LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Local Organizing Committee (L.O.C.) consists of communication scholars who are members of ILAD (Iletisim Arastirmalari Dernegi), the Turkish Communication Research Association, who will be hosting the ECREA 2012 Conference in Istanbul. ILAD was founded in 1989 to promote scholarly research in communication in Turkey and has currently over 300 active members from all across the country, including senior and junior scholars, journalists and writers.

ILAD is a member of the International Federation of Communication Associations (IFCA) and an Associate Member of ECREA. Individual and Institutional Members of ILAD are members of ECREA, ICA and IAMCR.

The start of communication research in the academic field in Turkey goes back to the early 1950s. Turkey's most prominent communications scholar, Professor Hifzi Topuz, participated to the founding assembly of IAMCR held at UNESCO, in Paris, on 18-19 December 1957.

Currently there are 38 schools of communication, plus an additional 15 other institutions and departments, that host communication courses in higher education institutions in Turkey.

ILAD (Iletisim Arastirmalari Dernegi-Turkish Communication Research Association)

	Nurcay TURKOGLU, Conference Chair Prof. Dr., Cukurova University, Faculty of Communications (2012-to date), former staff at Marmara University between 1984-2012. ILAD general secretary between 2008-2012. BA Ankara University, 1982; , Ph.D. Istanbul University, 1988, post-doctorate at University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, 1993. Among her publications: books as Social Communication, Media and Culture, Media Literacy, articles on audience research and media literacy, and an entry at IEC (International Encyclopaedia of Communication).
	Salvatore SCIFO, General Coordinator of the Conference Dr., Assistant Professor, Faculty of Communications, Maltepe University (since September 2012). A former Lecturer in Media Policy at the European Union Institute, Marmara University, Istanbul (2008–10) and Lecturer in Community Media at the Department of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University (2007–8), he has obtained his PhD in Spring 2012, researching the development of Community Radio in the United Kingdom in the decade 1997 – 2007 at the Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster. He is a former member of the MeCCSA Executive Board (2008-2010), and is currently Executive Board member of ECREA (2008-2012). Since November 2011 he is a Vice President of the Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE).
	Meral OZBEK Prof. Dr. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Sociology and Vice Rector. Bachelor: Middle East Technical University, 1976; Master: Ankara University, 1982; Ph.D.: Ankara University, 1989. Her book on “Popular Culture and Arabesque of Orhan Gencebay” (1991) is a pioneer in the field. Her trio article series of "Reading Walter Benjamin" (2002) as well as "Public Sphere" (2004) edited by her are also among Ozbek's publications that have been used as reference books.
	Sukru ASLAN Dr., Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Sociology. MA and PhD.; same department with dissertations on “Urban Informal Sectors” and “Social Movements.” His recent book with Loic Gandais and Mustafa Poyraz; “Les Quartiers Popularires Et La Ville, Les Varos d’Istanbul” (2010) is one of his many books and articles on city, social movements, migration and culture.
	Ozden CANKAYA Prof. Dr., Galatasaray University Faculty of Communication, also a member of the ILAD Board. BA in Law, PhD in Communication. Along with her academic works, she has a professional experience in broadcasting as writer, producer and advisor of many radio and television programmes and scriptwriting. She has publications on the Turkish media and media regulation. She has recently co-authored an entry on Turkey for The Palgrave Handbook of Global Radio (with Cem Pekman).
	D. Beybin KEJANLIOGLU Prof. Dr., Dogus University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. MSc in Public Administration and Political Science (Middle East Technical University, 1989); MA in Mass Communication (Leicester University, 1992); Ph.D. in Communication (Ankara University, 1998); and postdoc at UC Berkeley on intellectual history, 2003. She has books on media policy, critical theory and communication studies, and several articles on media, culture, politics and society. Is the General Secretary of ILAD since April 2012.
	Z. Tul AKBAL SUALP, Prof. Dr. Bahcesehir University. She studied Political Science, Cinema Studies and Sociology (Cultural Studies) in New York and İstanbul in MA and PhD levels. Her recent research interest includes “space and time in cinema and culture”, “urban space and cinema”, and “technology culture and public sphere”. She has written many articles and is the co-author of the book titled From Liberties To Losses and Afterwards (De-Ki 2008) and Tasrada Var Bir Zaman (2010) .
	Esra ARSAN Assoc. Prof., Istanbul Bilgi University, Institute of Social Sciences. Arsan holds her PhD degree in Journalism Studies specialising in political journalism. She is a former Reuters Foundation Journalism Fellow of Oxford University, UK. She used to work as a print journalist for more than 10 years for several nationwide newspapers in Istanbul. Arsan has three books published: Elections in the Newspapers, European Union and Journalism, and Media Watch.
	Nilgun TUTAL CHEVIRON Assoc. Prof., Galatasaray University Faculty of Communication. MA in Communication (Ankara University, 1993), PhD in Communication Sciences (Robert Schuman University, Strasbourg, 1999). She has published 3 books and numerous articles on cultural and intercultural communication, tourism and cultural mondialisation. She has also translated several books by Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray and Andrea Gorz, from French to Turkish.
	Nazan HAYDARI, Dr., Maltepe University Faculty of Communication. She received her Ph.D. in Telecommunication with a focus on Cultural and Critical Studies from Ohio University. Her research focuses on cultural studies, media pedagogy, alternative media discourses, feminist media studies and radio studies.
	Kaan TASBASI, Dr. Yeditepe University. PhD (2009) MA (2003) and BA (1999) Marmara University. Had academic visits to Lund University (2008) and University of Oslo (2006). He has publications including book chapters, proceedings and translations related to cultural studies, cinema, urban sociology and popular music.
	Esengul AYYILDIZ, Dr., YECREA (ECREA Young Scholars) Turkey country representative. PhD on “social movements as social communication”, Marmara University, 2009. Erasmus exchange student in Helia/Helsinki 2006. She conducted intensive social campaigns for “individual disarmament in Turkey” with Umut Foundation. She has publications on women’s movements, identity and new social movements, NGO’s and media.
	Safak SUPPAN Kadir Has University, also PhD candidate in Marmara University. She has a Magister Degree for a combination study of communication sciences, theatre studies and sociology at the Vienna University. Her research interests are intercultural communication, intercultural theatre, theatre as communication, theatre pedagogy. She also worked in many theatre projects as director, actress and theatre pedagogue.
	Aslı KOTAMAN AVCI Assist. Prof., Plato College of Higher Education. Ph.D in Radio, Television and Cinema (Marmara University, 2008). Her research interests lie in the field of television and cinema. She has publications including books, book chapters, articles related to “cultural memory ”, “cinema-politics”, “religion and Turkish cinema”, “melodramas” “melancholy”.

ADVISORY BOARD: Kevin Robins who is based in Istanbul is generously supporting the local academic committee while Hifzi Topuz, President of ILAD with eminent professors Nermin Abadan Unat, Kaarle Nordenstreng, Haluk Şahin, Aysel Aziz, Konca Yumlu, Sevda Alankus, Ugur Demiray and Ece Algan are at the Advisory Board.

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