American Teachers Embark on Journey through Turkey

The teachers were selected from among participants in the Teacher Workshops on Turkey organized under the Spotlight on Turkey 2014 program, by 10 local chapters of the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA) and TCF. The second group will be visiting Turkey on July 14-27. This year’s teachers hail from the states of Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Virginia. Three Turkish teachers and one Turkish American educator will accompany the tours as volunteers with a view to further facilitate exchanges between Turkish and American educators.

The teachers began their journey in Istanbul and visit Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Troy, Canakkale, Bursa, Kusadasi, Pamukkale, Konya and Catalhoyuk, Cappadocia and Ankara. Throughout the tour, teachers will have the chance to visit and learn about world-famous cultural, archaeological, architectural and natural sites of Turkey and meet with experts, educators and representatives of Turkish civil society.

The study tours are the second tier of Spotlight on Turkey, a national educational program organized by TCF, WACA and participating WACA chapters and funded by a major TCF grant. The program consists of three stages; Teacher Workshops on Turkey, Teacher Study Tours and Portrait of Turkey cultural events for students and the general public. With the addition of this year's teachers, 527 American teachers will have visited Turkey as part of this program.

You can follow the teachers’ journey on the TCF Study Tour Blog and on Facebook and Twitter. For Comments by former participants on the TCF Teacher Study Tours and a Trailer of "Broad Horizons," a documentary on the 2010 TCF Teacher Study Tours, please visit the TCF website. To order a free copy of Broad Horizons, please send an email to [email protected].