This blog has been my online home since July 30, 2007. Nature, literature, film, photography… I have continuously written a lot about these over the years. There have been periods when I have preferred to be quiet. Even during these quiet periods, however, my interaction with this blog has never stopped. Students, teachers, film lovers, all other readers who have visited the blog have kept the blog alive. So this blog is just like life itself and… what a man does with it. I have grown up, I have changed, topics I write about have changed, perspectives have evolved, loss and happiness have appeared here and there…. There is one thing that has not changed, though: Joy and relief continue to touch me through writing.
There is no such thing as a constant self…. Haruki Murakami
Education
B.A. English Language Teaching, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 1987
M.A. English Literature, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 1990
M.A. Media, Culture and Communication, Institute of Education, University of London, 2008
Ph.D. Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 1997
Work Experience
Bilkent University School of English Language, Ankara, Turkey, 1987-1997
Bilkent University School of Applied Languages, Ankara, Turkey, 1997-2002
Sabanci University, School of Languages, Istanbul, Turkey, 2002 –
Areas of Interest
Critical thinking, film literacy, media literacy, gender studies, Hitchcock, literature, short fiction, photography, travel, blogging
Awards
Bilkent University Distinguished Teaching Award, 1999
Sabanci University First Year University Courses Teaching Award 3rd place (Multiple-section courses) 2014
Sabanci University First Year University Courses Teaching Award 3rd place (Multiple-section courses) 2016
Sabanci University First Year University Courses Teaching Award 3rd place (Multiple-section courses) 2017
Erasmus Staff Mobility
International ERASMUS+ Teaching & Staff Week Salzburg, Austria 9-13 May 2016 Salzburg University of Education Stefan Zweig
International ERASMUS+ Teaching & Staff Week Salzburg, Austria 8-12 May 2017 Salzburg University of Education Stefan Zweig
Papers Recently Presented
‘What do Films Tell us About the World We Live in?” Findings from Classroom Research’. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference. Conference Theme: Visions of Identity. Conference Venue: The Institute of Education, University of London, June 26-28, 2014, London.
‘University Student Understandings of Media Representations: Findings from Classroom Research’. The Third Annual London Film and Media Conference. Conference Theme: The Pleasures of the Spectacle. Conference Venue: The Institute of Education, University of London, June 27-29, 2013, London.
Gender and Sexuality in Film: A Classroom Research Study. The Second Annual London Film and Media Conference, Conference Venue: The Institute of Education- University of London, England, June 22-24, 2012.
Cinematic Representations of Turkish Migrants in Germany, The First Annual London Film and Media Conference, The Institute of Education- University of London, England, July 12-14, 2011
Studying Representations of Gender Roles and Sexual Orientations in Film, VIII Annual Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture Conference Theme: ‘Crossing Borders and Building Bridges: A Global Program for the Future’, Rome, Italy, December, 3–4, 2009
Publications
An Inner Journey: Collaborative Diary Writing, English Teaching Professional, Issue 19, April 2001, pp. 48-50
You’ve Got Mail’: A Film Workshop, ELT JOURNAL.Jan 2003, Vol. 57 Issue 1, p. 51, 9 pages
The Third Eye: A Study on Film Literacy and Its Effects, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.Nov. 2002, Vol. 46, Issue 3, p220, 11 pages.
Seeing what we look at: A Study on Media Literacy and Its Effects, April 2004 in Thinking Classroom
To Cope or Not To Cope. 1999.METU Press.
Representations of Turkish Immigrants in Turkish-German Cinema: Tevfik Baser’s “Forty Square Meters of Germany” and Fatih Akin’s “Head-On”by Ali Nihat EkenPaperback, 80 pages Date of publication: July 15, 2009 Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. MüllerTo buy the book: Amazon USA / Amazon UK
Citations Received Books
Hake, S. & Mennel, B. (Eds.) (2013). Turkish-German Cinema in the New Millennium: Sites, sounds and Screens. Berghahn Books: Oxford.
Akin, F. (2011). Im Clinch: Die Geschichte meiner Filme. Rowohlt: Germany.
Akin, F. (2013). Sinema, Benim Memleketim. Doğan Kitap: İstanbul.
Citations Received Journal Articles
Mennel, B. (2010). The Politics of Space in the Cinema of Migration. In “GFL: German as a foreign language” (3) 40-55.
Tisdell, E. (2007). Popular culture and critical media literacy in adult education: Theory and practice. In “New directions for adult and continuing education”. (115) 5-13.
Stuckey, H. (2007). Critical media literacy and popular film: Experiences of teaching and learning in a graduate class. In “New directions for adult and continuing education”. (115), 25-33.
Discussion / Talk / Workshop Series
Sabanci University Academic Support Program Subject-Based Discussion Series: “Reading Body & Land in Jane Campion’s The Piano“, April 20, 2017.
“Being A Reader in Changing Textual & Media Landscapes”, Presentation with Meral Güçeri, Freshman English Day, Sabanci University, June 9, 2015
Running
Puma Ignite, 10 K, Caddebostan, Istanbul, October 2, 2016
Antalya Half-Marathon 21k, Antalya, March 5, 2017
Salzburg Half-Marathon, 21k, Salzburg, Austria, May 7, 2017
©Unless otherwise stated all the written work on this blog is the original work of Ali Nihat Eken.
©Aksi belirtilmedikçe bu blogdaki yazılar Ali Nihat Eken’e aittir.
I think I could go through and ‘like’ all your photographs. They are superb. And many of them all the more exciting because we are planning to spend the month of September in Turkey. Very much looking forward to it. Perhaps we could meet?
Thank you for all the ‘likes’ on our blog. I’m glad you enjoyed my posts.
Cheers
Alison
Many thanks, Alison and Don. I really enjoy reading your blog and I agree that it is certainly more than “just a travel blog”:))