I attended the Artificial Intelligence, Manipulation, and Media Literacy Summit in Cyprus yesterday. Session 3 was in a question-and-answer format, which I prefer to just speaking. I asked Claude.ai to format my answers. I have to highlight that this formatting misses the anecdotes and lively occasions. Well, those who attend get the benefits. Still, for … Read more
I have attended a workshop of a COST project, and now I am flying back to İstanbul. The workshop took place on 19-20 March 2026 at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania. RELINK2 is one of the COST projects I could align my studies with. Glad to be part of it. By … Read more
6 people, 1 kid, and 1 toddler drove to Greece in two cars. I never did it before; I always flew to Greece, but driving through Greece may be a good trip. We had three days, so this wasn’t a big trip. We drove to Thessaloniki and passed through Alexandroupolis. You have to arrange … Read more
I am here in Bayburt for my uncle’s daughter’s wedding. Too many wedding drama etc but I took the opportunity to explore a few sites. The highlight was the Varzahan Monastery. Bayburt is surrounded by several villages worth visiting for their historical, ethnographic, and natural attractions. Notably, these villages offer insights into traditional rural life, … Read more
My Google Maps Profile here.
It is my first time to stop by Şirince, which has become a tourist attraction but also an intellectual haven thanks to Nesin Mathematics Village. Following the success of the village project, a new initiative has emerged: the Arkhe Project, which focuses on Humanities and Social Sciences. That’s where I am involved this week. Şirince … Read more
I forgot to publish this as it was a busy day, and I met with a journalist friend at the lounge for a long chat. It has been more than a week, and I am still tired. Hopefully, my plans for the summer will start next week as I attend a few more thesis committees … Read more
It has always been on my agenda to visit Philadelphia, and I finally did it! This will be a more touristy stay. Sinem and I got a hotel right in the historical district to see around. In fact, I am the one seeing around, Sinem is chilling out. We arrived here after an 8-hour drive, … Read more
A few minutes later, I will be attending the evening event at Fischerfest. Just sat down at the Ripple Cafe next to the MIT Museum and enjoying my coffee and a beautiful Boston day, beautiful Cambridge streets and a heavy dose of nostalgia. I am excited to see many of my professors who shaped my … Read more
The final session of the EU Delegation’s Disinformation Training program was held at Gaziantep University. EU Delegation celebrates Europe Day in a few cities in Türkiye, and one of them took place in Gaziantep. The celebration reception took place at the Zeugma Museum. My sister and her husband are stationed in Nizip, Gaziantep, so it … Read more
I am just back from a two-day workshop in Vienna. I am intellectually energized, as these small-scale workshops are the most productive academic sessions. It was an official meeting of the EASA Media Anthropology Network. It was great to catch up with some of the members I already knew and meet new academics. You can … Read more
We stopped by Trabzon University as part of the EU delegation disinformation project. I have a Trabzonspor jersey! Prof. Mehmet Emir Yıldız (L) honored me by saying that he had actually read my writings when he was writing his dissertation. The weather was fantastic. I had a late-night stroll at the main square. It was … Read more
Our second stop on my May schedule was a workshop in Ankara. A group of NGO activists and some technicians met to brainstorm about using technology in civil society. It was organized by a collective. Sinem and I were so tired that we could not visit any particular places, but could only meet a … Read more
May 2025 will be full of traveling, both domestic and international. After Yozgat, my next stop was Diyarbakır (Dicle University) as part of the EU delegation seminars on disinformation. In fact, this was two days ago, but for the sake of narrative (!) I added the Diyarbakır trip to the long May (I am writing … Read more
I have never been to Yozgat, but a full day of training on media literacy and countering disinformation allowed me to visit. The Bozok University Communication School hosted us, and I appreciated my colleagues’ efforts to be useful to their students. I did not have time to visit the downtown, but I stayed in a … Read more