Summer in Turkey
Mr. Matthew Sudnik, '01, Director of the Baginski Scholars Program traveled to Turkey for two weeks in the middle of summer 2015.
by Mr. Matthew Sudnik, '01, Director of the Baginski Scholars Program
For two weeks in the middle of summer 2015, I had the opportunity to travel to Turkey with 25 other teachers on a study tour sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation and the World Affairs Councils of America. Mr. John Allen, a new member of the Central Catholic Religion faculty, was also a participant on this trip. The Turkish Cultural Foundation’s goal for this study tour is to promote the image of Turkey as a country rich in history and culture. The itinerary covered many topics that are central to the teaching of World History, World Literature, and Human Geography. We spent three days in Istanbul, touring Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye Mosque, and Topkapı Palace as well as studying the history of the Ottoman sultans. After leaving Istanbul, we traveled to a new city each day for the next ten days. We crossed the Dardanelles on a car & passenger ferry to visit the military cemetery at Gallipoli. We toured the ruins of the ancient cities of Troy, Ephesus, and Pergamon. We met with Turkish artists and attended a performance of shadow puppet theater. For me, the most memorable point was our visit to the ancient churches and catacombs of Cappadocia, where Christians of the 3rd century built churches and monasteries inside large rock formations. Preserved within these cave churches are ancient frescos, painted icons of Christ and the first saints of the Church.
Aside from taking a magnificent trip, I am returning to my classes with new academic resources. My juniors are currently reading poems by the Turkish writer Nazim Hikmet. The freshmen in AP Human Geography are beginning to discuss the cultural, historical, and political implications of Turkey’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Having participated in many summer study tours over the past eight years, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had these opportunities to travel as a teacher, meet educators from other parts of the U.S. and the world, and bring new ideas and distant places back to my classroom at Central Catholic.
