Workshop Call for YTU Urban and Regional Planning Students

Call for Joint Workshops in Berlin and Istanbul

SPACES of ENCOUNTER & CHANGE

Mapping Migrant Economies in Neukölln and Aksaray

The neighborhoods of Aksaray in İstanbul and Neukölln in Berlin are shaped by various layers of migration. In the past few years, both neighborhoods have become the site of small business activities by migrants. These workshops aim to study migrant economies in these two neighborhoods in a comparative framework. We aim to explore how migration affects the patterns and processes essential to spaces of encounter and to develop ways together to translate our knowledge into a visual representation, to a better understanding of the relations between different communities and their daily street lives.

The workshops will be co-jointly conducted with a group of undergraduate and graduate students form Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Yıldız Technical University working simultaneously on Istanbul and Berlin. Seminars and discussions on relevant topics such as migration, urban change and encounter will be followed up by an introduction to methodological framework by making use of an interdisciplinary set of visualization techniques. The workshop outputs produced at the end of both workshops will be presented at an exhibition/installation as part of an international conference in Berlin, to be held on 23-25 May.

Important dates:

- Deadline for applications: February 17, 2019

- Istanbul workshop: April 23-30 2019

- Berlin workshop: 10-18 May 2019

Application process:

Up to 10 undergraduate and master students from YTU Urban and Regional Planning Department will be funded to take part in the two workshops. The selection of the candidates will be done by the international workshop committee. Students who are interested in developing and exercising critical thinking/visualization skills in the analysis of migrant economic activities are welcome to apply to the workshops. The candidates who are speaking Arabic and are fluent in English will have a priority in the selection process. The candidates should upload the following two documents using THIS FORM until February 17, 2019.

- Statement of purpose (in english, pdf): 

write a letter that gives information about you and explains your interest, motivation and qualifications for the workshop. The letter may cover answers to the following questions (and more):

- why do you want to participate to the workshops (what is your motivation)?

- in what ways/aspects do you think you can contribute to the workshops?

- what are your initial thoughts/feelings about the theme and context of the workshops in general?

- Previous works: 

If you have previous works related to the theme or methodology of the workshops, upload them to the form. (Put the files in a single folder, name the folder with your name and surname, zip it and upload it). The relevant material to be uploaded may include previous works by the applicant on creative/critical/innovative visual representation of socio-spatial structures (maps, videos, etc) as well as any type of work related with the theme.

Important: 

The applicants should be fully available during the workshop dates. The selected students are required to read the assigned articles related with the workshop theme and should acknowledge that they will also participate and make contributions to the possible pre-workshop and post-workshop activities (i.e. site visit(s), works related with the preparation of the workshops and the exhibition). The selected students should handle the passport and visa procedures immediately after the announcement.

Contact: tolgaislam@gmail.com