About Me

The basics

  • First Gen Turkish-American and College Grad
  • PhD in English Literature from New York University
  • Professor of English at SUNY Suffolk Community College since 2000
  • Recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Faculty Service 2020
  • Author of The Other Empire: English Romantic Writings about the Ottoman Empire. Routledge, 2003. Various academic articles and book chapters as well.
  • Author of various creative non-fiction essays, published in such venues as The Threepenny Review, The North American Review and a few others.
  • Peer Reviewer for journals such as The European Romantic Review, The Keats-Shelley Journal, Eighteenth Century Theory and Culture, and Journal of Middle Eastern Women’s Studies.

A bit more

I am a first-generation Turkish-American and the first in my family to graduate from college. My dad was a tailor who did not get to attend school back in Turkey. My mom was the only girl in her neighborhood who attended high school. Suffice to say, as immigrants to America, my parents were very enthusiastic about education for my brother and me. My PhD from New York University is in English Literature, with a focus on English Romanticism and the related areas of Romantic Orientalism, Medievalism, and the Gothic. As a Community College English professor, I have been able to branch out into myriad areas of study, from the classics of Ancient Greece to Contemporary Global literature and much in between. I am also very interested in memoir writing, and in particular, literacy narratives in which writers map out their journey as readers, learners, and citizens. In my 20+ year career as a teacher, I have worked with approximately 5000 students (crazy!) It’s the lifeblood of my work and the thing that I (and all my teaching colleagues) spend the bulk of my time doing. But we faculty also contribute to the Shared Governance model in higher education. I have served on scores of committees over the years, representing my department in the faculty senate, and eventually, in two terms as the Campus Faculty Senate President. It was cool to receive recognition for all this work in the form of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Faculty Service in 2020; I’m proud to continue to serve the college in many ways. In addition to teaching and college service (oh yeah, and raising kids with my husband!), I have been lucky to keep up with writing (personal and academic) and presenting at conferences. You can review my list of publications on the homepage of this site. In addition, I have peer reviewed for some wonderful publications over the years, including The European Romantic Review, The Keats-Shelley Journal, Eighteenth Century Theory and Culture, and Journal of Middle Eastern Women’s Studies. Thanks for reading.