The first group of American teachers participating on the TCF Teacher Study Tours visited Turkey in early July and TCF is now hosting the second group of teachers on the tour until July 27. You may follow the journey of the teachers on the TCF Facebook and TCF Teacher Study Tours Blog. An article about the tour was published in the Gazette, a Maryland publication.

TCF renewed its grant to the Intensive Ottoman and Turkish  Summer School (IOTSS) organized in Cunda, Avyalik by the Ottoman Studies Foundation. TCF has been sponsoring the School since 2010, which also receives support from Harvard University and Koc University. This year's session is currently underway through August 16 and enrolls 22 students from various countries. Courses include modern Turkish, including sessions on translation, grammar and syntax, and Ottoman Paleography and texts. The program also features prominent guest lecturers every year.

TCF is supporting the participation of young Turkish jazz musicians in a series of jazz events organized by the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC later in September. The emerging young musicians from Ankara will have a chance to learn about jazz history and perform with local student jazz musicians at various cultural venues in D.C., with a view to create lasting connections between young musicians in Turkey and the US.

Several new videos have been added to the TCF video gallery. TCF Culinary Arts Center (Yemek Sanatlari Merkezi - YESAM) lectures on Albanian Cuisine, Gaziantep Cuisine, Istanbul Rum (Greek) Cuisine and on Pastirma are in Turkish and can be watched here. An English summary of each lecture is provided on the YESAM website. All lectures that took place  under the 2012-2013 season of the TCF Lecture Series in Istanbul can also now be viewed online at the TCF Video Gallery.

Ali Dolanbay, a contemporary and performing artist, performed at the Panoply Performance Laboratory in Brooklyn New York on July 7. Dolanbay’s performance, “Untitled Singular Act,” took place as part of the Brooklyn International Performance Art Festival and was supported by through the TCF Cultural Exchange Fellowship program. After exhibiting her work at Glass Boston  Gulfidan Ozmen, a glass artist and TCF Cultural Exchange Fellow, was invited to participate in an international glass exhibition at Clark Gallery in Boston. The exhibition titled Spectra” will remain open until August 30.

Dr.Ilgim Veryeri-Alaca, a recipient of the TCF Fellowship in Turkish Culture and Art will give a presentation on "Picturebooks and Newer Media as Pedagogical Tools for Pre-school Children in Turkey” at the 21st Biennial Conference of the International Research Society for Children's Literature, which will take place in Maastricht, Netherlands on August 10.

The TCF Istanbul branch welcomed four American students from Michigan State University,  University of Arizona, and San Francisco State University studying at Bogazici University and Bahcesehir University this summer with support from the Minority Scholarship Program of the Turkish Coalition of America. A group of 30 graduate students from various universities across the world also visited the TCF Istanbul office on July 2nd, where they received a lecture by Dr. Nurhan Atasoy, TCF Senior Scholar in Residence, on “Art in the time of Suleyman the Magnificent.” Another lecture by Dr. Hakan Yavuz Coordinator of the Turkish Studies Project at the University of Utah focused on “Historical Challenges for Today’s Turkey.”