The Institute of Turkish Studies
The Institute is an independent, tax exempt organization with the singular agenda of promoting Turkish Studies in American higher education.
ITS currently benefits from the location of its offices at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service on the campus of Georgetown University, the oldest and largest school of international affairs in the country. The Institute’s location in one of America’s leading universities and in the nation’s capital provides it with a unique opportunity to pursue its objectives. The Institute has full access to a variety of research and information facilities and resources at Georgetown University. At the same time, the Institute benefits from being located in Washington, DC, where the Library of Congress has the largest collection of books on Turkey in the United States and where there are a number of educational institutions and international economic organizations actively dealing with Turkey.
In keeping with its charter and tax-exempt status, the Institute does not seek to influence legislation.
Founded and incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1982, the Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) is the only non-profit, private educational foundation in the United States exclusively dedicated to the support and development of Turkish Studies in American higher education.
Board of Governors
Officers
Amb. Namik Tan, Republic of Turkey, Honorary Chairman
Amb. Ross Wilson, ret., Atlantic Council
Prof. Walter Denny, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Secretary-Treasurer
Prof. David C. Cuthell Jr., Executive Director
Adnan Akant, Fischer, Francis, Trees & Watts, Inc.
Prof. Edward J. Erikson, Marine Corp University
Prof. Halil Inalcik, Bilkent University
Prof. Heath Lowry, Princetown University
Prof. Justin McCarthy, University of Louisville
Dr. Christopher M. Murphy, Library of Congress
Prof. Jenny B. White, Boston University
Associate Members
Sarah G. Moment Atis - Professor of Turkish Language and Literature; Chair, Middle East Studies Program, University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Edward H. Foster - Professor of Literature, Stevens Institute of Technology.
Elizabeth B. Frierson - Associate Professor of History, University of Cincinnati.
Gottfried Hagen - Associate Professor of Turkish Studies, University of Michigan.
Selim S. Kuru - Associate Professor of Turkish Studies, University of Washington.
Gülru Necipoğlu-Kafadar - Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art, Harvard University.
Sylvia Önder - Visiting Assistant Professor of Turkish, Georgetown University.
Leslie Peirce - Professor of History, New York University.
Christine M. Philliou - Assistant Professor of History, Columbia University.
Baki Tezcan - Assistant Professor of History, University of California, Davis.
Berna Turam - Associate Professor of Sociology, Northeastern University.
Fariba Zarinebaf - Assistant Professor of History, University of California Riverside.
Honorary Fellows
Administration
Dr. David C. Cuthell Jr. - Executive Director
Derrik J. Fox - Programs Coordinator
The principal objectives of the Institute are:
To promote better understanding of Turkish politics, economy, and society through conferences and lecture series.
To support the publication of books and journals that contribute to American scholarship on Turkey and broaden the understanding and knowledge of Turkish history, society, politics, and economics in the United States;
To assist American universities to develop their library resources, programs of study, scholarly conferences, and outreach activities in the field of Turkish Studies;
To support individual scholars, especially younger members of the academic profession in the United States, for advanced research on Turkish history and culture as well as contemporary political, social, and economic developments in Turkey;
