معرفی
Prof. Dr. Bilgin Ayata is a full Professor at the University of Graz, affiliated with the Graz School of Interdisciplinary Transnational Studies and the Centre for Southeast European Studies. She previously served as Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Basel. She holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and an MA from York University. Her work bridges interdisciplinary research on socio-political transformations, migration, borders, and affective dimensions of citizenship.
Her research focuses on:
- Migration, displacement, and transnationalism
- Border regimes and the concept of 'elastic borders'
- Affective politics and emotional dimensions of belonging
- Postcolonial and authoritarian dynamics in Europe and the MENA region
- Religious recognition, particularly Islam and Alevism in Europe
- Urban memory and cultural memoryscapes
Although no individual articles are listed, her extensive research portfolio includes major funded projects that reflect a strong trend in critical political sociology, interdisciplinary border studies, and affect theory. These projects integrate qualitative, ethnographic, and policy-oriented methodologies across multiple European and Mediterranean sites.
Her scientific honors include:
- DFG-Mercator Fellowship at CRC Affective Societies, Berlin
- Nomis Foundation Research Award
- Funding from Swiss National Science Foundation and SNIS
- Support from MacArthur, DAAD, and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung
Prof. Ayata has led significant research grants, including the 'Elastic Borders' study on EU frontier dynamics and 'Affective Citizenship' on religious belonging. She actively supervises academic and public-facing projects, having mentored student exhibitions and co-organized public lecture series with institutions like Kunstmuseum Basel and Maxim Gorki Theater. She fosters collaborations between academia, art, and civil society to enhance public discourse on migration and memory.
She is a core member of the 'Southern Urbanities' Network, co-president of the Research Association Switzerland-Turkey, and co-speaker of the research cluster 'Migration, borders and mobility in, around and through Europe' within the Field of Excellence 'Dimensions of Europe'.
