IKU Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe appeared as a guest on the program called "Foreign Trade World" on EKOTÜRK TV on Wednesday, May 29 at 15.00.  In the program moderated by Dr. Hakan Çınar and Erdem İlbeyi, matters related to business life, with particular emphasis on foreign trade, sustainability, technology, industry-university cooperation processes, were discussed.

"Istanbul Kültür University Evaluation Report on the Turkish Century Education Model" was prepared by our Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Ömür Ceylan and our Faculty of Education Dean Prof. Dr. Alim Kaya, with the contributions of Hasan Şimşek. In its report on the new curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education despite the objections of experts, it is stated that "It is written by conservative-idealist minds, targeting the 'conservative-idealist' type of person, and creates its traces." the statement was included.

The report stated in detail that the Turkish Century Education Model, which will be implemented as of September 2024, is worrying and that this haste should be abandoned, and said, "The implementation of the new program in the first, fifth and ninth grades in the new education without a pilot test is a great risk that concerns almost five million students” expressions.

NOT TRANSPARENCY , NO PARTICIPATION

In the report, it is emphasized that first of all, a scientific evaluation and needs analysis should be made of the current program and said, The opinion that says“There is no determination, emphasis or target regarding the economic function of education in the new program. Artificial intelligence, which profoundly affects all societies and lifestyles, economies, trade and health, and the society 5.0 it will create, have almost never been mentioned. Although it was stated that instructor's opinions were taken while preparing the program proposal, no concrete information was shared about those who contributed to the preparation phase. In the program, which is stated to be aimed at content simplification, the fact that some topics have a more intense content also raises questions about the participants whose opinions were consulted during the preparation phase. Finally, a change of this magnitude to be undertaken without even foreseeing any pilot application class/region/duration brings with it the danger of resulting in large costs, as in similar examples in the world, since the risk elements it contains will be effective indefinitely in a wide area. The preparation process was not shared transparently with the entire society, and the necessary participation of all relevant academics, unions and NGOs was not ensured." was included.

WE SHOULD ABANDON HASTINESS

The following is the continuation of the report, which states that the model is not clearly specified and it is also not specified to what extent it coincides with which of the known theories of educational philosophy as no reference is given: "The words selected in the 'philosophy of the program' section, which includes the content, language, onologicalepistemological-axiological stance in the first 14 pages, create the impression that they were written by the 'conservative-idealist' human type by targeting the 'conservative' minds. One of the model's exit claims is 'curriculum simplification'. However, according to the proposed model, there are 84 process components, 21 trends, 9 emotional social learning skills, 9 literacy skills, 20 values and related actions, as well as field-specific skills of 23 cognitive skills that should be gained even when considered at the level of a course. The size of our education system, our number of teachers and the upcoming summer vacation make it almost impossible to prepare teachers for the program at the desired level, even when only the 1st, 5th and 9th grades are taken into account. It would be appropriate and accurate to abandon the haste of the Turkish Century Education Model to be put into practice in the 2024-2025 academic year, to use the new program by all stakeholders of the next year to discuss and mature it, and to start the implementation by making appropriate corrections after receiving the necessary returns.

ARABIC-PERSIAN WORDS

Pointing out that the emphasis on the use and development of Turkish in the program is appropriate, "However, the language and words used in the text contradict this emphasis. The use of old and mystical words, most of which evoke some elements of faith, mostly Persian-Arabic origin, such as tezahür, ruh, kâinat, hikmet, mesuliyet, kemale ermek, mefkûre, müreffeh, fıtri, nefis, mana, hakikat, kâmil insan, ilim, etc. are some examples that show this contradiction.

THERE IS A LACK OF EMPHASIS ON ATATÜRK

In the report, which states that there is a lack of emphasis on the founding values of Atatürk and the Republic, the determinations on this subject are as follows: “Atatürk and our Republic, to which we owe our political existence and unity today, are among the most important values of our nation. An educational and scientific justification for the lack of emphasis on these values is unthinkable. It should not be forgotten that a society that cannot transfer the reason and history of political existence to its generations with the education system cannot continue its existence and unity. What is expected from the Ministry of National Education is to strongly protect the values of Atatürk and the Republic and to ensure that these values are comprehend our children."

