I will become a TA in Istanbul Bilgi University by the end of August. After I get the disappointing decline from NSF (shame on the positivist panel!), working seems to be the only option to fund my fieldwork. But i should admit, TA job in the school of communication is the best possible job to have in my situation.
Dean of the school, Aydin Ugur, is a parental figure to me and he is my main source to have access to senior journalists. The chair of Media Studies, where I will be TAing, Asli Tunc, is also cordial and helpful. Nothing is certain right now but as far as I can see, i will not be able to use my workload as a pretext for procrastination (in relation to my project).
Things change so fast, and you get to know people better as you live with them. so the following ideas may change (!) but i can hopefully say that people in the School are exceptionally good people and that's a relief for me. From time to time, i will probably talk about them. Let me just mention Asli Telli, who has just finished her Ph.D thesis. I am so happy to work with her.
Bilgi University (www.bilgi.edu.tr) is located in the city centers and works with many independent intellectuals and scholars. It has a liberal working environment [i use 'liberal' in a positive, non-ideological manner whatever this means:) ]. It has one of the biggest communication schools and most significantly as an institution, it is an active intellectual contributor to the European Union process. Enough flattering for today!