintegrating Yemen” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 135-163, 195-214.
Part III. Selected Themes
Week 9: Imperialism and Nationalism
Gardner, Lloyd C., “The Nasser Gamble Fails” and “The Eisenhower Doctrine to Six Days of War” in The Road to Tahrir Square, pgs. 36-74, 75-111.
Kamrava, Mehran, “The Age of Nationalisms,” “The Arab-Israeli Wars,” and “The Gulf Wars and Beyond” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 69-139, 170-209.
Lynch, Marc, “The Arab Cold War” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 29-42.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Embracing the Void” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 284-300.
Week 10 : Political Islam and Religious Conflict
Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, “Excerpts from the Sermon in Tahrir Square, Februray 23, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 421-427.
Naguib, Sameh, “Islamism(s) old and new” in El Mahdi & Marfleet, Egypt: The Moment of Change, pgs. 103-119.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The Islamist Resurgence” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 263-283.
Tadros, Mariz, “Cross and Crescent in Post-Mubarak Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 189-199.
Week 11 : : Neoliberalism and Class Struggle
Beinin, Joel, “The Working Class and the Popular Movement in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 92-106.
Bush, Ray & Amal Sabri, “Mining for Fish: Privatization of the 'Commons' Along Egypt's Northern Coastline” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 242-249.
Mitchell, Timothy, “Dreamland: The Neoliberalism of Your Desires” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 224-234.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Bread, Oil, and Jobs” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 24-43.
Pfeifer, Karen, “Economic Reform and Privatization in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 203-223.
Week 12 : Youth, Media, and Technology
Denis, Eric, “Demographic Surprises Foreshadow Neoliberal Change in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 235-241.
Emperador Badimon, Montserrat, “Unemployed Moroccan University Graduates and Strategies for ‘Apolitical’ Mobilization” in Beinin & Vairel, Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, pgs. 217-235.
Lynch, Marc, “The Tidal Wave” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 101-130.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The Media Revolution” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 44-59.
Week 13 : The Future of Democracy
Brown, Nathan J., “Egypt’s Constitutional Ghosts: Deciding the Terms of Cairo’s Democratic Transition” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 125-130.
Dabashi, Hamid, “Delayed Defiance” in The Arab Spring, pgs. 89-118.
Kemrava, Mehran, “The Question of Democracy” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 345-373.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The King’s Dilemma” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 245-262.
Week 14: Turkey: Synthesis Between Islam and Secularism
Kucukcan, Talip. “State, Islam, and Religious Liberty in Modern Turkey:Reconfiguration of Religion in the Public Sphere.” Brigham Young University Law Review Volume 2003, Number 2 (2003): 475-506.
Kuru, Ahmet. Secularism and State Policy toward Religion: The United States, France and Turkey. New York: Cambridge University Press, (2009): 161-236.
Navaro-Yashin, Yael. Faces of the State: Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2002): 1-43.
Required readings:
Dabashi, Hamid. 2012. The Arab Spring: The End of Postcolonialism. London: Zed Books.
Gardner, Lloyd C. 2011. The Road to Tahrir Square: Egypt and the United States from the Rise of Nasser to the Fall of Mubarak. New York: The New Press.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren. 2012. The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-revolution and the Making of a New Era. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Sowers, Jeannie, ed. 2012. The Journey to Tahrir: Revolution, Protest, and Social Change in Egypt, 1999-2011. London: Verso.
What Comes Next . New York: Council on Foreign Relations/Foregin Affairs.
Beinin, Joel, ed. 2011. Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
El-Mahdi, Rabab & Philip Marfleet. 2009. Egypt: The Moment of Change. London: Zed Books.
Kamrava, Mehran. 2011. The Modern Middle East: A Political History Since the First World War. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lynch, Marc. 2012. The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Re
Recommended readings:
Amin et al., After the Spring: Economic Transitions in the Arab World
Haas and Lesch, The Arab Spring: Change and Resistance in the Middle East
Wright, Rock the Casbah: Rage and Revolution Across the Muslim World
Smith, The State of the Middle East: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Tuğrul Tanyol was born in İstanbul-Turkey in 1953. He studied Sociology at the Boğaziçi University, and received his Ph.D from Istanbul University. He worked at Marmara University (1980-2009) and is now an associate professor at the Yeditepe University İstanbul. He also worked as editor and counselor in many prominent publishing houses, wrote newspaper columns, and produced classical music programs at Açık Radyo. He is also a well-known poet at home and abroad. He published over 10 books of poetry, wrote literary essays, and published many mainstream literary and cultural magazines. His main areas of interest have been Social Change, Social Inequality, Migration, and topics on Political Sociology. He is also focused on the sociology of culture, art, and music. He was a member of Turkish PEN and the Writers Association of Turkey where he acted as vice president in 1995-96. Recently, Tanyol has been giving courses at Yeditepe University focusing on Globalization, Democracy, Popular Culture, and Media. Tanyol has been a visiting professor at IEP d’Aix-en-Provence, France. As a poet he is regularly invited to major gatherings and festivals around the world.
