Metropolitan Research
I collaborated with the department of Economic Geography at the University of Duisberg-Essen. The faculty is quite small, so I got to know everyone very quickly. They are a combination of masters, Phd, and doctorate students.
I worked mainly with the head of the department – a professor who specialized in traffic and logistical systems. I attended his lectures, which touched an array of topics such as globalization, urban transportation, sustainability, and the sharing economy.
My project was focused on urban spaces, and so I paid special attention to particular aspects of all the cities I passed through during my travels – how people use green space and community areas, transportation, and intercultural interactions (for example, Berlin’s Turkish food market). I made an effort to document the community I became a part of – my professor’s family and the au pair, relatives, friends of my parents, people on the street, café acquaintances, people I met on the train, and my colleagues.
MISTI offers a unique opportunity to grow not only academically, but also as a citizen in an undeniably global scientific and social community.