Sociology

Education

2014 Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Amsterdam

Dissertation: Leisure Consumption and Entertainment in Istanbul

2000 Certificate in Global Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton

1997 M.A. in Sociology, State University of New York at Binghamton

Teaching Areas

Introduction to Sociology, Social Theory, Urban Studies, Media & Communication

Research Interests

Urban Studies, Sociology of Consumption, Leisure & Entertainment, Gentrification, Media & Communication

Biography

Volkan Aytar received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Amsterdam. His recent academic work concentrated on the processes of gentrification and the patterns of leisure consumption in multicultural cities including Istanbul and Amsterdam. He previously worked as the director of Bahcesehir University (BAU) Creative Industries Center and as the chair of the Department of New Media at BAU Faculty of Communication in Istanbul, Turkey where he taught for the last decade. He was a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Ethnic and Religious Diversity in Goettingen, Germany. Apart from his academic studies, he worked as an administrator at the non-governmental sector in Istanbul, coordinating research and advocacy activities geared towards supporting Turkey’s democratization efforts. He has previously taught sociology at Sabanci University, Istanbul. In the US, he taught at the State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Sociology. While in New York, he also worked as an editorial staff member for the Political Handbook of the World. You can find more information about professor Aytar on his Academia page.

Selected Publications

“Legacies, Continuities, and Breaks: Musical Entertainment in the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and the Republic of Turkey,” in A. C. Gedik (ed.) Made in Turkey: Studies in Popular Music, Routledge, London & New York, 2018.

Leisure Consumption and Entertainment in Istanbul, New Market Press, Istanbul & Amsterdam, 2014

Selling Ethnic Neighborhoods: The Rise of Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption
[Book Co-edited with Jan Rath], Routledge, London & New York, 2012.

Media, Culture and Identity in Europe, [Book Co-edited with Savaş Arslan, Defne Karaosmanoğlu and Süheyla Kırca Schroeder], Bahcesehir University Press, Istanbul, 2009.

“Caterers of the consumed metropolis: Ethnicized Tourism and Entertainment Labourscapes in Istanbul” in J. Rath (ed.) Tourism, Ethnic Diversity and the City, Routledge, London & New York, 2007.

“Gender: Feminism and Women’s Studies,” [with A. Betul Celik] in I. Wallerstein & R. Lee (eds.) Overcoming the Two Cultures, Paradigm/Routledge, London & New York, 2004.