Canan Sarı was born in 1975 in the Bayramiç district of Çanakkale, Türki-ye. She completed her primary and secondary education in Çanakkale, and her high school education at Trabzon Beşikdüzü Anatolian Teacher Training High School. In 1999, she graduated from the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University. After completing her legal internship at the Istanbul Bar Association, she began working as an independent attorney.

She earned a master’s degree in International Trade Law from Istanbul Commerce University. Subsequently, she studied French at the University of Strasbourg in France and English at the University of Louisville in the United States. She completed her PhD at the Institute of Social Sciences at Istanbul Medipol University with a thesis titled “Disciplinary and Penal Responsibility in Deaths and Injuries Arising from Sports Activities: The Case of Football.” She also served for a time as a member of the ‘Professional Football Disciplinary Committee’ at the Turkish Football Federation.

Sarı has worked for many years on women’s rights, particularly by provi-ding legal support to women and girls who are victims of violence or in di-sadvantaged situations. She has volunteered with various civil society or-ganizations, both as a member and in leadership roles. She is a founding member of the International Jurists Union and TÜRKAD, as well as a member of the Association of Women Lawyers and the Association of Ju-rists. She has also served as Head of the Legal Committee at KADEM, a Member of the Board of Directors, and Vice Chair of the Board. On April 19, 2025, she was elected Chair of the Board at KADEM’s 5th General Assembly.

Sarı speaks French and English, and she is married with three children.

Mehmet Fatih Aysan is a Professor of Sociology at Marmara University and the director of the Center for Population and Social Policies, Institute of Population and Social Research. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario (2011) and taught sociology at the same university (2010-2012). He previously worked as a faculty member in the Department of Sociology (2012-2020) and as the director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (2016-2020) at İstanbul Şehir University. His sociological interests are rooted at the intersection of demography, family, sociology of work, and social policy. His study centers on how changes in demographics, labor markets, and social policies combine to influence the welfare of societies. His research projects were supported by the TÜBA, EU, ERC, IDRC, and TÜBİTAK. Dr. Aysan’s works are published in edited books and peer-reviewed journals such as Routledge, Palgrave, Springer, Population & Development Review, The Canadian Journal of Sociology, and Emerging Markets & Finance.

Assistant Professor Nursem Keskin Aksay
Marmara University

Short Bio

Nursem Keskin Aksay is an Assistant Professor of social and cultural anthropology in the Department of Sociology at Marmara University. She earned her Ph.D. from Freie University Berlin, graduating with the highest honors. Dr. Keskin Aksay has held academic positions at Ibn Haldun University, Freie Universität Berlin, and Humboldt University, contributing to various international projects and publications. Her work encompasses topics such as Muslim women, postcolonial theory, migration, social change, social policies, the challenges faced by disadvantaged groups, and the portrayal of violence against women in media. Her teaching and research areas include social class, gender, social theory, labor, social space, the public sphere, anthropology of affect, anthropology of the city, secularism, postcolonial theories, and ethnographic research methods. Dr. Keskin Aksay is also active in several civil society and research organizations, including the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), and KADEM (Women and Democracy Association), where she serves as an academic advisor and board member. Additionally, she has led the Turkey W20 Delegation for 2023 and continues to represent KADEM as an active W20 Delegate.
Dr. Nursem Keskin Aksay is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Social-Cultural Anthropology at Marmara University, Department of Sociology. She has served as an advisor for so many graduate thesis and research with an anthropological outlook. Dr. Keskin Aksay has held academic positions at Ibn Haldun University, Freie Universität Berlin, and Humboldt University, contributing to various international projects and publications. She is currently working on new projects, her manuscript and academic articles in her specialized areas like gender, women, class, labor, social space, subjectivity, public sphere, affect, secularism, postcolonial theories, religion and ethnographic research methods.

Dr. Oguzhan Goksel is Assistant Professor of Political Economy & IR at Marmara University, Faculty of Economics, Turkey. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of New Middle Eastern Studies (NMES) journal based in the UK. He completed his multi-disciplinary Ph.D. degree on Political Science and Political Economy at Durham University, UK in 2015. Goksel’s works have been published in various edited books and SSCI-indexed international peer-reviewed journals such as Mediterranean Politics, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies and Turkish Studies. He is the co-editor of the books entitled "Türkiye-Britain Relations: Two Hundred Years of an Intertwined Conflict and Cooperation" (New York: Lexington Books, 2024) and "Turkey’s Relations with the Middle East: Political Encounters after the Arab Spring" (New York: Springer, 2018) and ". Goksel's main areas of research are modernisation and non-Western modernities, political economy of development, historical sociology, foreign policy analysis and comparative politics.

Dr. Nihal (Fırat) Özdemir

İstanbul Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi, Bilim Tarihi Bölümü’nden mezun oldu. Marmara Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe Tarihi’nde “Yeni Gerçekçilik Işığında Bertrand Russell’de Bilgi Problemi” tez konulu yüksek lisansını yaptı. Aynı adlı yüksek lisans tezi Muhayyel yayınlarından basıldı. Marmara Üniversitesi, İletişim Fakültesi, Gazetecilik Bölümü’nü bitirdi. Medeniyet Üniversitesi, Felsefe Bölümü’nde, “Yeni Bilginin Dolaşım Araçları: 17. Yüzyıl İngiltere’sinde Yeni Bilginin Kamusallaşması’’ tez konulu Doktorasını tamamladı. Aynı adlı doktora tezi Hiperlink ve Ketebe yayınlarından basıldı. Marmara Üniversitesi, Felsefe ve Din Bilimlerinde, “19. Yüzyılda Osmanlı’da Yeni Bilimin Dolaşım Araçları” tez konulu ikinci doktorasını verdi. Kamusallaşma Mekanları Olarak Kahvehaneler, Sanatın Şahitliğinde Bilimin Dönüşümü ve İslam Bilim Tarihi, Osmanlı Bilim Tarihi üzerine makale ve yazıları bulunmaktadır. Bilim Tarihi Sohbetleri programının yapımcısı ve koordinatörüdür. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf Üniversitesi Bilim Tarihi Bölümü’nde Dr. Öğretim üyesi olarak çalışmaktadır. Aynı zamanda FSMVÜ Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin İslam Bilim Tarihi Enstitüsü’nde müdür olarak görev yapmaktadır. Sivil toplum kuruluşlarında görev almaktadır ve TÜBİTAK Bilim Tarihi Atölyeleri projesinin yürütücüsüdür.