About Me

I graduated from Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey, with BA degrees in European Studies and in Public Relations. Towards the end of my undergraduate degree, I found my passion for meme studies and critical advertising. After I graduated, I moved to the US to earn my MA in Media Studies at UW-Milwaukee. I worked as the teaching assistant for the Introduction to Advertising and PR class throughout the program.

I am currently in my 4th year at Penn State as a Ph.D. candidate in Mass Communication. I served as the managing editor of the Journal of Information Policy between 2020 and 2022 and worked as a teaching assistant for the Mass Media and Society class during the Fall 2022 semester. I am the instructor of record for the International Mass Communications class for the Spring and Fall 2023 semesters. I am currently working as a research assistant for 1) a school trauma PR and crisis communications research project and 2) social media content development for the News Literacy Initiative at Penn State.

My current research interests include critical advertising, the political economy of media, meme studies, and popular culture. More specifically, I am interested in exploring and critiquing the ways that memes are appropriated for advertising to serve capitalist interests. I presented my work at conferences of ICA, NCA, AEJMC, AFS (American Folklore Society), and TPRC - forthcoming presentations in AoIR and UDC.

I love collaborating with my professors and colleagues and am always open to new collaboration ideas. I also enjoy talking about meme culture, critical advertising, and the political economy of media and culture.