Duygu Duman, PhD

Department Chair

Duygu Çurum Duman received her PhD from Yıldız Technical University in 2018. Her research interests include community interpreting, health interpreting, interpreting education, hermeneutic approach to translation, qualitative research approaches, terminology and specialised field communication. Having worked at Hacettepe, Yıldız Technical and Haliç Universities, Dr Duman has also been involved in various EU projects.

Güçlü Özkök

French Preparatory Program Coordinator

Özkök completed his master’s degree at Hacettepe University in 1995. His area of specialization is grammar in French language teaching. He contributed to the establishment of a video conferencing system for simultaneous interpreting courses in the conference interpreting master’s program and the implementation of Melissi software. Özkök translates comics, narratives and story books from French into Turkish for pre-school and primary school children.

Alican Demir

Demir earned his master’s degree from Stendhal-Grenoble 3 University in 2003, where he developed a strong foundation in French language and pedagogy. With years of experience in language instruction, Demir is a dedicated educator at the French Preparatory Unit, where he teaches Basic French. His teaching approach focuses on equipping students with essential linguistic skills and fostering a supportive learning environment to build their confidence in using the French language effectively.

Bahtinur Gündoğdu

Currently a PhD candidate at Hacettepe University with a specialization in French Language Literature, she is experienced and authorized in administrating and evaluating assessments in preparation for DELF exams. She has vast experience in teaching French as a foreign language to students of different ages and backgrounds. Her master’s thesis focused on demonstrating “The effect of literary texts on the development of writing skills in French as a foreign language.”

Büşra Kurt Uçar, PhD

Uçar has been working as a freelance translator for 12 years, providing translation, proofreading, localisation and transcreation services for various international companies. Her translation-related areas of specialisation include pharmaceuticals, pharmacovigilance, clinical trials, medical devices, technical equipment, law, IT and video games. She earned both her M.A. (2019) and Ph.D. (2025) in Translation and Interpretation from Hacettepe University. Her research explores the impact of digitalization on translation and interpreting practices, the sociology of translation with a particular focus on professional identity, and the evolving status of translators.

Cahide Ekiz

Ekiz completed her graduate degree at the University of Surrey, specializing in the translation of texts related to economics, finance, politics, law, and the European Union, as well as other international organizations. She has gained extensive professional experience, having worked at Atılım University, Hacettepe University, TÖMER, and the Turkish Standards Institute.

Esmaeil Kalantari, PhD

Esmaeil Kalantari holds a Ph.D. in Translation Studies from Université de Montréal. His research lies at the intersection of translation, media, and political communication, with a focus on translation in news and social media, its role in global news circulation, public opinion formation, and the spread of political mis- and disinformation. His individual and collaborative work has appeared in leading journals in translation studies, media studies, and political science, including Meta: Translators’ Journal, Across Languages and Cultures, The Translator, Journalism, Canadian Political Science Review, and Bulletin d’histoire politique. He has also co-authored chapters in edited volumes such as The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Media. Previously, Dr. Kalantari served as a lecturer and research assistant at Université de Montréal and Université TÉLUQ.

Fatma Aksoy, PhD

Fatma Aksoy holds a Ph.D. in Translation Studies from Hacettepe University (2024). Her dissertation explored the representation of Turkish identity in British and French media through social systems theory. Her research interests include translation sociology, identity politics, and the role of translation in shaping national and global media narratives. She has taught Turkish, French, and English at Hacettepe University (2005–2017) and has extensive translation experience in children’s literature, academic writing, and the social sciences. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Ottawa (2007–2009). She is currently co-authoring a book on the social role of translation in Turkey from the Ottoman era to the present and researching the reception of literary narratives in the media. Outside academia, she has worked at Charles de Gaulle French High School (2021–2025) and the Embassy of Luxembourg (2018–2021).

Safiye Bal Kuzucu

Safiye Bal Kuzucu graduated from the dual-language Translation and Interpreting program (French-English) at Hacettepe University. She has since worked with various institutions as a translator and interpreter, including the Embassy of France and the Constitutional Court of Türkiye, and has also served as a freelance conference interpreter across a wide range of high-level and technical domains. She holds two M.A. degrees: an M.A. in Conference Interpreting from Bilkent University (2017) and an M.A. in Translation and Interpreting from Hacettepe University (2025), where she specialized in ergonomics and remote interpreting.

Zachary Murphy King, PhD

Zachary Murphy King received his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago in 2023, specializing in literature, aesthetic theory and translation in the Soviet Union and its engagements with modernism. His research focuses on the reception of Western modernism in early Soviet culture, exploring the role of translation and reception in shaping socialist realism. He is also an active translator of poetry, literary and academic writing, working with texts from Russian, German and Polish, and a recipient of the Compass Translation Award for Russian Poetry and grants from the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, among others. Dr. King’s current book project investigates Soviet debates over authors Marcel Proust, John Dos Passos and James Joyce and their broader implications for literary theory and social politics.

Zeynep Şengel, PhD

Assistant Chair

Şengel has been working as a freelance conference interpreter for 18 years, delivering interpreting services at technical meetings, international conferences, and high-level bilateral, multilateral meetings. She received her M.A. in Conference Interpreting from Bilkent University (2008) and her Ph.D. in Translation and Interpretation at Hacettepe University (2025), with a dissertation focusing on accessibility through plain language translation in the context of migration. Her research interests also include interpreting and interpreter training, ergonomics, and technology use in T&I. Şengel currently serves as the Vice-President of the Turkish Conference Interpreters Association (TKTD).

İlknur Kaya

Administrative Assistant

İlknur KAYA received her MA from Bilkent University in 1998. A true plant and animal lover, she also conducts charity activities for children.