personal unearthing site

about

I am deniz (they/them/o), an interdisciplinary storyteller and PhD student in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sociology department. I received my M.A. in Cultural Studies from Sabancı University and B.Sc. in International Relations from Middle East Technical University.

I also use words to express my undying love for movies, film festivals, books about normal people, and anything involving desire-centered kız neşesi (girl joy) navigating the cities.

interests

In addition to being interested in many fields of human and non-human geographies, my writing dwells on urban and visual studies, trans-everyday life, ghosts and hauntings, embodiment and affect, genocide and trauma, state and political violence, bearing witnessing, writing ethnography and positionality.

peer-reviewed publications

deniz atakan gürbüz. "Hayaletin Çarkı." Edited by Aslı Zengin. KaosQueer+ Studies 12 (December 2023): 94–103. (in Turkish)