Cultural Capital and Return Migration to Turkey

This research project studies Turkish university professors who have spent significant periods of time living in the United States or Canada but have decided to move back to Turkey. I want to understand why these professors choose to move back to Turkey after spending so much time in North America, and what factors cause them to leave. This project will take place in Istanbul, Turkey with possible trips to Ankara and other cities to meet my subjects. The research will include interviews with twenty-five professors from various backgrounds. The hypothesis that I will test is that the election of the Justice and Development Party in 2002 started a new wave of migration of religiously-oriented professors returning home. This differs from previous trends that involved primarily nationalist and secular academics as return migrants.

Faculty Supervisor:

Gavin Brockett

Student:

Naomi Pearson

Partner:

Discipline:

Visual arts

Sector:

University:

Wilfrid Laurier University

Program:

Globalink