Aslı Tunç

Aslı Tunç is a professor at the New Media and Communication Department at Istanbul Bilgi University and currently serves as Vice-Rector. She has a BA in communication sciences from Istanbul University and an MA in film and television studies from Anadolu University. She received her Ph.D. in media and communications at Temple University in Philadelphia. She was on sabbatical serving as a visiting professor at the University of South Florida in 2020. During her academic career, Prof. Tunç gave lectures and seminars at universities in the USA, the UK and Greece and has written numerous academic articles, book chapters, and international country reports on the areas of media and democracy, digital activism, social media, and freedom of expression. Her most recent research is on gender issues and media where she is the co-editor and the contributor of the collected volume, Female Agencies and Subjectivities in Film and Television (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020).

Can Koçak

Can Koçak is a Lecturer in the School of Media, Arts and Humanities at the University of Sussex. Before his current post, he taught at King's College London, Department of Digital Humanities. He received his PhD in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University with a thesis that focused on the representation of intellectual in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's films. Before receiving his master’s degree in Film and Drama at Kadir Has University with an interdisciplinary research derived from Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966), he did an LLB in Law at Bilkent University.

Diğdem Sezen

Dr. Digdem Sezen is a lecturer at Teesside University, Transmedia Digital Arts and Animation Department. Her research focuses on the history, theory, and practice of interactive media and transmedia storytelling. She holds a PhD from Istanbul University. She was awarded Fulbright scholarship for her doctoral studies and visited the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Digital Media. For the last two years, she is involved in EU-funded research projects in Germany. She focused on the implementation of interactive storytelling and gamification for cultural heritage places and educational settings. She co-edited three books and published book chapters, journal articles, conference papers, and encyclopedia articles from publishers including Routledge, Springer, LIT Verlag, and Palgrave MacMillan.

Dilek Gürsoy

Dilek Gürsoy is a faculty member at Visual Communication Program in Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. degree in communication studies from Istanbul Bilgi University with the thesis titled ‘Transmedia Journalism Toolkit (TJT): A design thinking guide to creating transmedia news stories’ (2018). As a Parsons School of Design (The New School) graduate, her academic background embraces both design thinking and communication studies. She is the author of Transmediality in Independent Journalism: The Turkish Case (Routledge, 2020). She is also an active organizational committee member of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Communication Conference (IPCC), which takes place every year at Istanbul Bilgi University. Her academic interests are design thinking and transmedia studies in Turkey, where she currently resides.

Melike Özmen

Melike Özmen completed her B.A. in Visual Arts and Design/Graphic Design at Başkent University in 2008, and her M.A. in Visual Communication Design at Yeditepe University in 2012. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Design and Management Department, Visual Communication Design Program at Istanbul Bilgi University and has obtained a PhD in Communication from the same institution, with her thesis concentration on information design. Her research interests include information design, transmedia storytelling and urban communication. More specifically, her work examines the designer’s personal experience as a user in the context of designing information.

Nazan Haydari Pakkan

Nazan Haydari is Associate Professor of Media School at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. Her research and teaching areas consist of intercultural communication, feminist media studies, critical media pedagogy, and radio studies. She is particularly interested in the media practices of peace building and conflict resolution, collaborative research, critical media pedagogy, and the relationship between radio, gender and identity. She has participated in the development of various media projects with street-involved children, and disadvantaged youngsters in collaboration with İstanbul Bilgi University Children Studies Unit and Maltepe University Research and Implementation Center on Street Children (SOYAÇ). She serves at the editorial board of Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, advisory board of Center for Intercultural Dialogue and , and an active member of Women’s Radio in Europe Network (WREN). She has a PhD in Telecommunications and MA in Communications and Development from Ohio University. Currently she is working on an oral history with women radio broadcasters of 1970s in Turkey.

Onur Sesigür

Onur Sesigür is Assistant Professor and vice-dean at The Faculty of Arts and Design at Beykoz University. He received his B.Sc. in physics from Middle East Technical University, his MA in audio production from the University of Westminster and his Ph.D. in communication fromIstanbul Bilgi University. Prior to his current occupation, he worked as a sound designer, music producer, post-production coordinator and as client relations manager in the media and music industries. His research interests include digital cultures, sound studies, popular music and culture industries.

