Education

Overview

I am a medical anthropologist with an interest in the intersections of human rights, gender, politics of care and body. For 2019-2020 academic year, I am a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton working on my book manuscript tentatively titled, Documenting Bodies: Medical Experts and Human Rights In Turkey. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in human rights NGOs and forensic medicine institutions in Istanbul, the manuscript examines non-therapeutic clinical encounters and forensic documents as contingent determinants of forms of violence in Turkey in order to understand the shifts in the human rights paradigm in the post-truth context. I am also developing a second ethnographic project on kidney patients who go through both live-kidney transplantation and dialysis. My ethnographic research at the Kidney Foundation Hospital in Istanbul explores how patients and families deal with the hidden risks and dangers of routinization of live kidney transplant and techno-scientific imaginaries associated with it. My third ethnographic project concerns how patients’ attendants (refakatçı) are called upon to liaise with hospital staff. I am interested in how individuals, families, communities step in to account for, or compensate for, absences of care in biomedical expertise, institutions and practices. My research has led to several publications in peer-reviewed journals including Medical Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Reproductive Health Matters and New Perspectives on Turkey. I have also published articles in peer-reviewed journals in Turkish such as Toplum ve Bilim, Toplum ve Hekim and Moment Dergi. At Koç University, I teach classes in social anthropology, gender, contemporary social theory and ethnographic research methods and writing.

Research areas

Forensic Fantasies: Doctors Documents and the Limits of Truth in Turkey. Medical Anthropology Medical Anthropology Quarterly Reproductive Health Matters New Perspectives on Turkey Communication Culture & Critique and Media Culture & Society I am a medical anthropologist with an interest in the intersections of human rights gender politics of care and body. I am currently working on my book manuscript tentatively titled Documenting Bodies: Forensic Medicine Experts And Human Rights In Turkey. Based on ethnographic fieldwork (2011-2013) in human rights NGOs and forensic medicine institutions in Istanbul the manuscript examines non-therapeutic clinical encounters and forensic documents as determinants of forms of violence in Turkey. I am also developing a second ethnographic project on kidney patients who go through both live-kidney transplantation and dialysis. My ethnographic research at the Kidney Foundation Hospital in Istanbul explores how patients and families deal with the hidden risks and dangers of routinization of live kidney transplant and techno-scientific imaginaries associated with it. My third ethnographic project concerns how patients’ attendants (refakatçı) are called upon to liaise with hospital staff. I am interested in how individuals families communities step in to account for or compensate for absences of care in biomedical expertise institutions and practices. My research has led to several publications in peer-reviewed journals including Medical Anthropology Medical Anthropology Quarterly Reproductive Health Matters and New Perspectives on Turkey. I have also published articles in peer-reviewed journals in Turkish such as Toplum ve Bilim Toplum ve Hekim and Moment Dergi. At Koç University I teach classes in social anthropology gender contemporary social theory and ethnographic research methods and writing.