Pelin Basci

Pelin Basci is a Professor of Humanities and Turkish Studies in the Honors College at Portland State University (PSU), where she has served since 1997 initially in the Department of World Languages and Literatures until 2018, and currently in the University Honors Office. Her three-decade academic career focuses on interdisciplinary Turkish cultural studies spanning the early twentieth century to contemporary periods.

Her educational foundation includes a BA and MA from Ege University in Izmir, Turkey (1985, 1988), and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin (1995) as a Fulbright scholar, with additional doctoral work at Ankara University. She maintains strong ties to Turkey, having grown up in Ankara and studied in Izmir and Istanbul.

Dr. Basci's research centers on modern Turkish literature, cinema, and popular culture through historical and gender studies lenses, examining nationalism, urban violence, and media representation. Her methodology integrates cultural studies frameworks to analyze how national trauma (e.g., the 1980 military coup) manifests in telecinematic narratives, as demonstrated in her 2017 book Social Trauma and Telecinematic Memory.

Recent publications (2020-2022) reveal evolving trends in Turkish cultural production, including cinematic portrayals of marginalized groups during globalization, urban wilderness narratives in post-1970s Turkey, and narrative techniques in Orhan Pamuk's works. These studies consistently bridge film analysis, literary criticism, and sociohistorical context while emphasizing Turkey's connections to Balkan and Middle Eastern cultural spheres.

• Research scholarship from Freie University in Berlin
• Fulbright doctoral scholarship
• USIA-sponsored cultural exchange program for emerging writers (1987)

As an educator, Dr. Basci champions collaborative learning and active student engagement through discussions and presentations. Her teaching spans Turkish language/literature and humanities, supported by professional development including Oral Proficiency Interview training (2014). Though the text specifies undergraduate instruction, it does not detail graduate advising or research grants. She actively disseminates her work internationally at institutions including Stanford University, Boğaziçi University, and Seoul National University.