SEC 404 Sectoral Project Applications Course

‘Researching Urban Segregation and Cooperation’ through Nişantepe Neighborhood’

To introduce students to real-world problems and enable them to become part of the solution, the SEC 404 project course — newly added this year to the Sectoral Education Unit’s curriculum — expands our field of study toward the city.

In collaboration with the Center for Spatial Justice (Mekanda Adalet Derneği), the project course will focus on Nişantepe neighborhood as its field site. Architecture and Law students will work together to contextualize the urban transformation processes they witness and take part in, engage in interdisciplinary discussions to explore the issue from different perspectives, and investigate ways of active participation in these processes.

Open to 3rd- and 4th-year students from the Architecture (Turkish) and Law Departments, this elective project course simply requires that students be interested in the subject, eager to do research, and ready to work for change.

Contact: ozlem.bahadir@ozyegin.edu.tr

Course Objectives
The course is built around two main objectives:

• To provide students with an intellectual basis through readings and discussions so that they can contextualize the transformations taking place in their city, articulate their ideas about these processes, and create space to explore their own personal position as both professionals-in-training and urban citizens.

• To reconsider entrenched patterns of spatial segregation, to re-examine urban coexistence/separation at different scales and forms within a framework of collaboration, and to develop strategies for change in an interdisciplinary environment.

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding the dynamics, changes, and transformations of the city in which they live
• Conducting critical readings on urban rights, responsibilities, and participation, and situating these issues within a macro context
• Interpreting urban connections and intersections within an interdisciplinary intellectual setting
• Recognizing the relationships between real-world issues and the theories, methods, and concepts learned in Architecture and Law programs, and applying acquired knowledge
• Gaining experience in interdisciplinary and team-based work
• Critically evaluating proposed solutions, making informed choices, and being able to justify them