معرفی
Dr. Devran Koray Öcal is a postdoctoral researcher in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern's Institute of Geography. His research focuses on political geography, feminist geopolitics, and the geographies of migration and states. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2020), an MA in Political Studies from Istanbul Technical University (2013), and a BA in Political Science from Kocaeli University (2010). Before joining Bern in 2022, he taught at UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, and TED University. His work examines everyday militarism in Kurdish border villages and gendered constructions of refugee identities in Turkey, employing ethnographic and critical feminist methodologies.
Education:
- 2015–2020: PhD in Geography, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- 2010–2013: MA in Political Studies, Istanbul Technical University
- 2005–2010: BA in Political Science and Public Administration, Kocaeli University
Research Interests: Dr. Öcal’s interdisciplinary work bridges political geography with feminist theory, analyzing topics such as state violence, refugee masculinities, and the geopolitics of migration. His current projects explore militarism in Turkey’s border regions and the gendered narratives shaping refugee policy.
Awards:
- 2019 UNC Dissertation Completion Fellowship
- 2019 Duke University Ethics Fellowship
- 2016 Center for European Studies Joint-Project Award
Teaching & Affiliations: He teaches courses on political geography and qualitative methods at the University of Bern. He serves on the editorial board of Journaof Reflektifl and contributes to the Unsettling Borders working group. His work is published in journals like Geopolitics and Political Geography.