The 20th century saw a great transformation in its last decade. A brave new world emerged. New concepts, new communication channels, and the death of old ideologies has shaped a new kind of man. Global media owned by big financial conglomerates spoke in the same manner for the last 30 years to rivet this process. The old world of the Cold War disappeared to give way to a new repartition which started in the Balkans, continued in Caucasus and within the old Soviet Empire. The mottos of the Globalization was “fragmentation” and “new tribalism”. The old world was based on ideologies concerning the wealth and distribution and class antagonism. The emerging new world interpreted the differences on religion and ethnicity. Thus came the paradox. Democracy and human rights were the main injected concepts in a territory where even the nation building elements were absent.
The Arab Spring took place within these conditions in societies somewhat modernized where tribal associations are key feature, except Egypt. Most of the related countries were colonies of the West and after their independence they sought relations with the Soviet Union rather than the Western Powers. This last issue should be the key in a social scientists skeptical mind. Why there isn’t an Arab Spring in traditionally pro Western Arab states? Has Saudi Arabia met the western standards of democracy and human rights? What about the Emirates or Kuwait? Why these countries are not in the focus of the global media? Other questions arise from the concept of “Acceleration of History”. What will be the tomorrow of the Arab Spring? Democratic states as hoped or autocratic religious states?
During the course, we will systematically analyze the status of Islam within modern nation-states through case studies of Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia. Such case studies will show how Islamic references have been central to building modern national narratives and institutions, and how collective Islamic discourses and actions therefore must be analyzed in political and cultural terms.
In this course, students will familiarize themselves with different modes of resistance, passive or active, collective or individual, through a discussion of theories of socio-political movements as well as the case-studies reflecting the various regions across the modern Middle East. While contemporary in focus, the course will also provide some insights into the long history of rebellions and protests by looking at the case studies from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. By the end of the course, students will have a basic understanding of the differing historical contexts and how each led to the outburst of public protests and at times armed rebellions, with the final goal of gaining familiarity with the longer history of rebellions and protests in the region and coming to an understanding of why analyzing the histories of the subaltern matters for today’s world.
Lectures, seminar discussions, students’ presentations.
Class participation (20%); midterm (25%); Research paper and class discussion (25%); final exam (30%)
Part I. Introduction
Week 1 :Presentation, Expectations, and Overview
Week 2 :What Just Happened? Regional and International Views
Dabashi, Hamid, “Discovering a New World” in The Arab Spring, pgs. 89-118.
El Mahdi, Rahab & Philip Marfleet, “Introduction” and “Conclusion: What’s next?” in El Mahdi &
Marfleet, Egypt: The Moment of Change, pgs. 1-13, 151-155.
Lynch, Marc, “The Arab Uprisings” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 7-28.
Mamdani, Mahmood, “An African reflection on Tahrir Square” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 198-210.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Introduction” and “Afterword” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 1-8, 301-307.
Week 3: The Region in Context: History, Power, Culture
Kamrava, Mehran, “From Islam to the Great War,” “From Territories to Independent States,” “The Age of Nationalism,” “States and Their Opponents,” and “Challenges Facing the Middle East,” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 9-108, 297-344, 374-392.
Lynch, Marc, “Building Toward Revolution” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 43-65.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “An Arab Malaise” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 11-23.
Part II. Case Studies
Week 4: Jasmine Revolution. Tunisia’s Attemps on Democracy
Al-Amin, Esam, “Tunisia: The fall of the West’s little dictator” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 42-50.
Ben Ali, Zine el-Abidine, “Last Official Adress, January 13, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs.404-407.
Khiari, Sadri, “The Tunisian revolution did not come out of nowhere” (interview by Béatrice Hibou) in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 218-230.
Lynch, Marc, “A New Hope” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 67-100.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs.63-95.
Week 5: Islam and Democracy in Egypt
El-Ghobashy, Mona, “The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 21-40.
Mubarak, Hosni, “Last Official Address, February 20, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs.408-413.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Egypt: The Pharaoh Falls” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 96-134.
Shokr, Ahmad, “The Eighteen Days of Tahrir” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 41-46.
Week 6 : Civil War and Intervention in Libia and Syria
Al-Assad, Bashar, “Speech Before the Syrian People’s Assembly, March 30, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 458-466.
Al-Qaddafi, Muammar, “Excerpts from Televised Address, February 22, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 414-420.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Libya’s Revolution from Above” and “The Struggle for Syria” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, 164-194, 215-242.
Lynch, Marc, “The Empire Strikes Back: The Counterrevolution” and “Intervention and Civil War” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 67-100, 161-192.
Week 7: Islam and Democracy in Morocco. Constitutional Monarchy
El Mansour, Mohamed. “Salafis and Modernists in the Moroccan Nationalist Movement,” In Islam and Secularism in North Africa. Edited by J. Ruedy. Basingstoke: Macmillan (1994): 53-71.
Oltaway, David, “Morocco’s Arab Spring,” Woodrow Wilson Center, Middle East Program, June 22, 2011.
