By Dr. Michael Lund

Longwood University

Professor Emeritus

Want to know how to connect an 11th-century Turkish document to a statement by a contemporary United States Senator? Longwood University’s Assistant Professor of Professional Writing Elif Guler can not only help you do it, she can also explain why you should.

“Language is symbolic action,” she insists. That is, words in the public sphere have consequences, especially in an era of change like the present.

This is Professor Guler’s fourth year in Farmville where she is teaching students from throughout the Old Dominion to analyze forms of cultural discourse, especially those that shape general opinions and official policy. “The close interaction faculty have with students here,” she explains, “lets us explore the field of civic action together.”

One of her classes last year studied recent contemporary political statements in this country and at the same time ancient Turkish texts in translation. The object was to learn how government leaders address citizens in each cultural context. Her scholarship on these studies has been published this fall in «Reflections: A Journal of Public Rhetoric, Civic Writing, and Service Learning.”

Professor Guler came to Virginia thirteen years ago to continue her own education in rhetorical studies. Growing up in Izmir, a beautiful Turkish city on the Aegean Sea, she had an interest in the ancient art of rhetoric from an early age and studied the English language since high school.

After attending university in Istanbul, she realized she wanted to pursue graduate studies in cultural rhetoric and was awarded a grant to attend Old Dominion University in Norfolk, where she earned both a Master’s degree and the Ph.D.

Professor Guler, however, particularly likes the “peacefulness” of small towns like Farmville. She says the people in Farmville have been “welcoming” and believes it is important to be involved in the community. She notes, “language,” her driving professional interest, “is a fundamental means of building trust.” 

She keeps close ties with her native country. She points to pictures on her bulletin board with obvious emotion: her parents, her younger brother and his family. “I try to go back every summer for about two weeks,” she says. “I especially like spending time with my niece. She is six now.”

Sadly, she admits, “news about my native country is often negative over here. There are many successes there, but you don’t read about them.”

Her family and friends back home, however, can read about the successes of Elif Guler in this country. Her use of and study of the power of language connect Farmville to the ancient civilization of a country more than 5,000 miles away.

Dr. Michael Lund can be reached at lundmc@longwood.edu