Advisory Board
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Taner Can (TED University)
Burcu Tümer (METU)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Z. Gizem Yılmaz Karahan (Ankara University of Social Sciences)
Gözde Hatunoğlu (Hürriyet, International News)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Cangır (Erfurt University / Ankara University)
Naz Özgen Üstünkaya (Starship Technologies)
Özlem Uzman (EGET Foundation)
Dr. Şevket Tüfekçi (MEB ABDİGM)
Tunç Özceber (World Health Organisation)
Yağmur Gönen (TED University, Student Representative)
Zeynep Kireçci (Bilkent University)
About the Board Members
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Taner Can (TED University)
Taner Can is an assistant professor at the Department of English Language and Literature, TED University. Dr Can completed his Ph.D. at Ankara University and his undergraduate studies at Hacettepe University. His research interests lie in the areas of cultural studies, digital humanities, literary theory and criticism.
Burcu Tümer (METU)
Born in Ankara in 1977, Burcu Tümer graduated from TED Ankara College in 1994 and from Hacettepe University, Department of English Language and Literature in 1998. While she was still a student, she worked in TRT International Broadcasting Department English Desk in 1996 as a radio translator and announcer, and in 1998 as a translator and announcer in TRT2 television for four years. After nearly one and a half years of journalism in the Turkish News newspaper, she entered METU, School of Foreign Languages, Department of Basic English in 2002 as a lecturer. In 2003, she started to work as an exam writer at the Exam Preparation Office. Tümer, who is still a lecturer in the same school and department, has been the coordinator of the relevant Exam Preparation Office since 2019.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Z. Gizem Yılmaz Karahan (Ankara University of Social Sciences)
Gizem Yılmaz Karahan is a faculty member at Ankara University of Social Sciences, Department of English Language and Literature. After graduating from Hacettepe University, Department of English Language and Literature in 2010, she obtained her MA and PhD degrees from the same department. She has various publications on ecophobia, British drama, others in literature (witches, vampires, zombies, werewolves), new materialisms, old materialisms, elemental ecocriticism and posthumanism.
Gözde Hatunoğlu (Hürriyet, International News)
Born in 1978 in Ankara, Gözde Hatunoğlu is a graduate of Hacettepe University, Department of English Language and Literature. Starting her career as a freelance translator, she later worked as a language instructor at universities, a publishing house editor and a content writer.
During her career as a journalist, Gözde Hatunoğlu worked as a reporter, editor, guide and translator for international reporters visiting Turkey. She is currently working as an international news editor at Hürriyet and as a writer and editor at Posta.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Cangır (Erfurt University / Ankara University)
Hakan Cangır is a language instructor and teaches English and Turkish as a foreign language. He has a PhD in Linguistics and does research on the intersection of corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics. He works as a lecturer at Ankara University, School of Foreign Languages, but currently he is working as a visiting lecturer at Erfurt University, Language School and Applied Linguistics department endorsed by the Turkish state. He has published in international journals, such as Lingua, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, English for Academic Purposes, Journal of Linguistics, and Pedagogical Linguistics. His recent research project which is funded by the Research Council of Türkiye focuses on the use of corpus linguistic and natural language processing tools in detecting L2 writing performance.
Naz Özgen Üstünkaya (Starship Technologies)
Naz Özgen Üstünkaya graduated from Ankara University, Department of English Language and Literature in 2018. She completed her master's degree in Literature, Visual Arts and Film Studies at Tallinn University in Estonia, graduating in 2022. Between 2014 and 2018, she worked as an English Teacher in various fields. She is currently working as a Team Leader at Starship Technologies, a robotics company in Estonia.
Özlem Uzman (EGET Foundation)
She was born in Konya in 1968. After completing her primary, middle, and high school education in this city, she entered the Department of English Language and Literature at Hacettepe University Faculty of Science and Literature in 1985. In 1987, she transferred to Boğaziçi University and graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature in 1991. Following her graduation, she studied for a year in the International Business Program at Istanbul University. Until 1997, she worked in managerial positions in the information technology, aviation, and construction sectors. Later, she went to the United States to pursue a master's degree in business administration. Due to family reasons, she returned to the country after a year. Until 2004, she worked in various corporate companies in different sectors, especially in marketing and product management. In 2004, she started her own business in the women's hosiery sector with the brand Bliss. In 2010, she expanded her business to the giftware sector with the brand Evcilik and opened a store in Istanbul MKM Shopping Center. In 2013, after living in Istanbul for 26 years, she moved to Muğla, Gökova, to establish the EGET Foundation. At the same time, she holds the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Uzman Prefabricated Industry and Trade Joint Stock Company, a family company.
Dr. Şevket Tüfekçi (MEB ABDİGM)
Dr. Şevket Tüfekçi, an education specialist at MEB ABDİGM, obtained his bachelor's degree from Anadolu University and his MA/Ph.D. from ESOGU. During his MA studies, he primarily focused on postmodern narrative techniques. Through his PhD dissertation, he aimed to introduce the academic community in Turkey to digital literature and electronic artworks. Some of his writings were included in the curricula of some prestigious universities. He started his professional career as a French instructor at Anadolu University from 2008 to 2013, and also worked as a foreign language teacher in MEB. From 2015 to 2023, he served as an education coordinator and education attaché at the Turkish Consulate General in Strasbourg and Paris, France. While fulfilling this duty, he managed several international projects and organizations, managed designing education programs, and supported the professional advancement of teachers while enhancing their language competencies.
Tunç Özceber (World Health Organisation)
Tunç Özceber graduated from Hacettepe University, Department of English Language and Literature in 2009. He worked in the private sector for almost a decade, prepared communication strategies for institutions, produced more than 100 episodes of documentaries and TV shows for Turkish National Television and Radio, and published 13 issues of (a magazine with the theme of cultural diplomacy), completed several visibility projects for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, Delegation of European Union to Turkey and other national and UN agencies. He was also accredited by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a photography artist and given the commission to redact publications of the Ministry such as “Turkish Coffee Culture” and “The Walls of Diyarbakır.” Since October 2019, he has been working in the World Health Organization Turkey Country Office as a communicator and supports the Office in terms of visibility, advocacy, and risk communication. He also took an active role during the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the establishment of the WHO European Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health Emergencies.
Yağmur Gönen (TED University, Student Representative)
Yağmur Gönen is a third-year student at TED University, Department of English Language and Literature. She has internship experience at the Accessible Museums Archive-Education Mobilization Project, which is carried out together with BONGO Art Project and Wikimedia Türkiye.
Zeynep Kireçci (Bilkent University)
Zeynep Kireçci graduated from METU English Language Teaching Department in 2007 and started to work as a lecturer at Bilkent University English Preparatory Program. Here, she completed ICELT and DELTA which are University of Cambridge's certificate and diploma programs. After completing Bilkent University Educational Administration master's program in 2013 successfully, she was elected as the Head of the English Preparatory Program in Bilkent University and still continues her duty as an academic supervisor.