At the end of August 2009, a group of 19 students of Social Sciences from countries as diverse as Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, the United States, Turkey, Macedonia, Germany and Uzbekistan arrived in Berlin to join the German Turkish Masters  Program in Social Sciences (GeT MA) Summer Course 2009 under the headline “Germany and Turkey in Europe”. In seminars and workshops at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin the Summer Course students had the chance to intensify their knowledge of Germany’s and Turkey’s history and political systems. Information was not only provided in the form of lectures but participants moreover had the possibility to experience Berlin’s rich history while visiting sights and memorials all over the city. A visit to the Berlin Wall Documentation Center for example gave a striking impression of Germany’s separation, which lasted for over 40 years. Guided tours through the German Bundesrat and the German Bundestag helped to demonstrate how Germany is governed. This year’s Get MA Summer Course also took place in the atmosphere of the German federal elections. Participating students were continuously involved in discussions concerning the election of Germany’s new parliament. Contacts with German native speaking students moreover gave international students the opportunity to practice their German language skills, which they acquired in German language classes throughout the Summer Course. Berlin with its considerable migration population also provided an interesting background to discuss topics like migration and integration, while visiting the districts of Schöneberg and Kreuzberg, talking to experts on district management and urban development. The focus of the last Summer Course week was on the relations between the European Union, Germany and Turkey. Students had the chance to discuss topics like “The future of the European Union” and “Turkey’s entry into the European Union” with the counselor of the Turkish Embassy and an expert on the development of the European Union.

Altogether the Get MA Summer Course created a space where students with different backgrounds of study and diverse nationalities had the chance to get to know each other, to get an idea of the German Turkish Masters Program in Social Sciences and to discuss a wide range of topics concerning Germany and Turkey in the context of the European Union.

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