Research cluster
Society, Politics & Communication
The “Society, Politics, and Communication” cluster explores how media and communication shape public life, political processes, institutions, journalism, and social relations. Faculty combine qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to questions of citizenship, participation, migration, polarization, crisis communication, and mediated publics. Their work spans political communication, digital media and democracy, public opinion, online political expression, journalism, organizational communication, public relations, advocacy, elections, trust, and media research methods.
Faculty
Ayşenur Dal
Burak Özçetin
Deniz Ergin Erbil
Emel Özdora
Emre Toros
Müge Mengü Hale
Özen Baş
Research areas
Political communication
Digital media and democracy
Public opinion
Online political expression
Journalism
Organizational communication
Public relations
Elections
Migration
Polarization
Crisis communication
Notable outputs
Özen Baş & Burak Özçetin: TÜBİTAK-funded research Rethinking Active Citizenship in the 100th Anniversary of the Republic: Political Participation and Citizen Interaction on Social Media; co-authored articles in Social Media + Society and New Media & Society · Ayşenur Dal: Firewalls Have Ears: How Horizontal Privacy Regulation Influences Online Political Expression in Russia (International Journal of Communication); co-authored 2025 special issue on science, polarization, and populism in International Journal of Public Opinion Research · Burak Özçetin: ongoing TÜBİTAK projects; papers in European Journal of Communication and European Journal of Cultural Studies; upcoming books A Century of Votes and An Intellectual History of the Idea of Communication: Between Philosophy and Sociology · Emel Özdora: Arthur Page Center and University of Chicago-funded refugee and migration research; co-authored Managing Pandemic Communication Online: Turkish Ministry of Health’s Digital Communication Strategies during COVID-19 (International Journal of Communication) · Emre Toros: Electoral Integrity in Turkey (Edinburgh University Press) · Müge Mengü Hale: editorial lead of Bilkent Post, the department’s online multimedia magazine
Research cluster
Histories, Theories & Aesthetics of Media
The cluster approaches media through historical, theoretical, philosophical, and aesthetic inquiry. Research ranges from global new wave cinemas, film-philosophy, aesthetics, adaptation, nostalgia, photography, video-essays, design history, cultural heritage, digital art history, digital obsolescence, media archaeology, and the post-cinematic image.
Faculty
Andreas Treske
Colleen Kennedy-Karpat
Egemen Kırkağaç
Jülide Akşiyote Görür
Ruochen Bo
Wickham Catesby Flannagan
Research areas
Global new wave cinemas
Film-philosophy
Aesthetics
Adaptation
Nostalgia
Photography
Video essays
Design history
Cultural heritage
Media archaeology
Post-cinematic image
Notable outputs
Colleen Kennedy-Karpat: chapter in Adaptation in Turkish Literature, Cinema, and Media; ongoing research on Agnès Varda including Agnès Varda 1958: Three Short Films (in progress) and co-edited The Sustainable Legacy of Agnès Varda · Andreas Treske: Video Theory; Heaven’s Delight: On The Pleasures of Audiovisual Practices; exhibition project For Want of (not) Measuring · Ruochen Bo: publications in Film Quarterly and Film-Philosophy; ongoing project Aesthetic and Ethical Entanglements in Edward Yang’s Cinema · Jülide Akşiyote Görür: ongoing work on comparative art and design education in the modern era · Media Archaeology Lab: cross-disciplinary research and artistic practice through past media technologies · You Made Me Watch That?!: screen studies podcast co-hosted by Colleen Kennedy-Karpat and Wickham Flannagan, bringing critical discussion of cinema and screen culture to public audiences worldwide
Research cluster
Media Practices & Design
Faculty whose work is grounded in filmmaking, audiovisual production, sound, visual communication, interactive media, and design-led experimentation find home in the “Media Practices & Design” cluster. Research and creative practice in this cluster move between studio production and reflective inquiry, spanning cinematography, video production, screenwriting, post-production, sound for visual and interactive media, interactive design, design thinking, glitch aesthetics, virtual reality, digital art history, and digital obsolescence.
Faculty
Andreas Treske
Boran Aksoy
Bülent Çaplı
Egemen Kırkağaç
Fulten Larlar
Jülide Akşıyote Görür
Melih Aydınat
Ufuk Önen
Wickham Catesby Flannagan
Yusuf Akçura
Research areas
Cinematography
Video production
Screenwriting
Post-production
Sound design
Interactive design
Design thinking
Glitch aesthetics
Virtual reality
Digital art history
Digital obsolescence
Notable outputs
Andreas Treske: filmmaking and interactive media works; books Video Theory and Heaven’s Delight: On the Pleasures of Audiovisual Practices; exhibition project For Want of (not) Measuring · Ufuk Önen: more than fifty recorded releases; landmark Turkish-language reference book on audio recording and music technologies; current projects on Cloud-Based Interactive Simulation Application for Acoustics and Audio Technologies and Spatial Perception in Musical Auditory Scenes · Wickham Catesby Flannagan: “Do Not Enter,” a special collection of academic video essays on horror movie spaces · COMD EYE: the department’s annual end-of-year exhibition presenting student work across short films, photography, video projects, design works, and interactive installations
