ARIT MISSION AND HISTORY
The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) is a non-profit educational institution dedicated to promoting North American and Turkish research and exchanges related to Turkey in all fields of the humanities and social sciences. ARIT provides support for these scholarly endeavors by maintaining research centers in Istanbul and Ankara, and by administering programs of fellowships to support research in Turkey at doctoral and advanced research levels.
The range of research encompassed by American research in Turkey reflects the cultural richness of Turkey itself. From the Old Stone Age to the present, Turkey presents numerous opportunities for research in archaeology, architecture and art history, historical, textual, and archival studies, linguistics, literature, musicology, religion, anthropology, political science, sociology, and interdisciplinary studies. See the listing of recent ARIT Fellows for a sample of the broad range of projects supported by ARIT programs.
ARIT programs support both U.S.-based researchers and Turkish scholars who wish to carry out research in Turkey. The Hanfmann and Mellink fellowships provide opportunities for Turkish scholars and advanced students in archaeology to carry out research abroad. Finally, the ARIT Mellon Fellowship Program for East and Central European scholars has brought researchers from those regions to Turkey from 1994 through 2010.
Since 1982, ARIT has administered a program of intensive advanced Turkish language study in cooperation with Bogaziçi University, now complemented by the U.S. Department of State's Critical Language Institutes.
In 1964, a group of scholars representing American and Canadian universities established the American Research Institute in Turkey. ARIT can now celebrate forty-five years of facilitating productive scholarship in and concerned with Turkey, having funded more than 600 U.S.-based research projects and 400 Turkish research projects in Turkey. In addition, the Institute has supported close to 350 students of advanced Turkish language in Istanbul.
The ARIT institutional membership includes thirty-eight universities and institutions as full or associational members. In the U.S., ARIT sponsors lectures and events in collaboration with the American Turkish Council, the New York chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
ARIT Friends groups in North America and Turkey provide welcome support for the work of the Institute. The bi-annual ARIT Newsletter is sent to all members of the Friends organizations. ARIT welcomes anyone interested in promoting advanced research and exchanges in Turkey to become a member of the Friends of ARIT.
CONTACT:
The American Research Institute in Turkey
3260 South Street
Philadelphia PA 19104 |
(215) 898-3474
leinwand at sas.upenn.edu |
ARIT institutional member, the University of Pennsylvania, houses the ARIT U.S. office in the Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology in Philadelphia.
ARIT is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
ARIT programs enjoy financial support from U.S. agencies including the Department of State, Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
