Contact: vkt [at] sfu [dot] ca

My SSHRC-funded research project investigates the politics of Turkish sexual expression within the domain of online digital media as a reaction to Islamist ideologies promoted by the current government of Turkey. I am interested in the ways online sexual expression transgresses simple representation of intimate episodes to unveil striking forms of anti-Islamic social ideologies.

Contemporary Turkish politics are in a dynamic period of ideological conflicts between secular forces and a rise of Islamism at a governmental level. This conflict has limited freedom of speech in physical social reality, but by providing relative anonymity and a sense of security, online media have introduced new channels for open expression. Given the stigmatization of sexual discourse under Islamic morality in Turkish society, the development of online communities around the idea of sexual expression reveals and evidences the emergence of social ideologies that do not conform to Islamic rules.Within this context, I argue that the shared sexual expression in online media has a large political significance.

My PhD research project builds on my Master’s thesis entitled Turkish Liminal Sexualities: Transformations beyond the ‘Real’ and the ‘Virtual’. My interest in studying Turkey is a result of seven years spent living in Istanbul. I obtained a Bachelor degree in Civil Law at Istanbul University in 2005 which has provided me with intimate knowledge of the legal and political culture of contemporary Turkey.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Program

School of Communication

ACT Lab

SimonFraserUniversity, 2012 –

 

M.A.

School of Interactive Arts and Technology

SimonFraserUniversity, 2008-2011

 

B.A. program

School of Interactive Arts and Technology

SimonFraserUniversity, 2007- 2008 (discontinued)

 

Bachelor of Civil Law

Faculty of Law

IstanbulUniversity, 2001- 2005

 

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

Summer School on Religion, Culture, and Society, University of Antwerp, 2013 (fully funded)

Certificate Program in University Teaching and Learning, SimonFraserUniversity, 2010

Instructional Skills Workshop (24 hours), SimonFraserUniversity, 2009

 

PUBLICATIONS

Anthologies

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Deepening Teaching for Computational Media and Generalist Design”, Cambridge University Press (forthcoming in Summer, 2016)

 

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Veronika Tzankova, ” Watching Porn in Turkey: Women, Sex, and Paradigm Shifts”, Journal of Porn Studies, Routledge (forthcoming August, 2015)

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Creative Making, Large Lectures, and Social Media: Breaking with Tradition in Art and Design Education”, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Sage Publications, September 2014, URL: http://ahh.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/09/23/1474022214552197

 

Journal Articles

Veronika Tzankova and Thecla Schiphorst, ” Visualization of Islamic Religious Symbolism on the Internet: A Conceptual Blending”, Parsons Journal for Information Mapping – Volume 2, Issue 2, online, 2010, URL: http://piim.newschool.edu/journal/issues/2010/04/pdfs/ParsonsJournalForInformationMapping_Tzankova-Veronika+Schiphorst-Thecla.pdf

Veronika Tzankova and Thecla Schiphorst,” Magnifying the Eye of Culture: Visual Cognition through a Comparative Sociocultural Progression of Christian and Islamic Image”, Parsons Journal for Information Mapping – Volume 1, Issue 4, online, 2009, URL: http://piim.newschool.edu/journal/issues/2009/04/

Veronika Tzankova and Thecla Schiphorst, “Turkish Tea and Internet: The Invasion of New Media and the Shifting Sands of Culture”, Media-N journal, online, 2009, URL: http://www.newmediacaucus.org/html/journal/issues.php?f=papers&time=2009_spring&page=tzankova_schiphorst

 

Peer Reviewed Conference Papers

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Discursivity and Creativity: Implementing Pigrum’s Multi-mode Transitional Practices in Upper Division Creative Production Courses”, Proceedings of ICET 58th World Assembly (International Council on Education for Teaching, UNESCO affiliate), July, 2014, URL: http://www.icet4u.org/docs/Conference_Proceedings_Portfolio_ICET_2014.pdf

