Turkey's first and only preference festival, TercihFest, organized for the fifth time this year and hosted successful prospective students at the preference stage, ended after an intense program. Within the scope of TercihFest 2024, prospective students from 42 different cities of our country, who were hosted at our University between July 19-21, spent a productive 3 days consisting of workshops, summit speeches, and social activities such as Bosphorus Tour, competitions with prizes, open-air cinema.
The event started with program coordinator Burak Erdem's presentation about the event. Erdem stated that TercihFest is very guiding for students in the preference period, as it allows students to attend the classes of that department, breathe the atmosphere of the classroom, and establish one-to-one communication with current students, graduates and academic staff of the department to get to know the departments that the prospective student wants to write on the preference list.
On the first day of the program, at the dinner held in the campus square, prospective students came together with our Board of Trustees and academicians at the same table.
Speaking at the dinner, Prof. İrfan Gündüz, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, pointed out that the greatest value and the most significant measure of a country's wealth is its trained human resources, and talked about our goal as Ibn Haldun University to try to raise our students to have the quality and format to surpass their peers according to the conditions of the future in Turkey and the world. Prof. Gündüz advised the students to analyze themselves very well during the preference process and determine the person they want to be in the future. Gündüz also mentioned that our graduates are already in very good places with our goal of raising qualified graduates and the work we have done in line with this goal.
Addressing the students after Prof. İrfan Gündüz, Necmeddin Bilal Erdoğan, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees, stated that the TercihFest organized by our University, which is truly a foundation university in Turkey, undertakes a kind of horizon-opening mission not only to introduce Ibn Haldun University but also to direct students to the field of social sciences. Our Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees explained that the reason for accepting all undergraduate students with full scholarships is to enable the best students to reach the highest goals and that opportunities such as the trilingualism policy, DMP, and Minor programs all serve this purpose. Mr. Erdoğan concluded his speech by telling the group of bright students who were entitled to participate in TercihFest 2024 about the contribution to their future careers of growing up in an idealistic institution like Ibn Haldun University that will support them to the end in their big goals.
Lastly, our Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan reminded the students that they are at one of the three biggest turning points in their lives: choosing a university, choosing a spouse, and choosing a profession. Prof. Arkan mentioned that it is a good opportunity for prospective students to take part in an event such as TercihFest, where they gain experience and share information about their future in terms of profession and career management, and emphasized that the only thing that can sustain them in the future is to gain skills and competencies and to keep them continuously developable. Stating that we are a University that aspires to this in terms of its social sciences origin, mission, and vision, our Rector underlined that as an institution, we care about the interaction of all social sciences with each other and creating accumulation for a better, fair and beautiful future of humanity, based on our experience and common sense. Mr. Arkan concluded his speech by stating that the world needs people with a broad heart and minds in the future and that he sees his future colleagues who are competent enough to provide this balance.
Within the scope of TercihFest, university candidates participated in workshop lectures given by our academicians for all branches of social sciences from philosophy to psychology, from law to political science, and international relations for 3 days. While our students had the opportunity to discuss and analyze important and current topics in the field of social sciences in the workshops organized in 3 simultaneous workshops in 3 different periods each day, they also had the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of a real university course with academicians.
On the first day of TercihFest, prospective students heard Prof. Medaim Yanık on “How Traumatic Experiences Affect Our Psychology”; and Prof. Bilal Aybakan on “The Role of Religion in the Life of Individual and Society”; Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Yusuf Özdemir on “International Relations from the Palestinian Window”; Assoc. Prof. Mehmet Karanfiloğlu on “New Media and Artificial Intelligence”; Prof. Dr. Alev Erkilet on “City and Social Change”; Assoc. Prof. Ömer Faruk Erol on “Artificial Intelligence and Law”; Prof. Halil Berktay on “Ancient Imagination of the Renaissance: Raffaello, School of Athens” by Prof. Halil Berktay; “Smart Businesses, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain” by Prof. Selim Zaim and “The Future of Education and the Role of Teachers” by Prof. Özcan Erkan Akgün.
On the second day, Dr. Hasan Ramazan Yılmaz presented “Film Festivals in Turkey and the World: A Reading on Visual Language”; Prof. Ali Osman Kuşakcı ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ethics’; Assoc. Assist. Mustafa Yıldırım “Ottoman International Relations in the Context of Great Power Politics”; Assist. Prof. Mustafa Oğuz Tuna “Legal Education in Turkey”; Assist. Prof. Tuba Erkoç Baydar's “Muslim Perspective on the Meaning and Value of Human Being”; Prof. Ramazan Aras' “Thinking Sociologically”; Prof. Hasan Vergil's “Why Some Countries are Rich and Some are Poor”; Assoc. Prof. Faruk Yaslıçimen “How to Write History in the 21st Century”; Dr. Mehmet Akın Bulut met with university candidates with workshop lectures titled “Educational Mentoring in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”.
On the last day of TercihFest, in the workshop sessions, Assoc. Prof. Kübra Kulaklıkaya, “Social Media Psychology”; Prof. Muhittin Kaplan, “What is the Future of the Labor Market in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?”; Research Assist. Abdussamet Sarıkaya “JERUSALEM from the Perspective of Three Religions”; Dr. Şeyda Eruyar “Understanding and Managing Stress”; Assoc. Prof. Yeliz Bozkurt Gümrükçüoğlu “Mediation Practices in Legal Disputes”; Assoc. Prof. İbrahim Vehbi Baysan “How to Prepare a Research Proposal in the Ottoman Archives?”; Assoc. Prof. Arzu Ünal “Sociology: Discovery of Society”; Prof. Şükrü Yıldız ‘Human and Law’; Assist. Prof. Sümeyye Kuşakçı “7 Sieges and 1 Victory: A Strategic Conquest Story” and Dr. Burcu Uysal came together with university candidates within the scope of the workshop lessons titled “Saying No Before The Body Says No”.
On the first day of the event, after the dinner held in the campus square, prospective students had a pleasant time at the open-air cinema event organized in the campus garden.
On the second day of the program, a Bosphorus Tour was organized and on the third and last day of the program, a competition with prizes was organized. Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, Minister of Family and Social Services of the Republic of Turkey, Fatih Karahan, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Hatice Akıncı Yılmaz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜRGEV, Fatma Meriç Yılmaz, President of the Turkish Red Crescent, Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, Erhan Afyoncu, Historian, Yahya Bostan, Academy and Publication Coordinator of Anadolu Agency and Mesut Özil, Former Footballer, met with prospective students at the Summit Talks organized within the scope of TercihFest.
The TercihFest '24 program ended with the presentation of certificates of participation and memorial photographs at the closing ceremony.
