Oğuz Erdur, Ph.D.

Contact Information

Born on the Western coast of Turkey, where a great deal of what we now call “Ancient Greece” happened, Oguz Erdur had to go far away at a young age in order to find out that “home” is a state of mind and not a place. After living in Auburn Maine for a cold, complicated teenage year as a cultural exchange student, he went back to Turkey in 1990 and lived and studied in Istanbul, the one-time capital of not one but two world empires, namely Byzantine and Ottoman. In this city of seven hills and over 10 million people, Oguz earned a Bachelor’s in Economics, a Master’s in Environmental Sciences, and close to no money at all. Then in 1997, he embarked upon the second life-changing cross-Atlantic journey of his life, packed his existential awe and social alienation into two suitcases, and moved to New York City, where he occupied 10 different apartments in slightly less then 10 years. About a decade of seeking, a decent amount of gloom, some poetry, and a lot of bourbon later, Oguz finally came to terms with the fact that the bizzare G in his name makes it sound like “Cheerios” and that he wasn’t finding the true meaning of existence anytime soon. So instead, he settled for a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University, which cost him, among other things, a flourishing career in professional dog-walking. Since he came to UNCA in July 2009 and turned into an Asheville fanatic pretty much on the spot, Oguz teaches courses on Anthropology, Archaeology, Islam/Muslims, the Middle East, and Friedrich Nietzsche. He also tries to eat better, floss regularly, and go easy on the bourbon.

Education

• Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, Columbia University, 2008
  Dissertation: Nietzsche and the Neolithic: An Excavation Diary
• M.S. in Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, 1996
  Master's Thesis: An Inquiry on Environmental Values in Turkey
• B.A. in Economics, Boğaziçi University, 1994

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
• Archaeology, Heritage, Power
• America and the Middle East
• Islam and the Politics of Knowledge
• Nietzsche and the Death of God
• Cultivating Global Citizenship

This faculty member teaches in UNC Asheville's Humanities Program.

Research and Teaching Interests

Modernity and Cultural Identity in Turkey; Secularism and Contemporary Religious Revivalism; Archaeology and Cultural Heritage; Production of the Past; Politics of Knowledge; Perspectives on Ottoman History; Western Perceptions of Islam; Muslim Societies; the Middle East; Anthropological Theory; Ethnographic Writing; Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche; Gender and Sexuality; Ecology and Environmentalism.