Didem, welcome to Karlstad university and Geomedia. Tell us about your background.
- Thank you. I research and write about emerging digital technologies and their societal implications, in particular, mobile and locative media, location technologies, mobilities, data, algorithms, machine learning, and memory. My research is highly interdisciplinary and uses theories and practices from media and communication studies, human geography, philosophy, sociology, data science, and critical data studies.
I have a strong interest in mobile media and communication, locative media, location technologies, location analytics, geo-profiling, algorithmic bias, and social/mobility justice. I am currently writing a monograph, The Politics of Location Tracking and Profiling (Routledge), which critically analyses the problematic intersection of location technologies, machine learning, and mobilities.
I hold a Ph.D. from the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) at the University of Westminster in UK, and an M.A in Media and Visual Studies from Bilkent University, Turkey. My Ph.D. research focused on mobile and locative media, and uses of location data based on an ethnographic fieldwork that I conducted in London in 2012 and 2013.
Right after completing my Ph.D. in 2014, I worked as a Research Fellow at CAMRI on a research project that focused on digital and social inequalities.
How did you discover Karlstad university and the work at Geomedia?
- Through Geomedia Conference.
What are your expectations for joining Geomedia?
- I expect Geomedia to be the home for my research at the intersection of two things I am passionate about; media and geography.
What will your duties at KAU be?
- I am a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies and will take on the leadership of the undergraduate programme, Media and Communication Studies: Digital Media and Analysis during 2021.
