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Publication Open Access Agricultural terraces in the Mediterranean: medieval intensification revealed by OSL profiling and dating(Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2021) Turner, S.; Kinnaird, T.; Varinlio?lu, G.; Koparal, E.; Demirciler, V.; Athanasoulis, D.; Odegård, K.; Crow, J.; Jackson, M.; Bolòs, J.; Sánchez-Pardo, J. C.; Carrer, F.; Sanderson, D.; Turner, A.; Şerifoğlu, Tevfik Emre; Faculty Member; Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED) / Anadolu Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi (ANAMED)The history of agricultural terraces remains poorly understood due to problems in dating their construction and use. This has hampered broader research on their significance, limiting knowledge of past agricultural practices and the long-term investment choices of rural communities. The authors apply OSL profiling and dating to the sediments associated with agricultural terraces across the Mediterranean region to date their construction and use. Results from five widely dispersed case studies reveal that although many terraces were used in the first millennium AD, the most intensive episodes of terrace-building occurred during the later Middle Ages (c. AD 1100-1600). This innovative approach provides the first large-scale evidence for both the longevity and medieval intensification of Mediterranean terraces.Publication Open Access Beliefs about sleep paralysis in Turkey: Karabasan attack(Sage, 2021) Jalal, Baland; Eskici, H. Sevde; Hinton, Devon E.; Department of Psychology; Acartürk, Ceren; Faculty Member; Department of Psychology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 39271The present study examined explanations of sleep paralysis (SP) in Turkey. The participants were 59 college students recruited in Istanbul, Turkey, who had experienced SP at least once in their lifetime. Participants were administered the Sleep Paralysis Experiences and Phenomenology Questionnaire (SP-EPQ) in an interview. When asked whether they had heard of a name for SP, the vast majority (88%) mentioned the ""Karabasan""-a spirit-like creature rooted in Turkish folk tradition. Seventeen percent of the participants believed that their SP might have been caused by this supernatural creature. Thirty-seven percent of participants applied various supernatural and religious methods to prevent future SP attacks such as dua (supplicating to God), reciting the Quran, and wearing a musqa (a type of talisman inscribed with Quranic verses). Case studies are presented to illustrate these findings. The Karabasan constitutes a culturally specific, supernatural interpretation of the phenomenology of SP in Turkey.Publication Open Access Building communities. presenting a model of community formation and organizational complexity in southwestern Anatolia(Elsevier, 2019) Daems, Dries; The Suna _ İnan Kıraç Research Center for Mediterranean Civilizations (AKMED) / Suna ve İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi (AKMED)In this paper, a model of community formation and organizational complexity is presented, focusing on the fundamental role of social interactions and information transmission for the development of complex social organisation. The model combines several approaches in complex systems thinking which has garnered increasing attention in archaeology. It is then outlined how this conceptual model can be applied in archaeology. In the absence of direct observations of constituent social interactions, archaeologists study the past through material remnants found in the archaeological record. People used their material surroundings to shape, structure and guide social interactions and practices in various ways. The presented framework shows how dynamics of social organisation and community formation can be inferred from these material remains. The model is applied on a case study of two communities, Sagalassos and Düzen Tepe, located in southwestern Anatolia during late Achaemenid to middle Hellenistic times (fifth to second centuries BCE). It is suggested that constituent interactions and practices can be linked to the markedly different forms of organizational structures and material surroundings attested in both communities. The case study illustrates how the presented model can help understand trajectories of socio-political structures and organizational complexity on a community level.Publication Open Access Conceptions of quality of life, body and gender among Turkish breast cancer patients(Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, 2012) Terzioğlu, Ayşecan; Faculty Member; School of NursingIn accord with the increasing cancer rates, cancer became a highly visible illness, and cancer patients' associations became more active and popular in Turkey. Many of those associations emphasize the concept of ""quality of life,"" and aim at inculcating a holistic and individualistic approach on health. That concept stresses the psychological