One of the most promising anthropology departments in Türkiye is at Özyeğin University, and they have organized Anthropology Days this year. I was invited to give a talk. The talk was livelier and anecdotal, but with the help of Claude.ai, I converted it into an essay with proper citations. Have a look. The Anthropology of … Read more
I am embarking on a new fieldwork project after my last substantive one, which was related to political trolls in Türkiye. I have been excited about this for a while and finally got started. It will be complicated, definitely multi-sited and multi-layered. I will track the development of Turkish LLM development projects in the context … Read more
I haven’t visited this site yet, though I have been to Göbeklitepe. I should go there soon! The discovery of a human face depiction on the surface of one of the T-shaped pillars at the Karahantepe excavation site in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa reinforces the theory that these stones symbolize human figures. Saying … Read more
I have revised my syllabus and replaced some readings with more recent ones. I like to frequently update my readings so that I can stay current with the latest research. I might have missed some topics, but I am satisfied with what I have come up with. There has been a rising- and unsurprising- interest … Read more
If things go well, our doctoral program at Bilgi University will become a center of intellectual attention. I have recently shared with you a call about the data politics volume. This is another book concept that emerged from my doctoral course, “Theories of New Media.” Most of the book’s content is already ready, thanks to … Read more
This is a book project I have been thinking about for over six months, and I’ve finally made it public. The book idea emerged from our doctoral seminars in İstanbul. It also aligns with my plan to conduct an ethnography of Turkish LLM development. The CFP borrows vocabulary from the recent decolonial literature but is … Read more
The European Association of Social Anthropologists released a guideline: Implementation Guidelines for the EASA Motion Concerning Collaborations with Israeli Academic Institutions At the EASA2024 conference, a group of members presented a motion concerning collaborations with Israeli academic institutions in light of the ongoing systematic human rights violations in Palestine, Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity … Read more
Fischerfest has ended, and I am proud to be part of this gathering. Since the time Mike became my thesis committee member, we have been connected in one way or another. He visited İstanbul several times. Once my father helped us to drive around to visit the technoparks in Istanbul. I frequently assigned his … Read more
Before sharing my personal notes, I have asked Perplexity for a curation, which you can find below. But before that, there is a fantastic archive online here: The Michael M.J. Fischer Archive Michael M. J. Fischer: An Intellectual Biography Michael M. J. Fischer stands as a leading figure in contemporary anthropology and science and … Read more
Along with John Postill and Katrien Pype, I have become a convenor at the EASA Media Anthropology Network. Let’s see how it goes. I meant to contribute more for the next term, but John invited me in formally, and here I am.
I will be in Munich for a month in January 2024 to be part of this project: Below the Radar? Messaging Apps, Encryption and the Enticement of Extreme Speech The new CAS Research Group led by communication scientist Sahana Udupa Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München started yesterday. Online extreme speech and disinformation have emerged as a major problem … Read more
I have been honored to be a member of the EASA Media Anthropology Network from the outset. Our mailing list has hosted tens of e-seminars throughout the last 20 years. Currently, network members discuss the 20 years, and here is my contribution: On the 20th anniversary of Media Anthropology Network I was a graduate … Read more
We had a productive roundtable on AI with a full house. It was one of the few panels/roundtables on AI, and although most anthropologists keep their distance from emerging technologies, we might have had a good reception (I was told the STS conference in Amsterdam just before the EASA would satisfy me with lots of … Read more
Despite being a star academic, he was kind enough to return my emails when I was an MA student. His Weapons of the Weak was influential in political thinking, and his Seeing Like a State was a major source for me retreating from a particular radical politics. In my Rice years, my research focus changed, … Read more
Such feeling of nostalgia! antropologi.info is 20 years old – some (unfinished) notes and thoughts That’s how antropologi.info looked like in 2004 In June 2004, I bought the domain antropologi.info, and this website with blogs in English, German, and Norwegian soon became part of a steadily growing anthropology online community. Browsing through old posts, I get … Read more