Degree: Began PhD program in 2021
Concentration: Film and Screen Studies
Advisor: Roger Hallas

Arda (They/Them) is a PhD candidate who is interested in how queer and trans people in Turkey perceive and reimagine the aesthetics of 60’s-70’s-80’s nightlife cultures in the face of systemic and social negation under authoritarianism and neoliberalism. By focusing specifically on arabesque music and now-out-of-use entertainment venues called “gazino” that are often represented in classical Turkish cinema, Arda wants to explore popular entertainment and nightlife as unlikely sites of political dissent in the SWANA region. Arda has served as a teaching assistant for film, literature, game, and writing classes, and as an independent instructor for Interpretation of Film. They will teach Gender & Literary texts in Fall 2023.

M.A. Comparative Literature, Dartmouth College
B.A. English Literature, Bogazici University