and social factors, which affect the patients' illness experience, and aims at empowering the patients by suggesting ways to improve their lives. However, the discourse on quality of life, which is shaped by the medical scientists, health care providers and cancer patients' associations, often overlooks the patients' socio-economic status and environmental factors, which affect their illness. Therefore, the concept of quality of life, which recently became popular, has different meanings for different cancer patients, depending on their demographic and socioeconomic background. For the breast cancer patients with a disadvantaged background, having cancer and a good quality of life creates an oxymoron, whereas the ones with a higher socio-economic status define having a good quality of life as an attainable goal for them. In this work, I will explore how the Turkish women with breast cancer define quality of life, and relate their conceptions of body, gender and health with that concept. My research took place in three different hospitals in Istanbul in order to canvass a broad range of cancer patients in terms of their demographic and socioeconomic status. It includes semi-structured interviews with female breast cancer patients on their illness experience and conceptions of quality of life.Publication Open Access The role of religion in suicidal behavior, attitudes and psychological distress among university students: a multinational study(Sage, 2019) Poyrazlı, Şenel; Janghorbani, Mohsen; Bakhshi, Seifollah; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Moro, Maria Francesca; Tran, Ulrich S.; Voracek, Martin; Mechri, Anwar; Aidoudi, Khouala; Hamdan, Motasem; Nawafleh, Hani; Sun, Jian-Min; Flood, Chris; Phillips, Louise; Yoshimasu, Kouichi; Tsuno, Kanami; Kujan, Omar; Harlak, Hacer; Khader, Yousef; Shaheen, Amira; Taifour, Shahama; Department of Psychology; Eskin, Mehmet; Faculty Member; Department of Psychology; College of Social Sciences and Humanities; 2210The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between religion, suicidal behavior, attitudes and psychological distress in 5572 students from 12 countries by means of a self-report questionnaire. Our results showed that an affiliation with Islam was associated with reduced risk for suicide ideation, however affiliating with Orthodox Christianity and no religion was related to increased risk for suicide ideation. While affiliating with Buddhism, Catholic religion and no religion was associated with lowered risk for attempting suicide, affiliation with Islam was related to heightened risk for attempting suicide. Affiliation with Hinduism, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, other religions and with no religion was associated with decreased risk for psychological distress but those reported affiliating with Islam evinced greater risk for psychological distress. The associations of the strength of religious belief to suicidal ideation and attempts were in the expected direction for most but had a positive relation in respondents affiliating with Catholicism and other religions. Students reporting affiliation with Islam, the Christian Orthodox religion and Buddhism were the least accepting of suicide but they displayed a more confronting interpersonal style to an imagined peer with a suicidal decision. It was concluded that the protective function of religion in educated segments of populations (university students) and in university students residing in Muslim countries where freedom from religion is restricted or religion is normative and/or compulsory is likely to be limited. Our findings suggest that public policies supporting religious freedom may augment the protective function of religion against suicide and psychological distress.Publication Open Access The rural roots of the rise of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey(Taylor _ Francis, 2019) Department of Sociology; Gürel, Burak; Küçük, Bermal; Taş, Sercan; Faculty Member; Department of Sociology; Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities; 219277; N/A; N/AThis paper puts forward four main arguments regarding the persistence of significant rural support of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalknma Partisi, AKP) in Turkey since late 2002. Firstly, since the previous coalition government implemented the harshest neoliberal measures in the agricultural sector, small farmers do not directly associate neoliberal assault with the AKP administration. Secondly, villagers have utilized both the ballot box and direct action in order to bargain with the AKP. Thirdly, although the AKP government did not fundamentally depart from neoliberalism, the return of agricultural subsidies, significant expansion of social assistance, and rapid infrastructure construction have secured a large rural following for the party. Finally, the AKP government has effectively used coercive methods to prevent the emergence of an emancipatory political alternative.