Attacks on academic freedom in Turkey have become increasingly systematic in recent years and thousands of academics have been dismissed. This study reflects on the effects of this worsening repression through interviews with academics in the social sciences, both those dismissed and those still active in their profession. Although the dismissed academics are socially in a very precarious position, they are continuing their scholarly activities in alternative, underground forms. This resistance stands in contrast to the accommodation and self-censorship that seem, according to the interviewees, to prevail in university departments.

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Thousands of refugees have immigrated to Turkey because of the current Civil War in neighboring Syria. This is causing tensions between refugees and locals. These increasingly negative attitudes towards the incoming victims of conflict are of particular interest. The present study, therefore, aimed at determining the premises of the emergence of such negative attitudes. The research sample consisted of university students who all studied at various faculties at Cumhuriyet University in the Turkish province of Sivas. Data were collected by the Attitude Scale Towards Refugees, the Patriotism Attitude Scale, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Cirhinlioğlu Religiosity Scale. Data were analyzed by Independent Sample t-tests as well as using Stepwise Regression Analyses. Results showed that the feeling of empathy correlated negatively with negative attitudes towards refugees, while blind patriotism, religiosity, and having nationalist/conservative orientations, correlated positively. Men were found to be more negative than women. The feeling of empathy was the most prominent factor in predicting the nature of attitudes towards refugees. Religious doctrine and distancing oneself from conservative and patriotic perspectives appeared to be effective in potentially preventing the development of negative attitudes. In conclusion, research results are discussed in the light of relevant literature.

In wide-ranging attacks on academic freedom in Turkey in recent years, thousands of academics have lost their university positions. At the end of 2016 oppositional academics, many of whom were dismissed from their positions for having signed a peace petition, established a Street Academy as an alternative way to reach out to both students and the public in Ankara. In this study we analyse the experiences of these street academy lecturers from the perspective of Social Representation Theory. Our main aims were to explore teaching experience perceptions and representations and, in addition, also the opportunities and challenges generated by this alternative academy. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with five female and five male street academy lecturers. The results of a qualitative thematic analysis revealed that the way participants explained their experiences could be organised into three major themes and several subordinate themes. One of the most salient results was that participating in the street Academy had become a way to defend academic freedom. More generally suggested results demonstrated that teaching in this new setting, outside of the universities and away from customised learning environments, was quite a novel experience. The possible implications of street academy lecturers' experiences are discussed.