To celebrate the 20th year of our university, we have prepared a set of four questions to ask faculty and administrative personnel who have been with us since the beginning, and to our first students. They all tell "the story of 20 years" from their own perspectives.
Going in alphabetical order, this week's interviewee for "The Story of 20 Years" is Tülay Artan.
Tülay Artan has been a member of the Sabancı University family since 5 July 1999. She has been working as a faculty member at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Sabancı University for 21 years.
Tülay Artan’s answers to our four questions are below.
What was your initial memory / impression of when you met Sabancı University for the first time?
T.A: In our first year, when we temporarily settled in the Information Center after Minerva Han, our days were spent with many long meetings. With the responsibility of building a university, a faculty, and master's and doctoral programs, I cannot forget many moments from the days spent literally “under one roof” (on the second floor of the Information Center). It was a perfect environment for us academicians to get to know each other, and you can say that we continued with these memories the following years.
Our students, especially undergraduates, whom we met in the first year, really adopted the principle of “creating and developing together”. It is an achievement of the founding spirit of Sabancı University that there are some of those among that group whose youth days I still remember very vividly, and some of whom I still communicate with, and some whom were our graduate students and are now colleagues.
I have to say that my most important gain from the first term is to know a one of a kind Rector like Tosun Terzioğlu; to work with him, to trust him, and to feel that he trusts us.
Among the things I cannot forget is, every day in the first year(s), I mean every day, I would start having this unbearable feeling of hunger as soon as I stepped on the campus, and I would constantly complain that there was no way to suppress this hunger; it must have been the pressure of deprivation caused by the university environment.
What are the differences between yourself 20 years ago and yourself today, and how did Sabancı University contribute to that change?
T.A: 20 years ago, as a social scientist in Turkey, my desire to do the best with the opportunities that Sabancı University offered us was very strong. Under the conditions of our country, we have been able to do the best for a long time. I consider it a great privilege to be part of the great experience of Sabancı University History Program from day one.
First of all, we have been able to experience the privilege of being proud of our students. Sharing the principle of “creating and developing together” in the History Program has led to many valuable friendships. Perhaps it is these friendships that make the Sabancı University experience most valuable to me. In addition, we have had a lot of fun together. On the other hand, as a researcher working in a field that is not jurnalistic and sensational and takes a very long time to master, I must say that it is a privilege to find the opportunity to conduct research under such efficient conditions at Sabancı University, which are not easy to find in other places.
What comes into your mind when you think of Sabancı University in 20 years? What are your dreams for Sabancı University for the next 20 years? What about yourself?
T.A: 20 years later, what come to my mind when I think about Sabancı University is a reputable institution in Applied Sciences, no matter what the targeted framework is (World-Asia-Turkey?). Unfortunately, I cannot predict 20 years from now. Of course, I am planing to continue my projects and complete my books.
Where and how would you be now if your paths hadn't crossed with Sabancı University?
T.A: I would be back in the US.