Exchange Programs

Incoming Exchange Students
Bilkent offers exchange students from every country an engaging academic environment with all courses offered in English. During your semester or year in the Department of Communication and Design, you can choose from a wide range of course offerings in media production, analysis, and criticism. Exchange students also have the flexibility to explore other offerings in the Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture and other schools at the university. This variety makes your course selection readily adaptable to any requirements set forth by your home institution, helping you make the most of your time abroad. For general information about Bilkent University as a destination for exchange students, check out the Office of Exchange Programs.

Scheduling Tips for Incoming COMD Exchange Students
A full-time course load at Bilkent generally consists of five or six courses, each of which meets for three lecture hours per week (although production courses may have a different structure – see below). While exchange students enjoy a great deal of freedom when building a course schedule, please be aware that some course combinations are difficult or impossible to fit into a single semester or year. Many popular courses come with COMD-specific prerequisite requirements, and not every course is offered every semester. Likewise, COMD courses aimed at the graduate level (numbered 500 and above) are not available to undergraduate students, including exchange students.

As you consult with academic advisers at your home institution, please familiarize yourself with the COMD offerings in the Bilkent course catalog. Pay particular attention to prerequisite requirements and fall/spring scheduling patterns.

A Note about Production Courses
Bilkent students majoring in COMD are limited to one production course per term. This limitation has been established for reasons of time management, as production courses generally require a significant number of hours per week of independent work conducted outside of class. Therefore, exchange students are also expected to limit their production courses to one per term. Please make sure that your proposed schedule contains only one of the following courses for each term you plan to study at Bilkent:

  • COMD 101 Visual Communication Design I
  • COMD 102 Visual Communication Design II
  • COMD 281 Media and Design Studio I
  • COMD 282 Media and Design Studio II
  • COMD 381 Media and Design Studio I
  • COMD 382 Media and Design Studio II
  • COMD 481 Visual Communication Project I
  • COMD 482 Visual Communication Project II

If you have previous experience in the area of production that you wish to study while at Bilkent, it is recommended that you contact the department before your arrival with a detailed description of previous coursework and/or work experience in the field of your desired production course. This will facilitate the scheduling process once you arrive for your semester or year with COMD.

For questions about course selection, contact the departmental Exchange Coordinator, Colleen Kennedy-Karpat: kenkar@bilkent.edu.tr

As part of your orientation, you will receive basic training in “survival Turkish” for your excursions off campus. Bilkent also offers more in-depth Turkish language classes for transferable course credit through the Turkish Teaching Unit. For more information about these courses, contact Ms. Nurdane Mumcu Öz at nurdane@bilkent.edu.tr

Outgoing COMD Students
Undergraduate majors with a CGPA of 2.50 or better have the option to complete part of their studies at one of Bilkent’s partner institutions, located in countries around the world. Study abroad offers a unique opportunity to experience academic and social life in a new environment and to witness firsthand how media is evolving on a global scale.

All or part of an academic year may be spent overseas. Programs can be generally divided into two groups: Erasmus+ (exchanges within Europe), and universities outside Europe that have bilateral agreements for exchanges with Bilkent.

Students planning to study abroad should begin researching available programs in their first and second semesters of study and aim to maintain a CGPA that will give them eligibility for the program(s) of their choice. All students who plan to apply for an exchange program should contact the Office of International Students and Exchange Programs, located in the Registrar’s Office, for more information.

Erasmus+
The Erasmus+ program brings together a network of European universities through department-specific agreements for student exchanges. To apply, students must have a minimum CGPA of 2.50 and currently be completing their third or fourth semester of study.

Applications must be submitted online AND in signed, hard copy to the current COMD exchange coordinator by early December in order to have the first choice of partner programs, and to be considered for grant money to help cover living expenses during one semester of study abroad.

The second round of applications (for exchanges scheduled ONLY during the spring semester of the same academic year) may be opened in September, depending on availability of slots after the first round of assignments to partner programs. Students in their third, fourth, OR fifth semester at Bilkent are eligible to apply during this second round; however, second-round applications are not eligible for funding, and not all programs will be open to new applicants.

COMD’s current Erasmus+ partnerships include the following institutions:

  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany
  • NHTV-Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands
  • Tilburg University, Netherlands
  • Bournemouth University, UK
  • Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
  • Universidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
  • Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Spain*
  • Université Lumière Lyon-2, France*

Please note that partnerships may be added or removed from year to year, and those marked above with a * do NOT offer relevant courses in English.

A complete, up-to-date list of Erasmus+ agreements across Bilkent University can be found here.

Contact:

Fulten Larlar,
fultenlarlar@bilkent.edu.tr
+90.312.290 2600