ISIM Faculty and Staff

Sebnem Koser Akcapar has earned her PhD with greatest distinction (summa cum laude) in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Informed by a two-year long extensive fieldwork in various cities in Turkey, Belgium and Germany, her dissertation focused on Iranian transit migrants and the macro and micro variables affecting migrant networks. Her current project deals with highly-skilled migration and student flows from Turkey to the USA and is funded by the Migration Research Program at Koc University Istanbul (MiReKoc) and the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). She holds two masters degrees: one in Cultures and Development, magna cum laude, from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium and another in Translation and Interpretation, from Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. She worked as a volunteer in several Turkish women’s associations in Europe, particularly in Belgium and in Germany, for the integration and emancipation of immigrant women. Apart from a number of articles in English and French, she also co-authored a working paper sponsored by the International Organization of Labor on migrants working in the informal sector in Turkey. Her research interests include immigrants in Western Europe, problems of integration, comparative analysis of Mexico and Turkey migratory flows, the role of religion in international migration, feminization of migration, forced migrants and transnationalism.

sa364@georgetown.edu