A year of Sabbatical in the US

Dear readers, you are last to know.

I have waited to be done with the necessary visa and other technicalities. Now it is official. I will use my sabbatical leave at Bilgi to spend a year in the US. As of 28 July, I will be in LA to move to UC Irvine Anthropology by 1 August until late January. Then I will spend the rest of my sabbatical at MIT Science and Technology Studies. My program is flexible, I will not have any particular duties like teaching. I will be working on my own research projects and hopefully, I will tag along with new research projects as I make new connections. If a book proposal is accepted, I might be working on my book, too. In the last couple of years, things have been hectic. I am mostly lost recently. Previous academic position applications abroad failed. This is a one year escape to focus on my academic work.

I believe I have had a relatively productive period but I would like to work with some of the best professors I have met or known. I am as excited as in the days I was to start Ph.D.  I really hope to have a productive year and I will bring it to you through this blog. I have already switched to fewer posts and I guess there you might see even fewer posts. But the posts will be more personal and more related to my immediate interests. Since I am a news junkie, I will be up to date on the state of affairs in Turkey. However, I would like to focus on cryptocurrency cultures and blockchain related startups in the US and consume US life as much as possible (!)

Many people believe that I will not return but as long as I keep my job at Bilgi – you are never sure of anything at the moment- why not to return? Well, let’s not talk about reasons now. Nowadays, I am busy with my first-world problems such as what to do with my cat. She will be well-looked after by flatmate but I do not want him to be burdened with her. So I am looking for a new owner. I haven’t fixed my accommodation issues in Irvine, but thanks to Facebook, I have had so many contacts since last night that I am not stressed anymore.

Before I leave, my dear friend Şafak will help me to uplift EFD infrastructure, and get ready for more personal stuff and my life in the US.