{"647866":{"#nid":"647866","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Turkey\u2019s \u2018Confucius Institutes\u2019 Subject of Winning Diplomacy Lab Bid","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESebnem Ozkan and a team of Georgia Tech students will study the influence and activities of Confucius Institutes in Turkey as part of a Diplomacy Lab bid accepted by the U.S. State Department.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/a68fe213-dec8-57b1-b8c0-95a473ba579e\u0022\u003EOzkan\u003C\/a\u003E, an academic professional in the School of Modern Languages and associate director of the Atlanta Global Studies Center, will investigate the activities and representations of the Institutes in Turkish media, as well as evolving perceptions toward China and the Institutes on Turkish college campuses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our team will study the impact of Turkish media in framing the expanding Sino-Turkish relations on the perception of these Institutes,\u0026rdquo; Ozkan said. \u0026ldquo;More specifically, we will look at the coverage of Chinese investment in critical sectors in Turkey and the \u0026lsquo;vaccine diplomacy\u0026rsquo; of Sinovac, on the one hand, and China\u0026rsquo;s policies in Xinjiang against the Turkic Muslim Uyghur community, on the other.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConfucius Institutes, or CIs, are educational partnerships between Chinese universities and counterparts in other countries to promote Chinese culture and language. The program is sometimes criticized as an instrument of the Chinese government and a threat to academic freedom.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, many colleges around the world, especially in the United States, have closed or announced plans to close these Institutes. However, the partnerships have grown stronger in recent years in Turkey, where the Institutes offer Chinese language training to army officials.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOzkan\u0026rsquo;s team will conduct surveys and focus groups on three Istanbul campuses that each host a Confucius Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The CIs in Turkey provide an interesting case to study the determining role of national political and economic context and the role of mainstream media on the effectiveness of Chinese soft power beyond the actual educational activities of CIs on campus,\u0026rdquo; Ozkan said. \u0026ldquo;We are delighted to be working with the U.S. State Department reps on this project. It is not surprising that this topic is of interest to them given concerns about Chinese influence in the world, as well as the growing tensions in U.S.-Turkey relations.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETurkey\u0026rsquo;s search for new partners outside of the Western alliance, including NATO, in recent years, is of concern to the U.S., Ozkan said. Understanding the perceptions of youth, a significant voter group in future elections, also holds the key to understanding the trajectory of Turkey and its place in the international order.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents on the project will be drawn from the Global Media and Cultures master\u0026rsquo;s program and the Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Studies programs offered through the School of Modern Languages.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/diplomacylab.org\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDiplomacy Lab\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is a public-private partnership between the State Department and select U.S. universities that enables the agency to harness the work of students and faculty to advance research and innovation related to foreign policy. Ozkan\u0026rsquo;s project is the third affiliated with the School of Modern Languages to be chosen this academic year to undertake research in collaboration with the Department through the Diplomacy Lab program.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn November, the agency chose teams led by two\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/modlangs.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Modern Languages\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;faculty members to help solve issues related to language curriculum development for diplomats. In one,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/david-marcus\u0022\u003EDavid Marcus\u003C\/a\u003E, lecturer of Arabic, is leading a project related to high-frequency vocabulary in modern standard Arabic.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/kyoko-masuda\u0022\u003EKyoko Masuda\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor of Japanese, is examining the use of function verbs in Japanese.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn April, the State Department chose a team led by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/omar-isaac-asensio\u0022\u003EOmar Asensio\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E, to i\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/news\/item\/647380\/school-public-policy-team-wins-diplomacy-examine-role-accelerating-green\u0022\u003Envestigate ways artificial intelligence\u003C\/a\u003E can accelerate the transition to green energy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPrevious Ivan Allen College projects include one led by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/neha-kumar\u0022\u003ENeha Kumar\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/inta.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;related to the use of Bitcoin technology in foreign assistance; an examination of multilateral versus bilateral funding and global health, helmed by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/c53735aa-1d0e-55b9-a5a5-91428946a8c6\u0022\u003EAlberto Fuentes\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the Nunn School; and a project led by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iac.gatech.edu\/people\/person\/olga-shemyakina\u0022\u003EOlga Shemyakina\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/econ.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ESchool of Economics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;examining \u0026ldquo;Economic Factors of Violent Extremism.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/modlangs.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Modern Languages\u003C\/a\u003E is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOzkan\u0026#39;s project will focus on\u0026nbsp;the activities and representations of Confucious\u0026nbsp;Institutes in Turkish media and college campuses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ozkan\u0027s project will focus on\u00a0the activities and representations of Confucious\u00a0Institutes in Turkish media and college campuses."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2021-06-01 20:17:52","changed_gmt":"2021-06-03 14:19:16","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"647865":{"id":"647865","type":"image","title":"Sebnem Ozkan","body":null,"created":"1622578379","gmt_created":"2021-06-01 20:12:59","changed":"1622578379","gmt_changed":"2021-06-01 20:12:59","alt":"Sebnem Ozkan","file":{"fid":"245938","name":"ozkan 169 copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ozkan%20169%20copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ozkan%20169%20copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":122466,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ozkan%20169%20copy.jpg?itok=Uk6vsYni"}}},"media_ids":["647865"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1284","name":"School of Modern Languages"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMichael Pearson\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nmichael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}