Petek Onur

Petek Onur is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies (CCRS) at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Her research examines intersections of Islam, gender, and cultural memory in Turkey and Turkish diaspora communities.

Her academic credentials include:

• PhD in Sociology from Middle East Technical University (awarded 2016)
• Postdoctoral position at University of Flensburg (2023-2024)

Dr. Onur's scholarly focus centers on gendered dimensions of neo-Ottoman nostalgia, analyzing how historical memory shapes contemporary Turkish society through urban transformations, media representations, and religious practices. Her work uniquely bridges cultural sociology and migration studies, with particular attention to women's agency within Islamist discourses and migrant communities in Europe.

Analysis of her publication record reveals consistent thematic development across seven research outputs (2018-2024), evolving from ethnographic studies of Turkish women to current investigations of piety codes in Danish-Turkish marriage practices. Her monograph Ethnographic Discourses on Women and Islam in Turkey (2024) establishes a critical framework for analyzing Orientalist biases in academic literature, while her edited volume Neo-Ottoman Imaginaries (2022) demonstrates interdisciplinary reach across cultural studies and political sociology.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• 2018 Şirin Tekeli Research Award from Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Center of Excellence

Dr. Onur has secured significant research funding including an EC Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship for "Gendered Nostalgia: Neo-Ottomanism in Islamist Women’s Media in Turkey" and current DFF support for "The Story behind the Wedding: Piety Codes in Union Formation among Turkish Communities in Denmark". As co-founder of CCRS's Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster, she actively mentors junior researchers and organizes academic events including the 2022 conferences on Muslim piety aesthetics and modest fashion.

Her collaborative work with The Many Roads in Modernity Research Centre and the "Pious Practices among Danish Muslims" research group demonstrates strong institutional integration within Copenhagen's academic ecosystem.