Veronika Tzankova, ” Sex, Affect, and Political Counteraction: The Turkish Online Battle against Governmental Religiosity”, Association of Internet Researchers, Denver, CO, October, 2013, URL:http://spir.aoir.org/index.php/spir/search/authors/view?firstName=Veronika&middleName=&lastName=Tzankova&affiliation=&country=

Veronika Tzankova and Thecla Schiphorst,” Islam, Sexuality, and the Internet: A Historical Reflection of the Shifting Sexual Self in Turkey”, Digital Arts and Culture, online, 2009, URL:http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0x78j3p6

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Meridiend”, Proceedings of ARTECH 2010: 5th International Conference on Digital Arts – Envisioning Digital Spaces. The International Association for Digital and Interactive Arts, p. 225, 2010

 

Peer Reviewed Book Chapters

Veronika Tzankova, “Affective Politics or Political Affection: Online Sexuality in Turkey”, In Ken Hillis, Michael Petit and Susanna Paasonen (Eds.), Affective Networks, MIT Press, 2015

 

Book Chapters

Veronika Tzankova and Thecla Schiphorst, “Constructing Meaning: Verbalizing the Unspeakable in Turkish Political Cartoons”, In Frank Bramlett (Ed.), Linguistics and the Study of Comics, Palgrave Macmillan, April 2012

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Veronika Tzankova, “The Cultural Values of Urban Spaces and the Tech-scheme of Starbucks in Turkey”, ACS Crossroads 2014, University of Turku, Finland, July, 2014 (accepted)

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Discursivity & Creativity”, International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET), University of Ontario, June, 2014

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Creative Making, Large Lectures, and Social Media”, 21st Century Academic Forum Conference, HarvardUniversity, Boston, MA, March , 2014

Veronika Tzankova, ” Sex, Affect, and Political Counteraction: The Turkish Online Battle against Governmental Religiosity”, Association of Internet Researchers, Denver, CO, October, 2013

Veronika Tzankova, “Sexual Realities: The Turkish Case”, Association of Internet Researchers, Seattle, WA, October, 2011

Veronika Tzankova, “Clash of the Self: Pro-Islamism as a Defensive Mechanism against Identity Confusion”, The Turks and Islam, IndianaUniversity, Bloomington, 2010

Veronika Tzankova, “A Culturalist Approach to the Dissection of the Gangster Image in the Turkish Facebook Application Cete Savaslari“, ACS Crossroads 2010, Hong Kong, 2010

Veronika Tzankova,” Islam, Sexuality, and the Internet: A Historical Reflection of the Shifting Sexual Self in Turkey”, Digital Arts and Culture, Irvine, CA, 2009

Veronika Tzankova, “Constructing Meaning: Comics as a Reflection of the Socio-political Performance in Turkey”, Dragon*Con Conference, Atlanta, GA, 2009

 

EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Meridiend”, Les 23rd Festival Les Instants Video, 2010 (France, Italy, CzechRepublic, Syria, Ukraine, Algeria)

 

NET ART EXHIBITIONS

Michael Filimowicz and Veronika Tzankova, “Meridiend”:

The 22 Magazine , 2012

Anomalous, 2011

Buffalo Infringement Festival, New York, 2010

23rd Festival Les Instants Video, France, 2010

Artech2010: Envisioning Digital Spaces, Portugal, 2010
00130 gallery, Helsinki, 2009
ESPACIO ENTER – international digital arts symposium and exhibition, 2009
Spring Gun Press

FONLAND

 

SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Doctoral Fellowship, 2014-2016

Graduate Fellowship, SimonFraserUniversity, 2014

Edward W. Said Memorial Scholarship, 2013

Graduate International Research Travel Award, SimonFraserUniversity, 2013

Best in Show (Meridiend) – ARTECH 2010: 5th International Conference on Digital Arts, Envisioning Digital Spaces, 2010

SIAT Travel Award, 2010

FCAT Travel Award, 2010

SIAT Travel Award, 2009

FCAT Travel Award, 2009