Itinerary
Greece and Turkey in the Anglo-American Imagination
(ENGL 275 / HUMN 275)
May 15 - June 4, 2013
PLEASE NOTE: This is a tentative reading list and itinerary. We are still working to design the most rewarding and efficient trip we can; readings and destinations may be subject to change into spring 2013.
Itinerary/Readings for Bucknell Greece-Turkey Program
Preparatory Assignment: before end of spring semester, begin reading Birds Without Wings, by Louis de Bernières (required text for course)
May 13 (Monday) Bucknell campus, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Introduction to the main themes of the course
History of modern Greece and Turkey
Poe, “To Helen”; Constantine Cavafy, “Waiting for the Barbarians”; and selected British and American Romantic poems
Study handouts: chronological timelines of Greek and Turkish history (Moodle)
Homework: read Edward Said, Excerpt from Introduction to Orientalism; History of Modern Greece, by S. Petmezas; and Insight Guide History of Turkey (PDFs on Moodle)
May 14 (Tuesday) Bucknell campus, 10am-3:30 pm (with 12:00 – 1:00 pm lunch break)
Discussion: What is imaginary about history? What constitutes a “nation”? How does the history of the Mediterranean world influence modernity and specifically European and American ideas of cultural formation?
Discussion of Said and history readings
Beginning basic language instruction in modern Greek and Turkish conversation
Practice with Greek and Turkish language guides
Homework: read Joan DelPlato, “The Colonial Contexts for the Harem Representation” from Multiple Wives, Multiple Pleasures: Representing the Harem, 1800-1875.
May 15 (Wednesday) Departure USA to ATH
Day 1. May 16 (Thursday) Arrival in Athens
Transfer to hotel
Orientation and dinner together at local Taverna Strofi
Overnight in Athens
No readings
Day 2. May 17 (Friday) Athens
Morning visit to Acropolis
Lunch in Plaka
Walk from there to sites in Plaka to discuss the birth of the modern Greek nation (statue of Mavromichalis, monument of Lysicrates)
Afternoon visit to new Acropolis Museum
Dinner on own
Overnight in Athens
Readings:
Mark Twain, excerpts from Innocents Abroad
Lord Byron, Excerpts from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto II
Paintings: Eugène Delacroix, Greece Expiring and Massacre at Chios
Day 3. May 18 (Saturday) Athens
Mid-Morning visit to Kerameikos Cemetery and Benaki Museum
Walking tour and discussion of major monuments of Turkish and Byzantine Athens: Monastiraki square, Fethiye camii, Turkish entrance to the wheat bazaar, Kapnikarea Church, Byron Statue
Reading: Mark Twain, excerpts from Innocents Abroad
Paintings: Paintings of Byron on his deathbed and Byron with the Turks
Day 4. May 19 (Sunday) Last Day in Athens
Free for activities
Transfer by bus to the port of Piraeus and embarkation on the overnight boat to Chania, Crete. Overnight on board
Reading: Byron, “The Giaour”
Day 5. May 20 (Monday) Chania, Crete
Morning arrival in Chania and escorted transfer to the hotel
Afternoon walk in Chania – Venetian Fortress, Old City, Etz-Hayyim Synagogue, Mosque of the Janissaries
Overnight in Chania
Reading: Short history of Crete (PDF)
Film: Zorba the Greek
Day 6. May 21 (Tuesday) Bus to Irakleion
Bus to Irakleion with Rethymno and Arkadi Monastery visits en route
Rethymno: Walking tour visiting Venetian Fortress and Ibrahim Han Mosque, Nerandzes Mosque, and Venetian Harbor
Arkadi Monastery
Overnight in Irakleion
Painting: Arkadi massacre mural
Day 7. May 22 (Wednesday) Irakleion and Knossos
Half-day visit to the Archaeological Museum and Knossos
Overnight in Irakleion
Day 8. May 23 (Thursday) Lasithi Plateau and Flight to Rhodes
Biking tour in Lasithi Plateau (duration of about 6 hrs)
Transfer to the airport for evening flight to Rhodes. Transfer upon arrival from the airport to the hotel with escort
Overnight in Rhodes
Journal entry #1 due
Day 9. May 24 (Friday) Rhodes
Rhodes Old Town: Mosque of Suleiman, Palace of the Grand Masters, Jewish Quarter, Street of the Knights
Reading: Short history of Rhodes (PDF)
Day 10. May 25 (Saturday) Rhodes
Morning half-day trip to Lindos
Afternoon: free time in Rhodes
Overnight in Rhodes
Reading: Lawrence Durrell, “Rhodes” in The Greek Islands
Day 11. May 26 (Sunday) Rhodes to Turkey (Fethiye)
Ferry to Fethiye
Bus to Kayaköy
Overnight in Fethiye
Discussion: Birds Without Wings
Day 12. May 27 (Monday) Travel to Selçuk
Bus to Selçuk, stopping at Muğla
Muğla: Lunch and walk in Old Quarter
Overnight in Selçuk
Readings:
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters – excerpts
Mark Twain, excerpt from Innocents Abroad (Smyrna and Ephesus)
Day 13. May 28 (Tuesday) Ephesus
Half-day tour of Ephesus
Bus from Selçuk to İzmir
Overnight in İzmir
Readings:
Mark Twain, excerpts from Innocents Abroad
Ernest Hemingway, “On The Quay at Smyrna”
Nazim Hikmet, “Invitation” (poem)
Ciaran Carson, “Gallipoli” (poem)
Day 14. May 29 (Wednesday) İzmir
Meetings with students and faculty from Yazar University
Tour of İzmir, including Archaeological Museum and Ethnographic Museum Overnight in İzmir
Discussion: Birds Without Wings
Film: My Sweet Canary
Journal entry #2 due
Overnight in İzmir
Day 15. May 30 (Thursday) İzmir to İstanbul
Flight from İzmir to Istanbul
Transfer to Hotel
Overnight in Istanbul
Readings:
W. B. Yeats, Sailing to Byzantium and Byzantium
Mark Twain, excerpts from Innocents Abroad
Reina Lewis, “Harem Travellers” from Rethinking Orientalism: Women, Travel and the Ottoman Harem
Day 16. May 31 (Friday) İstanbul
Morning visit to Aghia Sophia
Lunch near Sultanahmet and post-lunch meeting in hippodrome of Constantine
Rest of day free to wander and explore
Overnight in İstanbul Aziyade Hotel
Readings:
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Selections from The Turkish Embassy Letters
Painting: Eugène Delacroix, The Death of Sardanopolis
Day 17. June 1 (Saturday) İstanbul
Morning visit to Blue Mosque
Rest of day free to wander and explore
Overnight in İstanbul
Reading: TBA
Day 18. June 2 (Sunday) İstanbul
Breakfast and post-breakfast discussion of "east-west" distinctions
Morning visit to Suleymaniye Mosque
Afternoon/evening free. Suggestion: Spice Bazaar; ferries to Asia; Grand Bazaar
Overnight in İstanbul
Reading: Byron, excerpt from Don Juan
Journal entry #3 (“Turkish Letter”) due
Day 19. June 3 (Monday) İstanbul
Tour of Topkapi, followed by brief visit to Archaeological Museum
Late afternoon free
Farewell dinner
Overnight in İstanbul
Day 20. June 4 (Tuesday) İstanbul to Philadelphia
Final paper/photo-essay due date TBA
