“Home Is Where the Shaykh Is”: The Concept of Exile in the Hagiography of İbrahim-i Gülşeni

The hagiographical narrative of the Halveti shaykh ?brahim-i Gül?eni, spanning a critical period in Islamic history when the shaykhs of Sunni mystical orders were pushed out of Iran and Azerbaijan to take up residence elsewhere, initially seems to be an excellent source for understanding how medieval thinkers reacted to the concept of exile. However, upon closer examination of the hagiographer and his work, we realize that it was not just the existence of a physical exile from one's homeland that was critical to the work. This article takes a closer look at how Muhyi-yi Gül?eni, the author and compiler of the hagiography of ?brahim-i Gül?eni and his followers, constructs the concept of exile in both its physical and metaphorical senses. In the world of a vastly expanded Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the reign of Sultan Süleyman that required its literate elites to take up posts far from home, Muhyi reconfigures the idea of exile to reflect a separation or estrangement from one's mystical guide. This narrative strategy both reinforced the audience's devotion to the order and offered a source of comfort to groups who were forced to travel to distant parts of the realm.     

Demand for and productivity analysis of Turkish public theater

We estimate a demand function for live theater provided by the General Directorate of State Theaters in Turkey. We show that demand is more elastic in less developed cities, that attendance is not significantly affected by various qualitative variables, and that the government's practice of offering free passes to government officials is an ineffective way of increasing paid attendance. Comedies and musicals both show significantly higher attendance. Having a Turkish author does not significantly affect attendance. Having a known author significantly increases attendance for more developed cities but not for less developed cities. Being the opening season significantly reduces attendance in less developed cities but has no effect in more developed cities. We also present evidence of inefficiency in state theaters in Turkey through a performance of plays equation in which we evaluate the determinants of the number of performances per play.     

Developing a sandwich course/co-operative education and training programme in Venezuela

The assignment offered to the author in 1972 (under the auspices of the UK Ministry for Overseas Development 1972—73) was stated quite simply — “adapt the concept and philosophy of UK sandwich/co-op courses to fit into the structure and organisation of a university in Venezuela.” The work was to be based on the proposals contained in a feasibility study (under the auspices of Unesco February to April 1970) undertaken by him in 1970. The location for the courses was to be Universidad Simon Bolivar, which is situated on 380 hectares in the Valle de Sartenejas some 15 km south of the centre of Caracas, the capital.     

Virtual education in universities: a technological imperative

Many educational journals have debated the issue of the "virtual university". As technology is improving and evolving, such "virtuality" becomes a reality. The forecasts are that, in the not too distant future, it will be possible for courses to be completed solely by the use of the World Wide Web or Internet. These "virtual classrooms" will take the place of the solid buildings where students currently attend lectures, at set times in set rooms. The information will be gathered at the student's convenience and assignments will be handed in via this medium. There is potentially an advantage for everyone involved, from the reduced building resource costs to the availability of teaching support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Whilst many of these studies identify the benefits of technology in education there are dissenting voices from many other quarters. However there are also arguments identifying the disadvantages to the technology based delivery systems proposed. Either way, there are going to be radical changes in the methods which students will use to tackle the workload involved in studying towards a degree. This paper will explore both sides of the argument. The main contention of this paper is that technology undoubtedly will offer many benefits for the learner, however, the pitfalls need careful consideration in the design of the learning environment. This paper uses examples from educational institutions across different cultures.