SPIRE Philosopher in Turkey

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Posted on 01 May 2013

Dr Sorin Baiasu, Reader in Philosophy and Philosophy Programme Director in SPIRE, recently returned from an Erasmus exchange with the Philosophy Department at Middle East Technical University, Ankara.

The visit, however, soon turned into a whirlwind tour of some of Turkey's most important universities. For after giving a paper on Edward Caird's Interpretation of Kant's Idealism at the host university, Dr Baiasu was then invited to give talks by the philosophy departments at Bogazici University in Istanbul (where he spoke about "The Normative Force of Kant's Formula of Universal Law") and at Bilkent University in Ankara (where he gave a paper on "A Recent Reading of Kant's Imperfect Duty of Self-improvement"). Keele hosts Erasmus exchanges with Bilkent, which are coordinated by Tore Fougner, a former PhD student from Keele who is now an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations there.

And if that wasn't enough, Dr. Baiasu subsequently gave a paper ("Kant's Guarantee of Perpetual Peace") to the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Kocaeli University, where around 150 students and faculty attended. A member of staff from Kocaeli will soon be visiting Keele for two years on a prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship.

While at Kocaeli, Dr. Baiasu he delivered a talk about postgraduate opportunities in SPIRE, and met the University Dean to discuss the potential for future cooperation between Keele and Kocaeli. A very eventful and productive trip by any standards.

Dr. Baiasu (middle left) in Turkey

Sorin in Turkey

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