
Hey! I'm
Aylin Akinlar, Ph.D.
An academic,
a big dreamer and a doer.

Here’s My Story
Currently, I am an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Public Relations and Advertising, Ömer Seyfettin Faculty of Applied Sciences, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University (BANU), Bandırma-Balikesir/Turkey. I am also a sworn translator and conference interpreter of English, Interpreter-in-aid at Disasters, and curriculum and instructional designer. I am married and a mother of two lovely kids.
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Teaching Experience:
More than 17 years at the university level
I have worked at Cornell University (USA), Yildiz Technical University (YTU) (TR), and Bandirma Onyedi Eylül University (TR) up to now. I worked as a “Lecturer of English” at YTU from January 2006-October 2020 and at BANU from October 2020-October 2022 teaching “TOEFL-IBT”, “IELTS”, “Listening and Speaking”, “Public Speaking”, “Reading”, “Oral Communication Skills”, “Speaking Skills”, “Expression Skills”, “Business English”, “Writing”, etc. I taught Turkish at Cornell University as a Fulbright Scholar in 2009-2010. Since October 2022, I have been working as an Assistant Professor. My research interests are internationalization of higher education, qualitative research, global education, etc.
Education: Ph.D. Holder
I received my Ph.D. ('18) and Master’s ('11) degrees in Curriculum and Instruction at Yildiz Technical University (YTU), Istanbul-Turkey. My Ph.D. dissertation title is “Investigating Multicultural Education in a Minority and Two Public High Schools in Turkey: A Multiple Case Study”. During my Ph.D., I designed “Instructional Technology Dual Degree Non-thesis Master’s Program” between YTU and the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) as “Director of the International Relations Office” and “Advisor to the Vice-Rector for International Joint and Double Degree Programs” at YTU and received “Multicultural Competence” course at NYIT in 2013 as well. My Master’s title is “The Effect of Mind Mapping in Consecutive Interpreting”. I received my B.A. in English Translation and Interpretation at Hacettepe University, Ankara-Turkey in 2005 and English Language Teaching Certificate at the Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University in 2004. I have been a freelance translator and interpreter. I have worked as an interpreter for the President of the Republic of Turkey, for the members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and so forth. In addition, I worked as a “Fulbright Scholar”, Primary Lecturer for Turkish at Cornell University from 2009-2010: I taught “Elementary Turkish 1: NES: 1330” and “Elementary Turkish 2: NES 1331”, hosted “Turkish Tables” for lunches and dinners at Alice Cook Residential House, coordinated Turkish Students Association to organize Turkish activities at Cornell University, cooked Turkish food with my students and organized Turkish family visits, played and sang songs in Cornell Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Music Ensemble. In addition, I took four Ph.D. courses “20th Century Women Writers of Color”, “Introduction to Near Eastern Studies”, “Curriculum and Instruction” and “Narrative Writing” at Cornell University during my Fulbright experience. Please see the US Department of State’s interview regarding my “full bright” experience on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfM1CXm5-N8 .
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Administrative Experience
I was appointed to many administrative positions:
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Member of the YTU Rectorate Coordination Board for Students' Extracurricular Activities (November 2008-February 2011)
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Representative of the YTU School of Foreign Languages at the Rectorate for planning and organizing YTU Centennial Celebrations (June 2010-February 2011)
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Coordinator and Lecturer in the project entitled "5000 Students in Five Years" of the Ministry of National Education (January-April, 2011)
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Director of the YTU International Relations Office (April 2011-March 2014)
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Advisor to Vice-Rector for International Joint and Dual Degree Programs (March 2014-July 2015)
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Vice Director of School of Foreign Languages, Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University (October-December 2020).
Field Experience in the Internationalization of the University
I was appointed as the “Director of the International Relations Office'' at YTU in 2011 by the Rector upon establishing the office and an “Advisor to the Vice-Rector for International Joint and Double Degree Programs”. I was responsible for the internationalization of the university. I developed international programs, and prepared protocols/Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s on international educational cooperation, dual and joint degrees, cotutelles, etc. in line with the Turkish Council of Higher Education with many international partners in the USA (NYIT, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Michigan State University, the University of Chicago, etc.), in Europe (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, etc.); in Asia (Iran, United Arab Emirates, Israel, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, etc.), and in Africa (Egypt, Gambia, Libya, Somalia, etc.). The full list of the university can be seen on www.intcooperations.yildiz.edu.tr/en . I was also the translator and interpreter for the Rector. I participated in the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) University Presidents' Forum 2012 delivering a speech on behalf of the Rector. I represented my university at the International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education (IECHE) in Riyadh, SA in 2014. As a Fulbright alumna, I organized Fulbright promotional seminars on campus with the Turkish Fulbright Commission, DAAD (German Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst/The German Academic Exchange Service), the British Council, and Campus France, etc.
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International Honors, Grants, and Awards
I have been awarded a number of international honors, grants, and awards. I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship during 2009-2010 and taught Turkish at Cornell University, NY, USA. I represented Turkey in the International Air Cadet Exchange Programs in 2002 in the UK, at Pristine Summer University in 2005 in Pristina, Kosovo, and attended International Handicamp in 2008 and 2010 in Haraldvangen, Norway. I have presented international papers and delivered speeches in the USA (Harvard University), Malaysia, the UK, Norway, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc.
Languages
I can speak Turkish, and English and have a basic knowledge of Spanish and German. I am a novice learner of Arabic.
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Some of My Thoughts


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