Keynote Speakers

He is one of Turkey's most respected communication academics and veteran journalists, having uniquely merged law, mass communication, and journalism throughout his career. After graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Law, he earned his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in mass communication from Indiana University (USA). Prof. Şahin has trained hundreds of media professionals and scholars both in the US and Turkey. Bringing his academic expertise into the heart of the media industry, he worked as a columnist and executive for prominent newspapers such as Radikal, Cumhuriyet, and Hürriyet. He also served as the general coordinator of Arena, the legendary investigative journalism program in Turkish television history. He has authored over 30 published books covering media ethics, communication theories, memoirs, poetry, and novels.

He is the Dean of the Faculty of Communication and the President of the Communication Research Center (İLAMER) at Near East University. He has been serving as the Head of the Radio, Television, and Cinema Department since 2007. By establishing the Promotion and Public Relations Center within his institution, he played a pioneering role in structuring corporate communication activities. Continuing his work in the field of communication sciences, Prof. Kasap's research focuses heavily on media studies, digital communication, visual culture, cinema, and new media. He has numerous national and international scientific publications, conference papers, and project studies, and contributes to artistic production through his jury memberships at various film festivals.

He graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Communication with a degree in Radio, TV, and Cinema. He earned his Master's degree from the University of West Florida and his Ph.D. from Dokuz Eylül University. Currently a faculty member at İstinye University Faculty of Communication, Prof. Çelikcan has worked as a director and scriptwriter for various institutions, including TRT and UNICEF, producing educational films and international documentaries focused on culture, history, and railways. His academic research centers on media history, cinema history, popular music, and documentary filmmaking. Additionally, he plays an active role in addiction studies as a member of the Green Crescent Scientific Board.

He graduated from Dokuz Eylül University, Department of Economics. He completed his Master's degree in marketing and his Ph.D. in public relations and publicity at Ege University. He conducted academic and post-doctoral research at various universities across Canada, the USA, Spain, the UK, Kyrgyzstan, and Italy. He was awarded the title of Associate Professor in 2014 and Professor in 2020. Throughout his academic career, he held positions at Maltepe, İstinye, and Istanbul Beykent Universities, while also taking on administrative duties such as Vice Rector, Dean, Institute Director, and Department Head. He currently continues his work at Istanbul Beykent University as a Professor and Vice Rector.

He serves as the Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Turkic World at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics. He also coordinates the International Turkic World Congress of Economics. He has been honored with an Honorary Certificate and the "Distinguished Educator" badge by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Prof. Aliyev serves as the editor for series of book projects focusing on cooperation among Turkic States, and continues his academic contributions within the realms of culture, civilization, and behavioral sciences.

Born in Istanbul in 1972, he is a short film/commercial director, photographer, and YouTuber. He is a graduate of Saint-Joseph French High School and Marmara University, Department of Cinema-TV. Since 2019, he has been producing innovative digital content focusing on popular culture, cinema, and diverse disciplines on FluTV, the YouTube channel he founded.

She works at the Media and Journalism Studies research center at the University of Groningen. Specializing in media and migration, digital literacy, digital inclusion, and media education, Assoc. Prof. Bozdağ is the principal investigator of the NWO Vidi project DigiMig (2024–2028). Previously, she conducted the INCLUDED project at the University of Bremen as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow and served as the Head of the New Media Department at Kadir Has University. She graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Political Science and International Relations, and completed her Ph.D. in media and communication at the University of Bremen.

She is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication at the Department of Communication and Media, Lund University. She received her Bachelor's degree in Anthropology with First Class Honors from SOAS and earned her Ph.D./DPhil in Anthropology from the University of Sussex. Her research interests include conviviality, multiculturalism, diversity, social media, media anthropology, and migration. Her articles have been published in various international journals, and she teaches courses on Digital Ethnography, Public Opinion Formation, and Research Methods at both graduate and undergraduate levels. She is also the author of the book "Conviviality in Burgaz: Living, Loving and Fighting on a Diverse Island in Istanbul".

He works as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. His research areas include the political economy of media and cultural industries, videogame studies, and the philosophy of technology. His book, "A Precarious Game: The Illusion of Dream Jobs in the Video Game Industry", which examines working conditions within the video game sector, won the LaborTech Research Network Book Award. His articles have been published in leading journals in the field, including "Media, Culture & Society" and "Feminist Media Studies".

He is a faculty member in the Digital Media program at University College London. He received his Ph.D. from Tohoku University in Japan with an ethnographic study on television genres. He previously taught courses on media and cultural studies at Anadolu University and Hacettepe University Faculties of Communication. Some of his publications include: "Gender and Digital Media: A Critical Companion" (Editor, 2026, Routledge); "Popularizing Japanese TV" (Routledge, 2019); "Voices of the Field: Ethnographic Method in Communication Research" (Istanbul Bilgi University, 2013), and "What is Media Anyway, Everything is a Lie!" (İletişim, 2012).

He is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Philology and Communication at the University of Girona (UdG). He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Radio, Television, and Cinema. He worked as a Maria Zambrano Visiting Researcher at UdG between 2022–2024, and as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Vienna between 2015–2016. He is the author of the books "Counter Cinema" and "Journalism Practices". His research articles have been published in journals such as "Feminist Media Studies", "Studies in European Cinema", and the "Journal of European Cultural Studies". His academic work focuses primarily on alternative media, cinema, representations, and gender studies.