June 27, 2019

Why I study History and International Studies at DAUS

By Dilek Tas

While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with a double concentration in history and international studies at NYUSPS DAUS, I also work full-time as a flight attendant flying to multiple international destinations on the weekends. I am extremely lucky that my workplace and my campus are equally diverse and full of opportunities to expand my horizon by exploring and interacting with new cultures and visiting locations of historical importance.


As a first-generation American citizen with both a German and Turkish background, I truly believe in the utility of posing analytical questions about history in order to understand how past events had, and continue to have, an impact on human affairs. Therefore, it is an honor to take my fellow crewmembers on city tours and show them the most important historic sites in Berlin on my layovers.


Last year, my crew and I were fortunate to have a layover in Berlin for the 29th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. I remember showing them the city and explaining that the German capitol was divided in 1961 as part of the Cold War and the power struggle between the Soviet Union and the US after WWII. My crew was surprised to know that the wall was heavily guarded, and that people were shot and killed for attempting to cross it.


Visiting the Berlin Wall sparked the kind of analytical questioning of history and interpretations of how it is relevant to current affairs among my crewmembers. When history jumps from the textbooks and becomes a tangible experience that I can share with others, I feel a greater connection to history, and that is why I study history and international studies at DAUS.


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