CLASSIC, MODERN AND POSTMODERN LITERATURE 

ACL115 English Culture and Literature

Studying literature opens up a world of inspiration and imagination and helps us develop skills that are necessary for today?s global environment. What is the purpose of studying English literature? Why do the students of the Department of American Culture and Literature take a compulsory course on English literature? How does English literature provide a background for American literature? This course aims to give students increased insight into and knowledge of English culture and literature. It introduces students to historical, political, literary, and religious contexts ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day by analyzing selected literary texts. Thus, this course allows the students to develop a knowledge of literary history and enhances their understanding of a wide range of cultures and intellectual traditions. By the end of the semester, students will be readers/interpreters of major works of English literature and culture.

ACL 441 Postmodern American Fiction and ACL442 Contemporary American Fiction

One of the aims of our department is to acquaint our students with the contemporary cultural and literary developments in the field of American Studies. You may think that it is almost impossible to catch up with the latest trends and current developments in technology and science, let alone art, at the present moment, which is characterized by speed. ACL443 Postmodern American Fiction and ACL444 Contemporary American Fiction will draw you a literary map to follow the recent developments in American fiction starting with the latter half of the twentieth century until the present time by focusing on the influence of technology and science, on the production of literature and to provide you with necessary theoretical tools to comprehend your experience of the contemporary art. Both courses introduce the historical context, political atmosphere and philosophical perspectives of the periods they aim to cover and discuss the cultural background and experimental narrative techniques of the short stories and novels written by selected representative authors such as Paul Auster, Kurt Vonnegut, Donald Barthelme, John Barth, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kathy Acker, Don DeLillo, Jonathan Franzen, Lydia Davis, Dave Eggers, Jennifer Egan and more. If you are interested in reading fiction that includes labyrinthine narrative structures, detectives with shifting identities, fairy tale characters with reversed gender roles, historical narratives with fantastic elements, responses to 9/11, health issues, trauma and memory problems, ecological crisis, computerization of everyday life and effects of consumer culture, these courses will certainly pique your curiosity.

ACL 374 Graphic Narrative

Would you like to learn about mainstream comic book superheroes such as Captain America, Batman, or Wonderwoman? Or discover more about comic books in general? What if we told you  that you could study such examples of graphic narratives in this department as an elective course? In the graphic narrative course we learn about the different types of graphic narratives  including graphic novels, comic books and comic strips. In the course, we also talk about the different ways in which we encounter the culture of the comic book industry in our everyday lives. Moreover, we explore the mechanics of graphic narratives such as how artists create panels and make use of visuals and colors and even get to prepare our very own comic strips as assignments! At the end of this course, you will be an expert in comic book culture, come and join the graphic narrative universe

ACL 376 American Drama and  Performance 

Are you interested in performance studies? Then, this course is designed especially for you! In the American Drama and Performance course, you will have the unique opportunity to open the magic curtains of the stage. This is a performance-focused course. Therefore, in class, distinguished American plays are textually analyzed and practiced for performance. Practice classes invite new actors and actresses to explore improvisation skills, fundamental acting techniques, and stage combat in a friendly and constructive environment.  At the end of the course, you will develop acting and directing skills, as well as critical thinking. And you will remember the final performance on stage as a life-changing experience. Would you like to feel your heartbeats backstage? Let's draw the red curtains together!

ART AND CULTURE

ACL 116 Classical Mythology

ACL 116 Classical Mythology concentrates on the stories that the classical world people told to entertain each other, to define the nature of their world and its institutions, and to create and keep a memory of their past. Do you want to learn a universal vehicle for communication? A kind  of language that can lure you in like a moth to a candle flame? That?s the world of Classical Mythology. Throughout the semester, we read sacred tales of  thousands of years old. They answer timeless questions and serve as a compass to each reader regardless of the changing time and space. How are myths formed? What do myths mean? How do they affect people and influence their culture? With the leading of these questions, our goal in this course is to appreciate these stories and the role they have played in the culture that has produced them.   

ACL 253 Introduction to Cultural Studies 1

Would you like to become a master semiotician? Like Sherlock Holmes, would you enjoy solving puzzles? The primary stage in the track of culture courses, this course helps you to find out how all signs around us? whether textual, visual or audio-visual - can be deciphered through a closer look. From dressing styles to advertisements, song lyrics to film, signs provide messages, some obvious, others hidden. So let's start digging in; let's apply what is learned in class to our everyday practices. There's nothing to be memorized for this class; there's a skill to be mastered!

