Zümray Kutlu teaches courses on comparative politics, refugee politics, and global cities. She is currently working on a book project titled “Thesis Eleven,” which includes interviews with the members of the Advisory Board of a journal published between 1985-1992 in Turkey.

She received her B.A. and M.S. in Sociology from Middle East Technical University (METU), her M.A in Theory and Practice of Human Rights from University of Essex, and her Ph.D. in Political Science from Istanbul Bilgi University. Previously, she taught at Istanbul Bilgi University and Bahçesehir University, and from 2017-2018 she was a visiting assistant professor at Hampshire College.

Kutlu worked for more than 15 years in various NGOs, where she developed and supervised projects on participatory policy development, cultural rights, cultural heritage, and refugees.

Selected Publications

“Refugees on the Move: Crisis and Response in Turkey and Europe”, 2022, Berghahn Publications (Eds. with Erol Balkan).

“Is Participatory Local Policy Development Possible? The Case of Çanakkale”, 2017, Research and Policy on Turkey, 2:1, 90-104.

“Endless Escape: From Syria to Turkey, Then to Europe,” 2016, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, April, Vol: 16, No:1, 121-134.

“Participation and the Right to the City: The Case of Turkey,” 2015, METU Studies in Development, 42, 457-480.