Aslı is a critical sociologist who undertakes interdisciplinary research with advanced qualitative methods. Having completed her PhD at Liverpool Hope University as a Vice Chancellor’s Scholar, her doctoral study lies at the intersection of state power, symbolic borders, and cultural racism. Prior, she gained an MA in International Relations from Durham University as a Jean Monnet Scholar, an MA in Sociology and an MEd from Ankara University, following her BSc in Sociology and a Minor degree in History of Philosophy from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.
Aslı joined the School of Education at the University of Birmingham in September 2022 as a Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Trust-funded project of “‘Free’ expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith” (FrEx). The FrEx is a mixed methods research project exploring how pre-adulthood race and faith-based expression is formed across school and public spaces. Her ethnographic study focuses on Year 10 pupils, communities, and policy practitioners in Birmingham. She also analyses education policy regarding the relevant policy and political discourse having emerged between 2010 and 2022. Alongside, she is responsible for the administration, content-creation, and management of the project website and social media accounts. She also works on the dissemination activities of the project and presents research findings in academic conferences and public engagement events.
Before joining Birmingham, Aslı was a Teaching Fellow in Sociology and Education at Keele University and an Associate Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University respectively. She designed, convened, and delivered several modules, supervised undergraduate dissertations, and acted as a personal tutor. She was part of Sociology and Education exam boards and research sub-committees. Aslı also has experience outside academia. She performed as a project manager in several EU projects within a wide range of subjects from irregular migration to gender equality in the workplace and enhancing Turkey’s capacity in judiciary. In such projects, Aslı collaborated with various national and international non-governmental organisations, as well as European and Turkish ministries. She also acted as an advisor to diplomats in Indian and Sudanese embassies in Ankara. She was involved in research and fact-finding endeavours, as resources for diplomats to develop diplomatic and dialogical relationships with their Turkish counterparts.
Aslı has recently become a certified mentor/coach. Her focus is on academic mentoring as well as professional coaching, and their decolonisation. She is also a peer-reviewer for several international academic journals in the fields of sociology, education, and research methods. Aslı writes, teaches, and tweets in several outlets. She is a former radio DJ and an avid capoeirista.