Assist. Prof. Merve Reyhan Ceylan Presented Research at Two International Conferences

Assist. Prof. Merve Reyhan Ceylan from Sociology Department recently shared her research at two international academic conferences. Both presentations were delivered via Zoom and provided valuable opportunities to engage with a variety of scholarly studies.

The first presentation, titled “Gendered Cyber Insecurities: Risk Perception, Protective Behaviors, and Victimization in Digital Environments”, was delivered on May 26, 2026, at the 13th International European Conference. This study explored women’s risks in digital environments, examining perceived threats and protective behaviors from an academic perspective.

The second presentation, “Making the Invisible Knowable: Phenomenological Inquiry in Female Prisons”, was delivered on June 4, 2026, at the 2026 CSA-SCS Annual Conference. This methodological study investigated how phenomenological research design can make the lived experiences of incarcerated women visible. Based on twenty-six in-depth interviews conducted in a women’s closed prison in Türkiye, the research highlights how phenomenology illuminates the spatial, embodied, and affective dimensions of imprisonment.

The study identifies three main dimensions: First, at the spatial-institutional level, phenomenology enables an experiential mapping of otherwise inaccessible areas of the prison. Second, at the embodied and gendered level, imprisonment is captured through daily routines, care work, femininity, and motherhood. Third, at the affective-social level, emotions such as shame, guilt, loss, solidarity, and resistance often absent from official records are revealed.

Assist. Prof. Ceylan noted that presenting her research, while also engaging with other scholarly work, was a valuable academic experience. The conferences offered both opportunities for knowledge exchange and the development of methodological perspectives.