Josh Carney

Josh Carney is a Professor of Transcultural Media Studies of the Middle East at Philipps-University Marburg since 2024. He holds a PhD in Communication and Culture (2015) from Indiana University and has held academic positions at institutions including American University of Beirut (2017-2023), Istanbul Bilgi University (2023-2024), and Kadir Has University (2014-2015). His research focuses on Turkish media, Ottoman costume dramas, political satire, censorship, necropolitics, and post-truth discourse.

Education:

• PhD in Communication and Culture with minor in Cultural Studies (2015, Indiana University)
• MA in Central Eurasian Studies (Turkish Studies) (2015, Indiana University)
• MFA in Creative Writing (Nonfiction) (2003, University of Arizona)
• MA in English (2001, Western Washington University)
• BA in Biology (1997, Whitman College)

Research Trends: Carney's work interrogates how Turkish television dramas like Magnificent Century and Resurrection Ertuğrul mediate political narratives through historical nostalgia and necropolitics. He analyzes censorship at film festivals, state-corporated media events like Turkey’s 2016 Democracy Watches, and the role of humor as resistance during the Gezi Park protests.

Scientific Awards:

• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship (2023-2024)
• WEFRAH Research Grant (2019-2021)
• Indiana University Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2013-2014)
• Fulbright Scholarship (1997-1998)

Advising and Grants: Carney co-supervised two PhD dissertations and advised three MA theses at American University of Beirut. He served on 10 MA committees and organized academic events like the Media Infrastructures in the Middle East conference. His grants include VolkswagenStiftung (2024) and Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, 2024).

Labs and Teams: Carney collaborates with institutions such as the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) and the Institute of Media Studies at Philipps-University Marburg. He co-directed the documentary The Sheep From The Future under the WOOL ADRION project and organized academic visits for scholars like Zeynep Gürsel and Nicholas Mirzoeff at AUB.