Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, cilt.12, sa.4, ss.152-170, 2025 (Scopus)
This study explores university students’ perceptions of minorities in Turkey through a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews conducted by students as part of an undergraduate cultural studies course in İstanbul. While students were encouraged to treat interviews as constructed narratives requiring critical interpretation, our analysis reveals that the students’ own questions, assumptions, and conclusions also constituted narratives on minorities in Turkey and needed analysis. The findings trace two overarching, and at times overlapping, trajectories. The first reflects a reproduction of the dominant state-centric, nationalist discourse—portraying minorities as separatist, dangerous, or culturally deficient. The second trajectory reveals moments of critical reflection and potential transformation, where students begin to question and deconstruct official narratives on minorities, engage in acts of ‘unlearning,’ and reconceptualize minority and majority identities. These encounters, though fraught with ideological tension, offer a space for dialogical engagement and reflexive learning. The paper concludes by reflecting on our own experiences as instructors and proposes more ethnography for any project with an agenda of diversity in education, including this course, to deepen students’ engagement with diversity.