A Fulbright Scholar from Turkey is teaching cross-cultural psychology courses at UCF’s Cocoa and Palm Bay campuses and giving guest lectures on Internet addiction this semester.
Huseyin Dogan, chair of the psychology department at Meliksah University in Turkey, comes to Central Florida as part of a partnership between UCF and Brevard Community College.
He strengthens the international dimension of the general studies programming at BCC, where he is teaching psychology courses and facilitating seminars for other faculty members. He also will present special programs for the community.
Dogan’s areas of specialty include career psychological counseling, business psychology, family counseling, special education, educational sciences, interpersonal relationships, and addiction psychology with a special emphasis on Internet addiction.
Professor Dogan is joined this semester by his wife, Sumeyye – a primary school teacher – and their nine-month-old daughter, Zeynep Sude. The Fulbright Scholarship will last through June 30. Dogan’s salary and expenses are being paid by the Council of International Exchange Services and through the generosity of two sponsors – Enterprise Car Sales and The Haven Apartment Complex in Palm Bay.
Partnerships such as this are crucial in Florida’s two-plus-two system, which is designed to ensure the majority of students complete their associate’s degree at a community college and then transfer to a university to complete a bachelor’s degree.
In Central Florida, the DirectConnect to UCF program guarantees admission to graduates of BCC, Lake-Sumter Community College, Seminole State College of Florida and Valencia College. UCF academic advisors work closely with students for a seamless transition to the university.
As most of Florida students receive their general education or liberal studies program at a community or state college, it’s important that those colleges’ curricula provide a good global perspective for students.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”
With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided almost 300,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.