Within the scope of the "Communication Strategies" course given by Lecturer Berna Sağlam, the Department of Communication Arts hosted successful actress and screenwriter Gupse Özay in the 3rd floor multi-purpose seminar hall in the Ataköy building of Bakırköy campus on Tuesday, May 21. The students of the Department of Communication Arts presented an exhibition of the communication and image campaigns they prepared over the course of a semester to the successful actress. Özay, who listened carefully to the research and campaign ideas of the students, gave feedback to the students and stated that she would evaluate the ideas. At the end of the presentation, our Head of the Department of Communication Arts Prof. Dr. Işıl Zeybek, for this study and activity, Lecturer Berna Sağlam presented a plate of flowers and memories to Gupse Özay.

Our Faculty of Architecture Dean Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoğlu, was reappointed as "Head of Bursa and Cumalıkızık Area " regarding the UNESCO World Heritage Site processes on May 21, 2024, by the decision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The "Music Festival" event, organized in collaboration with Assist. Prof. Gülnur Işıklar advisor to IKU Performing Arts Club and IKU Turkish Classical Music Choir Chief Tarkan Öngen, was hosted in the backyard of the Bakırköy campus Ataköy building on Monday, May 20. In the "We Sing Together" event, held with the great particitation of IKU academic/administrative staff and students, the IKU choir provided fun and enjoyable moments for the audience.

"The 'Best' of Clubs" awards, which were planned by the Kültür Point to increase the healing competition between student clubs, which are one of the cornerstones of student life, and to reinforce the student-club interaction, found their owners. In the votes held between 3-20 May 2024, 5 thousand 207 independent votes were used. Student clubs competing in 11 different categories completed the process in a fierce competition. 

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe and our Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gülce Öğrüç Ildız also attended to the ceremony.

Categories and Awarded Clubs

Click to access detailed results... 

The musical and interactive children's play “Around the World in Eighty Days”, adapted from the immortal work of Jules Verne, was performed at Akıngüç Auditorium and Art Centre on Saturday, May 25, 2024. The play, which tells the story of Phileas Fogg, who knows that the person who completes the world tour will learn a very important piece of information, going on a world tour with his servant Passepartout to learn this information and the adventures that happen to them on the way, received great acclaim from both children and adults.

A sapling donation was made in Çanakkale through the TEMA Foundation on behalf of the senior students studying in the Department of Architecture, Turkish and English programs. With this practice, which is planned to be made traditional, it is aimed to preserve the sustainability of their professional lives, to have a symbolically planted tree by IKU, and to change the Istanbul Kültür University grove of the Department of Architecture with the power taken from the unity of the graduates.

An event titled "Doors of the Quantum World: The Most Mysterious Area of ​​Science" was organized by IKU Vocational School on Friday, May 24, 2024, at the Design Factory in the Ataköy building of the Bakırköy campus. At the event in which Vocational School Director Prof. Dr. Mehmet Özer was a speaker, Topics such as quantum, modern physics and relativity theory were discussed.

Gümüşlük Quarries Festival Area Design Workshop was held between 19-21 April, with the participation of our Faculty of Architecture Dean Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoğlu, our academians of the Department of Architecture Lecturer Dr. Suzan Sanlı Esin, Lecturer Kerem Ganiç and Res. Assist. İdil Akkuzu, as well as 21 students and 4 graduates.

The workshop, which was considered as a social responsibility project, was held at the Design Factory in the Ataköy building of the Bakırköy campus. In the workshop, the students were divided into 4 groups and 4 separate designs were developed under the leadership of our mentor graduates.

13 valuable jury members from the world of architecture and music evaluated the projects.

The exhibition was opened at the Design Factory on Thursday, May 30, at 16.00, the jury award was announced and participation certificates were presented to all participants.

The projects produced in the workshop are expected to be implemented in Gümüşlük Festival Area.

An event titled "Inspiring Leaders"  was organised by IKU Vocational School , on Friday, May 24, 2024. At the event in which Apple Manager İnci Özdemir Ünalan  was a guest speaker, Step-by-step career processes, leader communication and corporate motivation issues were discussed.

