After a long hiatus, here is the second post in my unboxing series. Now that we are back in İstanbul, I can start looking around the boxes with a touch of nostalgia. 2006-2008 Milli İstirahat I have spent many evenings in coffeehouses playing cards until the pandemic! I guess until 2013, I spent more time … Read more
Our month-long sessions resulted in a workshop at CAS (LMU) last week, and in a few months, we will have a policy paper. It is time for me to get back to Istanbul.
As a UNESCO cultural heritage site, the city was on my list for a while. As our days in Munich were about to end, we took the scenic train route to Innsbruck for a weekend. It deserves a visit with all these medieval age buildings in the old city. Here is a quick tour for … Read more
No need to be alarmed! I just got overwhelmed with the stuff I am working on. While working on several papers and projects, I have to finish up grading- and some undergraduate students are acting ruder than normal- some graduate students are disappointing- but only a few, but it still hurts me- and in the … Read more
This is Munich’s unique surfing spot right in the heart of the city. The Eisbach Wave in the English Garden is a popular location for river surfing, making Munich one of the few cities in the world where you can catch waves in an urban setting. This man-made wave on the Eisbach River attracts surfers … Read more
We have arrived and settled. The city is still feeling Christmas, but life will be back to normal by January 7. Sinem and I will walk around and familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood. The Center of Advanced Studies building is within walking distance. Until we return on January 31, I hope to have a peaceful … Read more
We have just returned from our Kars trip. Besides meeting very nice, hospitable people and visiting historical sites, I realize that Kars may rival Gaziantep. Many friends fly to Gaziantep for a weekend food fest, but why not spend some time in Kars? My top four were: Sarı Balık The Yellow Carp, also known as … Read more
We, Sinem and I, have decided to celebrate the second anniversary of our marriage in Kars. Kars sounds magical, especially in winter. I have had my eyes on Kars since reading Orhan Pamuk’s Snow, which takes place in Kars. So far, Kars did not disappoint us at all, even though there is no snow! We … Read more
Visiting fellows lists at CAS can be found here. I will visit Munich as a fellow in January 2025, and Sinem will accompany me. Our Research group led by Prof. Udupa: Below the Radar? Messaging Apps, Encryption and the Enticement of Extreme Speech Online extreme speech and disinformation have emerged as a major problem for … Read more
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 sometimes wonder about the decision-making process at Foursquare HQ. Recently, I saw that Foursquare is killing its city guide app to focus on the check-in app Swarm and wondered again. A decade ago, they killed their very successful app to promote their check-in app, Swarm. They now decided to kill the app totally and focus on Swarm—such … Read more
Today, I had the privilege of speaking at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s (FNF) Capacity Building Program in beautiful Bodrum, Turkey. The program, titled “Strengthening and Innovating the Future of Civil Society in an Evolving World,” brought together civil society leaders, academics, and innovators to explore how we can adapt and thrive in our rapidly changing … Read more
It has passed 250 million views now! You can see the rest in my Google Maps, but let me share the most viewed one:
After a productive and collegial workshop environment and a few trips, I am back, and the classes for the new semester started yesterday. Let me here point out a few places we visited. I am glad I could unpin a few places I saved in my Google Maps lists. Hill of Crosses is majestic. I … Read more
I arrived in Vilnius yesterday to attend a workshop for the COST GRADE project. A little walking around led me to Level 9 on Google Maps. It’s a pretty city. I could not make it, but there are many walking tours. I recommend. I saw many groups walking around. And now the workshop starts. I am in … Read more