Roger M. Jones Journal

A professor of humanities at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, Roger M. Jones (d. 1977) was dedicated to teaching his students the profound human value of literature, and poetry in particular. A memorial fund at the College sponsors a fellowship for an engineering student to study humanities for a year at a European university. This journal follows the Roger M. Jones Fellow in his or her studies abroad. Mr. Daniel Connors is the 2013-2014 fellow.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

First stop: Istanbul

Just a quick little blurb on why Turkey is on my list of places to visit:

I can distinctly one spelling quiz in the third grade where we were asked to spell the word 'Constantinople.' I knew it was a city name, but I wanted to know where it located and what significance it had. As I looked up a map of Turkey, searching for where Constantinople was said to be located, I remember being horrendously dismayed that the city was now named Istanbul.

However, I do remember looking at the landscape of the city and still being amazed the strategic placement of its foundations, precariously located on a strait between both Europe and Asia. Already at the age of 9 or 10, I knew I wanted to discover the city and it's long history.