A demo event called "FQ Charging Launch" was held, in which the battery project designed for electric cars by Zafer Çiyit, a student of IKU Department of International Trade and Finance and Co-President of the Foreign Trade Club and Entrepreneur, was launched.  At the launch held at the Küçükçekmece campus conference hall on Thursday, May 23, 2024, how to use the product was demonstrated.  We wish further success to the IKU student Zafer Çiyit.

Our students and academics of the Department of Industrial Engineering presented their work at the Sustainability and Innovative Technologies Symposium held on May 9, 2024.

Presented papers:

1- A Multi Criteria Decision Making Approach for Sustainable Energy Investment Decision Problem: Melih Kutay Yıldırım, Furkan Güner
2- Sustainability in an Organic Fabric Production: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach: Hazal Ilgın Erçetin, Merve Arı
3- Selecting the Location of Wind Energy Power Plant for Polat Energy: Yasin Söylemez, Asrın Büşra Habipoğlu, Mehmet Ali Tunç
4- Evaluating Herbal Tea Packaging Options via A Hybrid MCDM Approach: Selin Ormancı, Selen Arugün, Buse Öner
5- An MCDM Application for Cost Effective and Sustainable Production Recipe Selection: The Case of Ceramic Tile Production: Gökçe Mol, Emine Şeyma Durmuş
 6- Waste Disposal and Recycling Practices for Sustainable Urban Planning and Design: An MCDM Approach: Berk Kara, Barış Akman
 7- Integrated and Smart Public Lighting Systems and Solutions For Smart Cities: Res. Assist. Dilek Akbaş
8- Analysis of Sustainable Forest Fire Management Policies: A Conceptual Model: Müjgan Bilge Eriş, Assist. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel, Assist. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer
 9- A Conceptual Model for the Analysis of the Sustainability Effects of the Mucilage Problem in the Marmara Sea on Economic Sectors: Assist. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer, Assist. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel
10- A Sustainability-Focused Three-Step Approach for Determining Temporary Debris Collection Areas in Istanbul: Assist. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel, Assist. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer
11- Analysis of the Economic Effects of the Expected Istanbul Earthquake: A Conceptual Model for Sustainable Economic Policies: Çağla Alparslan, Assist. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel, Assist. Prof. Eylül Damla Gönül Sezer”

The book chapter titled "Examining the Effects of Forest Fires: A Framework for Integrating System Dynamics and Remote Sensing Approaches", among its authors is the IKU Deputy Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering Assist. Prof. Duygun Fatih Demirel, was published in the book titled "Sensors for Environmental Monitoring, Identification, and Assessment" published by IGI Global .

The Cartoon and Animation Kültür Club will organize a “Designer Toy Workshop” where toys will be designed from modeling clay. The workshop, which will be led by Assist. Prof. Sevim Karaalioğlu, will be held on Wednesday, June 5, between 11.00-17.00 at the Bakırköy campus Ataköy building in the classroom numbered 1C 11-13.

IKU Design Factory will organize the “Demoday” event on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at 13.00 at the Design Factory in Ataköy building of Bakırköy campus. At the event, startup teams, who have received the trainings given at the Design Factory throughout the year, will come together with distinguished investors and present their ideas.

The poster presentations of the thesis studies, which were prepared by the final year students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics within the scope of “MBG7002 Graduation Project I” and “MBG8002 Graduation Project II” courses taken in the seventh and eighth semesters, will be held on Thursday, June 6 at 11:00 am at Bakırköy campus Ataköy building (in front of MOBIGEN building).

The Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering will organize the “Alumni Panel” event on Thursday, June 6, 2024, at 15.00 at Bakırköy campus Ataköy building 2nd floor multipurpose seminar hall.

IKU Turkish Folk Music Choir will give a concert at Darülaceze on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 14.00 with the organization of IKU Young Office and Music Club. 

The English Literature Society, the student club of the Department of English Language and Literature, will perform Liz Lochhead's play “Blood and Ice (1982)” for the second time on Friday, June 7, at 15:00 at the Önder Öztunalı Conference Hall in the Ataköy Building of Bakırköy Campus.