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June-July 2008
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ALUMNI NEWS |
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New Home in Turkey Brings New Opportunities When Christina Bache Fidan, SIS/BA ’03, SIS/MA ’04, transferred to American University, she knew she had finally found a university that could match her enthusiasm for community service. After completing her undergraduate degree in 2003, Fidan continued her education at AU, receiving her Master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution in 2004. Following graduation, Fidan eventually found her way to Istanbul, Turkey. “It has something for everyone,” she says. Fidan fell in love with the city immediately and wondered why AU did not have an alumni chapter in Istanbul. Spurred on by the fact that at least three other D.C.-area universities all host alumni chapters in Istanbul, Fidan worked with AU alumni in the area to create AU’s first alumni chapter in Istanbul. Having been in existence for a little more than a year, the chapter has already put on two events. On May 28, the new AU group took part in a gathering of D.C. area alumni from several other D.C. area universities with a presence in Istanbul. “It was an exciting vibe,” says Fidan. A little more than a week later, President Neil Kerwin, CAS/BA ’71, and 19 alumni attended an AU-only event. Again, progress was evident to Fidan. “We’ve had this core group for about a year now,” she said. “I think we’re really building a community.” From this event, Fidan was ecstatic about other opportunities, especially the possibility of beginning a relationship with the Washington College of Law, which sends students to study abroad in Istanbul. Fidan even considered how having an AU chapter in Turkey could serve a diplomatic purpose. “A D.C. Network could be quite effective in promoting good Turkish-U.S. relations,” she said. Fidan’s bent for action comes from her upbringing. Her father was in the military, and the family made community service trips to impoverished areas. She later lived in Central America, and Mexico, to carry out similar initiatives. Fidan moved to Turkey following stints in the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Now working as a program coordinator for the Turkey-U.S. Public Policy Initiative and the Germany Meets Turkey Program at the İstanbul Policy Center, Fidan hopes to eventually have a wider influence, especially with the rising youth of the country. “Turkish society finds itself at a crossroads,” she noted in a May 2008 editorial piece for the Common Ground News Service. “The vision of a homogenous nation [is] challenged by various social elements, particularly among minority communities that are calling for greater cultural freedom and economic development.” To help address these problems, she hopes to use conflict resolution as a teaching tool and a way to begin to bring Turkey into the international community. Programs in conflict resolution in Turkey are very theoretically based, she notes, though she is working to change that. Having moved ahead professionally and with the alumni chapter, Fidan looks forward to gaining more exposure for AU. With her drive and enthusiasm, there’s no doubt she can make it happen. -Dan Beardslee, SOC/BA ’07
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