The seminar is part of European Doctoral School on Consumer Culture Theorizing. The seminar website is: crts.bilkent.edu.tr/act8.html, and programs of similar seminars run in 2005, 2007, and 2009 are available at:

• crts.bilkent.edu.tr/activities.html

Objectives of the Seminar

1. The goal of the seminar is to familiarize scholars with the socio-culturally inspired studies of market, consumption and marketing or Consumer Culture Theoretics (CCT). The readings and the speakers highlight an interdisciplinary perspective and seek to expose the participants to sophisticated discussions of consumption and markets within marketing, anthropology, sociology, communication, and cultural and gender studies. These discussions center on mid-range and contextualized theory. The seminar emphasizes the historical, socio-cultural, political-economic and ethical dimensions and challenges of consumption and marketing in developed and developing nations in the contemporary global world. 
2. The seminar also aims to enable the participants to conceptualize their work in relationship to the literature. Speakers and participants will discuss what constitutes a theoretical contribution and how to theorize and formulate a contribution. 
3. Another purpose of the seminar is to increase the participants’ awareness of the expectations of international journals and review processes. There will be a faculty panel on “how to publish” research papers.

Seminar Coordinators

• Ozlem Sandikci (contact person)
  Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University
  E-mail: sandikci@bilkent.edu.tr
• Güliz Ger
  Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University
  E-mail: ger@bilkent.edu.tr
• Olga Kravets
  Faculty of Business Administration, Bilkent University
  E-mail: olga@bilkent.edu.tr

Faculty

Russell Belk
York University

Güliz Ger
Bilkent University

Rob Kozinets
York University

Pauline MacLaran
University of London, Royal Holloway

Linda Scott
Oxford University

Alladi Venkatesh
University of California, Irvine

Location and Dates

The seminar will take place at Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration premises, located 13 kilometers from downtown Ankara, the capital city of Turkey.  The seminar will begin at 17:00 p.m., June 3, Friday and end Friday night, June 10, 2011.  Information about the university can be found on the web site www.bilkent.edu.tr. Two websites about life in Turkey and Ankara are www.mymerhaba.com and www.goturkey.com.

Other course Information

The seminar will be held in English and is 6 ECTS credits.  Participants are free to choose to make a presentation and get course credit or not. Those participants willing to present their research projects will receive feedback, be evaluated, and receive course credit.  The number of participants is limited to 25. The tuition and fees for the seminar is 750 Euros in total. This amount includes participation in the seminar, accommodation, and meals.

Seminar Prerequisites

There are no particular prerequisites for the participants. Selection will be based on the letter of interest, which is expected to address the student’s research interests and the fit of this seminar with their doctoral studies. For those participants who do not want to receive course credit, the letter of interest is expected to indicate their research interests and the reason why they want to participate in the seminar.  The letter of interest should be around 1000 words.  Letters of interest should be sent to sandikci@bilkent.edu.tr and olga@bilkent.edu.tr as attachments to e-mail messages.  The deadline for applications is March 31, 2011.

Seminar Program

The program consists of lectures, panels, presentations, group work, and one-to-one meetings. Participants will receive a reading list upon registering for the seminar. The participants taking the seminar for ECTS credits are required and the others are strongly recommended to do the readings before they come to the seminar.  The participants who wish to receive ECTS credits will make a brief presentation of their research projects. They will be evaluated based on their presentation, participation, and the capacity shown in enriching their perspective.  The details of the program will be announced later.