Just participated a talk by Jenny White, academic and novelist

Prof. Jenny White was one of the inspirations to continue this blog. Although she does not continue her Kamil Pasha blog much, now Kamil Pasha lives in her novels. I haven’t read her novels yet, they are on my reading list now. Her three novels take place in the 1880s of Istanbul. She talked about … Read more

A beautiful person passed away. Goodbye Celil Oker!

Today I woke up to learn that dear Celil hoca has passed away. He had been under treatment for more than a year and I was hearing he had shown signs of recovery but there comes the sad news. After Galip hoca, another loss that is hard to recover from. A loss at several lives: … Read more

Two books on Silicon Valley

I have recently read two books on Silicon Valley. One is already a best-seller: Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley I loved the way the author used interview transcripts. He had created a linear history of Silicon Valley by juxtaposing interview fragments and he interviewed nearly all the major actors in the … Read more

Some Alternative Social Media URLs

The list is taken from an article I have just read Gehl, R. W. (2015). The case for alternative social media. Social Media+ Society, 1(2), 2056305115604338. WWW sites GNU social: http://gnu.io/ •• This is the codebase for a large range of federated microblogging sites. Independent Microblogging Service: https://indy.im/ •• This is an example installation of … Read more

“Technologies of Relational Finance, i.e. #cryptocurrency” is the focus of my Spring semester course (MED512) [#bitcoin #blockchain #fintech]

This is the beginning of my research on cryptocurrency circles in Turkey. The course will have many guests from the industry. I offer the main reading list and all readings given in the links are education purposes who will disappear gradually. There will be additional news sharing and readings. I recommend the syllabus link to … Read more

2018 Spring Readings of my doctoral course (Theories of New Media)- in case you were wondering…

There might be changes in the weekly arrangements. New readings might be added. Readings can be found by clicking the links. These links will disappear eventually. All shared material is for educational purposes. COURSE NAME Theories of New Media Lecturer Assoc.Prof. Erkan Saka (erkan.saka@bilgi.edu.tr) Description A course for students of PhD in Communication to familiarize them with … Read more

Reading “Night Train to Lisbon”, staying in Switzerland and thinking about a project in Lisbon…

It was in my reading list and I started to read the novel, Night Train to Lisbon. It was a good coincidence that I came to Zurich and now in Austria we are talking about the project that will take place in Lisbon. The main protagonist in the novel is from Switzerland. Although not from … Read more

R.I.P Şerif Mardin. A very big loss for Social Sciences in Turkey

Going beyond the local polarizations, Prof. Mardin paved the way for recent developments in social sciences in Turkey. Şerif Mardin – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Şerif_Mardin Şerif Mardin (born 1927) is a prominent Turkish sociologist, political scientist, academic and thinker. In a 2008 publication, he was referred to as the “doyen of Turkish sociology.”[1] I did benefit from every … Read more

A literary masterpiece finally translated to English: The Disconnected by Oğuz Atay

  I haven’t seen a denser piece in Turkish literature. If Oğuz Atay lived longer, he would be a major challenge to Orhan Pamuk… Enjoy if you can:) Here is the Amazon link Source: Oğuz Atay’ın ‘Tutunamayanlar’ının İngilizcesi satışa sunuldu – Diken

This semester’s syllabus for my “Theories of New Media (COMM 720)” course

I have restructured my doctoral course this semester. Renewed most of the readings with the most up to date works I could find. Selection of topic are of course arbitrary to some extent but since I track special issues in relevant  journals, the syllabus still offers many of the most current debates. The course is at our PhD program, … Read more

I will not miss 2016 but it was a productive year in reading-wise…

My GoodReads profile here

Readings of my doctoral course: “Theories of New Media”

Every semester I do change most of the readings. This is the new list, I have come up with. As usual, suggestions are welcome. The course is taught at the Communication Sciences PhD. Program at İstanbul Bilgi University… COMM720-2016 Syllabus COURSE NAME Theories of New Media Lecturer Assist.Prof. Erkan Saka Description A course for students of PhD … Read more

Türkiye’den Başarılı Olabilecek bir E-Reader Projesi: #Calibro by @babilcom

Türkiye’den Başarılı Olabilecek bir E-Reader Projesi: Calibro İlk e-reader’ım olan Sony Reader’ı alalı 7 yıl oldu. Sonrasında 3 tane e-reader modeli daha elime geçti. En sonra olarak da denemek üzere gönderilen Calibro cihazıyla tanıştım. Sony Reader’ımdan bahsedeceğim kendime özgü nedenlerden dolayı hala vazgeçmiş değilim ama zaten üretimi durduğu için yeni arayışlar kaçınılmaz.   Okuyucuya bir … Read more

2014 Nobel Prize in Literature goes to Patrick Modiano- I haven’t read any of his novels, such a shame!

I am checking out what I can read in English…. I found 3 of his novels so far. I will start with “Honeymoon” His Goodreads page here. Patrick Modiano | 2014 Nobel prize in Literature French historical author Patrick Modiano[1] has won the 2014 Nobel Prize for literature. He is the 11th Nobel literature prize winner … Read more

Brief note on New Media, Old Media: A History and Theory Reader by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun

New Media, Old Media: A History and Theory Reader by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is probably one of the best/most substantive readers in new media. It provides a historically broader perspective on the emergence of new media. Most of the volumes on the topic rely on buzz and … Read more