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
Before I moved to the US for my doctoral studies, I had worked as a TA at İstanbul Bilgi University. I assisted Prof Avcı’s introduction to media courses. Nabi Avcı was involved in politics and later served as Turkey’s minister of education and then of culture. I had the opportunity to get in touch with … Read more
Episode 3- The Q1 Journal Fetish Episode 4- The Administrator Problem Episode 5- The University Rankings Game With no public debate or academic consensus, Türkiye’s Higher Education Council (YÖK) decided to reduce undergraduate education to 3 years. YÖK is so powerful that no university administration can challenge its decisions. YÖK can easily stop a university’s existence. I have … Read more
This recap was compiled by combining my Field Diary posts, calendar traces, and Diigo media links, using only AI tools (ChatGPT Deep Research and Claude.ai) to organize and summarize. Erkan Saka – Personal Recap of 2025 Q1 2025 (Jan–Mar) January: Wrapped up a month-long research program in Munich. Erkan participated in sessions … Read more
After three weeks, I can finally rest on a Saturday, which still includes the embarrassingly dirty car getting washed, which in turn contributes more to Google Maps by trying a different mall. The highlight of the week was a training session at the Anadolu Agency ,which is reported here in English. The week included … Read more
Reflections from the panel “Dijital Ekosistemlerde Kültürel Miras” at Feshane [in İstanbul], December 20, 2025, organized by Europa Nostra Türkiye Association. The Infrastructure of Cultural Memory To understand digital transformation in the context of cultural heritage, we must first recognize it as what Foucault might call a “technology of power” rather than simply a … Read more
My short entry at The Sage International Encyclopedia of Politics and Gender has been published. Saka, E. (2025). Big tech and gender. In The Sage International Encyclopedia of Politics and Gender (Vol. 4, pp. 79-81). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071918494.n26 Here is the complete entry: Big Tech refers to the dominant position and influence of large … Read more
Here comes the 5th episode. I have relied on Claude in formatting the text and doing some research. In the very end, I also provide a list of all major university rankings, prepared with the help of Perplexity. Episode 1- The Performance of Transparency Episode 2 – The Theater of Scholarly Collegiality Episode 3- The Q1 Journal … Read more
I see a new article nearly every week about the state of higher education due to the rise of generative AI. These are mostly pessimistic articles, and they definitely carry some truth. Still, in a broader perspective, I cannot help but think that higher education/academia was in trouble before generative AI. The latter pushes it … Read more
Episode 4: The Administrator Problem—More Royalist Than the King Episode 1- The Performance of Transparency Episode 2 – The Theater of Scholarly Collegiality Episode 3- The Q1 Journal Fetish Think of a curriculum reform meeting where the university administrator unveiled a new “strategic excellence framework.” The presentation featured organizational charts, key performance indicators, and deliverables. The word … Read more
… and it moves in cycles. I thought this summer would be a peaceful one. I felt even happier when summer started —most of my summers didn’t go well, thanks to some family issues. But it did not end well; once again, I had a bad summer. At least, the end of it. I would … Read more
As noted in the first episode, this series is based on my observations in many different settings, not necessarily happening in my own department. In fact, I am relatively lucky to be there, exposed to fewer troubles than I usually observe. “These meetings are so valuable,” a colleague proclaimed at the conclusion of yet another … 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
I stopped complaining about the hot and humid summer days of İstanbul. I am, of course, thankful that I did not need to go out. I mean not out of the office. Tomorrow I will have to attend a funeral. So I will be out, but on this super hot day, I stayed indoors. Undeterred … Read more