News from July
SU Gender 2022
Applications Are Open for Gender Equality Awards in Education
Applications are now open for the second Purple Certificate Program Gender Equality Awards in Education. Designed for teachers and teacher candidates who have participated in Purple Certificate Trainings in the last 15 years and who have taken part in Purple Folder workshops, the award will be given once to make visible and disseminate the good examples and best practices of teachers and teacher candidates who promote gender equality in their classrooms and schools. All teachers and teacher candidates who have received the Purple Certificate are eligible to participate with projects, activities, classroom practices, materials of their own design until 17:00, October 1st, 2022. This year’s jury consists of Aksu Bora, Aylin Vartanyan, Ayşe Alan, Fatma Gök, Hülya Adak, Işık Tüzün, Kenan Çayır. Click here for more information on the application.
Curious Steps: Beyoğlu in the Footsteps of Artist Women
The online walk of the “Curious Steps: Beyoğlu in the Footsteps of Artist Women,” designed through the partnership of the Curious Steps Program with Meşher, took place on July 28th. Our participants once again met with artists such as Aliye Berger, Iraida Barry, Maryam Şahinyan, Frumet Tektaş, Ivi Stangali, Sabiha Bengütaş, Ruzin Gern, and Lerzan Bengisu. Click here to see a video about the walk.
Webinars on Sexual Harassment, Gender-Based Violence, and Discrimination
As SU Gender, we continue our webinar series on sexual harassment, gender-based violence, diversity, and inclusion, covering these issues both inside and outside the university. Our 12th meeting took place online on July 20th with Angela Santamaria from Universidad del Rosario, with a talk titled “Experiences of Local Women in the Caribbean Region of Colombia: Practices for Surviving Sexual Violence.” The event was moderated by Zeynep Gülru Göker. You may reach the videos of the webinar series on SU Gender’s Youtube channel. Angela Santamaria visited Sabancı University as part of the Erasmus+ Exchange Program. In addition to her talk at the webinar series, she gave a presentation on intercultural networking to the participants of the International Staff Training Mobility Week organized by Sabancı University.
We Attended the 11th European Feminist Studies Conference
Sabancı University Gender Studies PhD Program students Aslı Aygüneş and Fulya Kama Özelkan presented the preliminary findings of their doctoral research at the 11th European Feminist Research Conference organized with the theme of “Social Change from a Feminist Perspective: Positioning Gender Studies in Times of Political Conflict.” During the panels held simultaneously under 10 different titles, Aslı Aygüneş gave a presentation titled “Angry but Hopeful: Examining Affective Inconsistencies in the Experiences of Feminist Activists in Turkey” in a panel on “Affect,” which she also chaired. Fulya Kama Özelkan presented a paper titled “The Interaction of Online and Offline Feminist Activism: Turkey’s #MeToo Era.” Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Academy Member Deniz Gündoğan Ibrişim led the “Posthumanism, New Materialism, Literature, and Storytelling” panel at the conference, and gave a presentation titled “Slow Witness, Gender and Storytelling” in a panel with 5 participants.
Progender+ Continues Its Work
Hülya Adak and Caner Hazar held a training on Struggling Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Mobbing for the Sabancı Group Diversity and Inclusion Development Program. They also were guests at the British Consulate General of Istanbul on July 22nd to represent the ProGender+ Program and SU Gender.
We are hiring: The Purple Certificate Program is Looking For a Teammate
Purple Certificate Program, a gender studies and sexuality based training program for teachers nationwide, is looking for a teammate. As an ongoing program for the last 15 years with the support of the Sabancı Foundation, more information on the Purple Certificate Program and our hiring ad can be found by clicking here.
Which Events Did We Attend?
Conferences and Presentations
● Deniz Gündoğan Ibrişim participated in the Institute for World Literature Summer Program (3-28 July), organized in Mainz with the cooperation of Harvard University and Johannes Gutenberg University. She attended various seminars and panels in this one-month intensive program on World Literature and led the colloquium named “Poetics and Politics of World Literature” with the participation of 15 scholars. She also gave a presentation at the colloquium titled “Environment and World Literature: Ecological Wordling.”
● Zeynep Ceren Eren Benlisoy attended the annual conference titled Migration and Time: Temporalities of Mobility, Governance, and Resistance (29 June - 2 July) organized by IMISCOE in Oslo. She presented a paper on “Syrian Refugees and Kurdish IDPs in Turkey's Eastern Mediterranean: Multi-level Governance of Integration through the Rural Agricultural Sector” in the panel titled “Integrating Migrants in Small and Medium-sized Towns and Rural Areas, Perspectives on Multilevel Governance, Political Dynamics and Practices of Access to Rights from the Whole-COMM Project ”
● Zeynep Ceren Eren Benlisoy presented her paper titled “Global Agri-Food System, Patriarchy and Women’ Agency[BA1] : The Case of Women of the Greenhouse, Western Anatolia” in the panel Rural Gender Relations at Challenging Rural Studies in Turkey: Present State and New Imaginaries (23-24 June), a conference organized by the European Society of Rural Sociology (ESRS) and Middle East Technical University.
● Aslı Aygüneş and Begüm Acar held a session titled “Gender Equality and Feminist Struggle in Turkey: A Research Center Example” on July 19th as part of the International Staff Training Mobility Week held at Sabancı University’s Tuzla Campus this year by the International Relations Office. In the session, Aygüneş and Acar conducted a workshop in which they shared their work with 20 participants.
Publications
● SU Gender assistant and Cultural Studies graduate student Berfin Çiçek's article "Telling the Memories of a Massacre: Testimonies from Dersim's 38" was published by Amsterdam University Press Conference Proceedings. Click here for access.
What’s Next Month?
Applications to the Purple Certificate Program Online Summer School Are Open
With the support of Sabancı Foundation, the Purple Certificate Program Online Summer School will be held between September 10-11 and 17-18 (via Zoom) between 10:00-17:00 every day with the participation of 60 teachers and teacher candidates from Turkey. Teachers and teacher candidates from all levels and fields can apply to the program, which will be held for free. Scholars from literature, history, law, psychology, STEAM and material design will contribute to the program with presentations, discussions, and workshops. The online application to the Purple Certificate Program Summer School must be filled by August 7th, 2022, for consideration. Click here to access the application form. For detailed information, please email morsertifikaprogram@sabanciuniv.edu.
Dicle Koğacıoğlu Article Award is open for applications
Dicle Koğacıoğlu Article Award is an award given by the Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and SU Gender in the name of our colleague, friend, and sociologist Dicle Koğacıoğlu who departed in 2009. Awarded since 2010, the aim of the award is to support gender-focused research and encourage young researchers. The award is open to Master’s and PhD students, and graduates of Master’s programs who completed their degree within the last two years. The deadline for the application this year is October 2nd, 2022. Click here for more information on the application criteria.
Şirin Tekeli Research Award is open for applications
SU Gender initiated the Şirin Tekeli Research Award in memory of Şirin Tekeli, who has pioneered work in the fields of democracy, academic freedom, gender equality, and feminism. In its fifth year, the award is now open for applications. Aiming to support and encourage gender-focused research in Turkey, we hope to open up a nurturing and inspiring space that will bring together researchers who work in this field. Click here for detailed information about the application criteria. The application deadline is October 7th, 2022.