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/moroccos-arab-spring
Week 8: Major Uprisings and Protests
Alkadiri, Raad, “Rage comes to Baghdad: Will Iraq’s Recent Protests Lead to Revolt?” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 193-199.
Isidoros, Konstantina, “Awakening protests in Morocco and Western Sahara” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 122-130.
Gause III, F. Gregory, “Rageless in Riyadh: Why the Al Saud Dynasty Will Remain” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 205-209.
Ghettas, Lakhdar, “Unrest in Algeria: the window is closing fast” in Manji & Ekine, African Awakening, pgs. 184-189.
Khalidi, Rashid I., “The Arab Turmoil and the Palestinians” (interview by Bernard Gwertzman) in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 175-181.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Bahrain: An Island Divided” and “Disintegrating Yemen” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 135-163, 195-214.
Part III. Selected Themes
Week 9: Imperialism and Nationalism
Gardner, Lloyd C., “The Nasser Gamble Fails” and “The Eisenhower Doctrine to Six Days of War” in The Road to Tahrir Square, pgs. 36-74, 75-111.
Kamrava, Mehran, “The Age of Nationalisms,” “The Arab-Israeli Wars,” and “The Gulf Wars and Beyond” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 69-139, 170-209.
Lynch, Marc, “The Arab Cold War” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 29-42.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Embracing the Void” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 284-300.
Week 10 : Political Islam and Religious Conflict
Al-Qaradawi, Shaykh Yusuf, “Excerpts from the Sermon in Tahrir Square, Februray 23, 2011” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 421-427.
Naguib, Sameh, “Islamism(s) old and new” in El Mahdi & Marfleet, Egypt: The Moment of Change, pgs. 103-119.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The Islamist Resurgence” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 263-283.
Tadros, Mariz, “Cross and Crescent in Post-Mubarak Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 189-199.
Week 11 : : Neoliberalism and Class Struggle
Beinin, Joel, “The Working Class and the Popular Movement in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 92-106.
Bush, Ray & Amal Sabri, “Mining for Fish: Privatization of the 'Commons' Along Egypt's Northern Coastline” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 242-249.
Mitchell, Timothy, “Dreamland: The Neoliberalism of Your Desires” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 224-234.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “Bread, Oil, and Jobs” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 24-43.
Pfeifer, Karen, “Economic Reform and Privatization in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 203-223.
Week 12 : Youth, Media, and Technology
Denis, Eric, “Demographic Surprises Foreshadow Neoliberal Change in Egypt” in Sowers & Toensing, The Journey to Tahrir, pgs. 235-241.
Emperador Badimon, Montserrat, “Unemployed Moroccan University Graduates and Strategies for ‘Apolitical’ Mobilization” in Beinin & Vairel, Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa, pgs. 217-235.
Lynch, Marc, “The Tidal Wave” in The Arab Uprising, pgs. 101-130.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The Media Revolution” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 44-59.
Week 13 : The Future of Democracy
Brown, Nathan J., “Egypt’s Constitutional Ghosts: Deciding the Terms of Cairo’s Democratic Transition” in C.F.R., The New Arab Revolt, pgs. 125-130.
Dabashi, Hamid, “Delayed Defiance” in The Arab Spring, pgs. 89-118.
Kemrava, Mehran, “The Question of Democracy” in The Modern Middle East, pgs. 345-373.
Nouehied, Lin & Alex Warren, “The King’s Dilemma” in The Battle for the Arab Spring, pgs. 245-262.
Shukrallah, Hani, “Minerva's owl flies at dusk: A quick reading of Egypt's presidential vote,” Ahram Online, 30 May 2012, http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/43096.aspx
Week 14: Turkey: Synthesis Between Islam and Secularism
Kucukcan, Talip. “State, Islam, and Religious Liberty in Modern Turkey:Reconfiguration of Religion in the Public Sphere.” Brigham Young University Law Review Volume 2003, Number 2 (2003): 475-506.
Kuru, Ahmet. Secularism and State Policy toward Religion: The United States, France and Turkey. New York: Cambridge University Press, (2009): 161-236.
Navaro-Yashin, Yael. Faces of the State: Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2002): 1-43.
Tuğrul Tanyol was born in İstanbul-Turkey in 1953. He studied Sociology at the Boğaziçi University, and received his Ph.D from Istanbul University. He worked at Marmara University (1980-2009) and is now an associate professor at the Yeditepe University İstanbul. He also worked as editor and counselor in many prominent publishing houses, wrote newspaper columns, and produced classical music programs at Açık Radyo. He is also a well-known poet at home and abroad. He published over 10 books of poetry, wrote literary essays, and published many mainstream literary and cultural magazines. His main areas of interest have been Social Change, Social Inequality, Migration, and topics on Political Sociology. He is also focused on the sociology of culture, art, and music. He was a member of Turkish PEN and the Writers Association of Turkey where he acted as vice president in 1995-96. Recently, Tanyol has been giving courses at Yeditepe University focusing on Globalization, Democracy, Popular Culture, and Media. Tanyol has been a visiting professor at IEP d’Aix-en-Provence, France. As a poet he is regularly invited to major gatherings and festivals around the world.