Afterword

We asked the students to share their “personal geographies,” or an account of their daily commute to university and what they encounter.  This was a way to tap into lived experience and connect the theoretical with reality “on the ground.”  The physical experience of a place is a central component of cultural experience – the tangible aspect of one’s circumstances.  The images below were taken by Melisa Akbulut, one of our Turkish authors. The haptic quality of these images, their ability to temporarily immerse the viewer in a particular landscape, reflect the goal of the project to experience “windows” into another culture. We continue to seek experiences where university students from distant geographies can connect authentically to gain an understanding of other cultural perspectives.