ACL 455/456  American Cinema and Film Studies 1 & 2

How would you like to becomea film critic? Or, better yet, a film scholar? The final stage in the track of culture courses, American Cinema and Film Studies 1 and 2 equip you towards deciphering films as complex sign systems. In addition to surveying the history of film as an art form and of Hollywood as an industry, these courses provide the much needed methodological tools through which film, as a form of representation, can be critically analyzed. They also foreground the framework in which cultural issues such as race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, and ability as represented in films should be decoded. So if you think you would enjoy "reading" films from a learned standpoint, these are the courses you are looking for.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

ACL 103 Basic Translation and ACL104 Advanced Translation

Are you ready to master your language skills? Then, these courses are for you! ACL103 Basic Translation and ACL104 Advanced Translation courses focus on translation skills from English to Turkish and from Turkish to English through an intersectional and interdisciplinary lens. With a selection of a variety of texts from such different fields of studies as medicine, media, communication, culture, history, tourism and journalism, your cultural, social and historical perspectives are sure to change. Besides, by comparing and contrasting the sentence structures of the target and the source language, your linguistic knowledge will improve and you will necessary analytical and critical skills to formulate a translation of the texts you are studying. 

ACL 101/102 Academic Research and Writing 1&2 

Writing is difficult! Are you one of those people who believe in such urban myths? Then you are in the right place to question your assumptions. ACL101 and ACL102 will provide you with necessary writing strategies to carry out basic research tasks. You will learn how to write well-structured paragraphs and different types of essays, formulate research questions, and produce research papers. Besides, these courses will guide you towards organizing and documenting your writings in MLA and/or APA formats, reviewing and correcting typos and internalizing the principles of academic integrity. 

ACL 173 Speaking and Rhetoric

Have you ever broken a sweat because of a presentation or speech you had to deliver in front of a crowded audience? Or have you ever been nervous about how convincing you are when you speak? Public speech itself can be quite daunting without the pressure of it being persuasive and to-the-point but with Speaking and Rhetoric course there is always room for improvement, and greatness!

Speaking and Rhetoric Course will help you unlock the secret skills of famous orators and learn to enchant the crowd with your improved fluency and speech delivery skills. This course introduces the students with the art of rhetoric, its key principles to help them develop their speech. The course also provides its future rhetorics with dynamic speaking skills, help them speak fluently with the help of classroom activities and improve their presentation skills. In-class discussions and presentations on different topics aim to increase the effectiveness and persuasiveness of oral speech. The debate-like format of the course allows for the improvement of key rhetoric skills such as invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery. The students will be able to pay attention and apply the rules of spoken English. They will have been donated with the essential skills to use English effectively both in daily life communication and academic platforms by paying specific attention to spoken language rules. 

HISTORY, POLITICS AND SOCIETY

ACL 111/2 History of the Western Civilizations 1&2

Imagine that you have a time machine! What would you like to do? Supervising the construction of Egyptian pyramids, contesting your ideaswith Plato in the Athenian agora, or watching Leonardo da Vinci while he is working on an anatomical sketch? Indeed, History of the Western Civilizations 1 and 2 courses offer you a delightful journey in time. With these courses, you will build knowledge of the Western experience from the dawn of humanity to the twenty-first century with references to global developments. These courses, which place critical thought and pluralistic perspectives at the center, will increase your cultural awareness, comprehension of modern world affairs, and universal values. Hence, the knowledge acquired through the study of civilization will shed light on our shared past, and it can lead to a rewarding career in our shared future.

 ACL 251/2 Survey of American History 1&2

Survey of American History 1 and 2 courses introduce a comprehensive overview of the history of the United States, surveying the turning points from the Age of Exploration through modern times. The teaching material draws on original scholarship that has reframed the genesis of the US within a broad geographical and chronological perspective. The inclusive program goes beyond the colonialist approach and does not marginalize others. Major discussion themes include Native American culture, settler colonialism, slavery, the Revolution, inequality, white supremacy, democracy, economic and political development, civil rights movements, ideologies, social classes, the space race, and globalization. 

What makes the scope of ACL 251-252 courses more relevant to us? Indeed, these topics belong not only to the past but to the present and the future: we make connections between these temporal planes. Moreover, certain aspects of American history can be understood only from the perspective of world history, and many of our modern problems, both social and individual, can be better analyzed with reference to the American experience. In this relation, American history provides two models for us: Reenacting our historical stages and helping to forge a shared future vision. Indeed, the American experience, with its institutions, peoples, and cornerstones, is not necessarily as "American" as a slice of apple pie! 

ACL 375 American Politics

ACL 375 American Politics concentrates on the foundations and purposes of American political system. The course covers the topics such as the Constitution, American political culture, civil rights, the presidency, political parties, Congress, Supreme Court, presidential elections, public opinion, and interest groups. With each topic, the student is asked to question: What is the LOGIC of American government?s institutions? Completing each week?s readings, class discussions and lectures, the students are able to distinguish the roles played by institutions, groups, and individuals in influencing government policies and actions. ACL 375 concentrates on the relationship between U.S. political institutions and U.S. citizens, and the citizens? attitudes changing over time in different political contexts. At the end of the semester, the students can acknowledge how Collins describe politics: "politics the art and science of political government"