Şahika Erkonan

Sahika Erkonan is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Media and Creative Industries, Loughborough University London. She is researching the post memories of the Armenian Genocide by conducting ethnographic work in London, focusing on photography, family objects, and their sensory affects.

Salvatore Scifo

Salvatore Scifo is a Deputy Head of Department of Communication of Journalism at the Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University (United Kingdom). He has published a series of articles and book chapters on British Community Radio and European Community Media. He is the current vice chair of the ECREA Radio and Sound Section (former Radio Research Section) (2018–present), and a former chair (2012–13) and steering group member (2016–19) of the MeCCSA Radio Studies Network. Salvatore is also an International Editorial Board member of the Journal of Radio and Audio Media (Taylor & Francis). He has been an invited speaker on British community radio to events as the 10th International Radio Biennale (Mexico City, 2014, keynote) and RadioDays Europe (Berlin, 2013). Among his most recent work, as a co-author, is the 2018 report Spaces of Inclusion – An Explorative Study on Needs of Refugees and Migrants in the Domain of Media Communication and on Responses by Community Media for the Council of Europe.

Serhat Akkılıç

Serhat Akkılıç has earned his Ph.D. degree in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University (2020), BSc degree from Istanbul Technical University (1992) and MBA from Koç University (1998). As a marketing communications professional, he co-founded one of Turkey’s leading digital communications companies in 1999 and he is currently leading HAVAS creative group. He taught undergrad level Communication Design course and currently co-lecturing MBA-level Digital Transformation courses at Istanbul Bilgi University, while serving the industry as a member of the Board of Directors in Turkish Advertising Foundation.

Zeynep Kunt

Zeynep Kunt is the head of department at the Beykoz University Radio, Television and Film program. She has completed her PhD in Communication at Istanbul Bilgi University. She has BA in Social Anthropology and Sociology (University of Kent, UK), MA in Media Studies (New School University, USA). She previously worked in US and Turkey as a production associate for documentaries (ABC News Productions, CNNTürk). She worked for the Newton fund project “Plural Heritages of Istanbul: the Case of the Land Walls”. She has also worked as a communication consultant for various organizations including the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and worked as the communication manager for the British Council Turkey. She is a member of Theatre of the Oppressed Center in Turkey and facilitator in forum theatre. She has participated in the Matra fund Act Academy program involving community building projects. Currently, her work focuses on media ethnography, visual culture, conflict transformation, participatory action research, cultural heritage.

Zeynep Merve Uygun

Zeynep Merve Uygun received her BA in English Language and Literature from Bogazici University and her MA in Film and Television Department from İstanbul Bilgi University. She received her Ph.D in trans-disciplinary documentary film from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Prior to her current occupation as an assistant professor in the department of communication design at Özyeğin University, she worked as a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University, İstanbul Şehir University and Koç University.

Zeynep Merve Uygun has taken part in many international film festivals and workshops as a mentor, tutor and also jury member. Her animated and experimental documentaries such as IN OUT and Zigzag, besides receiving many international awards, have been screened at more than 50 international film festivals including Cannes, Boston Turkish Film Festival, Golden Orange and IF Istanbul (Istanbul Independent Film Festival). Her research interests include the visual representation of body and space in documentary film, digital ethnography, and new media documentary (interactive documentary, digital storytelling, transmedia documentary etc.).

Zübeyde Karagöz

Zübeyde Karagöz is a researcher, works and studies in journalism, conflict and resolution, cultural diversity and gender.  She worked at Kurdish publishing company for a year, when she finished her BA degree at Istanbul University Communication Faculty. She had her MA degree from Istanbul Bilgi University Cultural Studies with a dissertation which was on Kurdish women media. As a freelancer project assistant, she worked at Istanbul Bilgi University, she was in United Kingdom for 2 years and participated many comparative academic visits, conferences, symposiums which were held in respectful organizations and universities. Currently she works with INGOs to deliver humanitarian helps to conflict zones.