The Institute for the Humanities is pleased to welcome Demet Bolat to the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor as the inaugural William and Sally Searle Research Fellow in its new Scholars in Exile program.
A sociologist and feminist scholar, Bolat received her PhD from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Turkey. Her research interests span gender studies, feminist theory and epistemology, the politics of the commons, and the sociology of community.
Bolat’s current research examines the political, institutional, and epistemological effects of anti-genderism on academia in Turkey. It focuses on the reconfiguration of feminist knowledge practices and the resistance strategies developed by gender scholars under authoritarian conditions. Alongside her academic work, she is involved in feminist collectives that conduct feminist research and make gender and feminist scholarship accessible to broader publics.
The Scholars in Exile program, launched in collaboration with Academy in Exile (AiE) at TU Dortmund University, Germany, provides a one-year residency with the Institute for the Humanities to a scholar who is living in exile due to war or persecution as a result of their academic work and/or civic engagement. The program offers institutional and financial support that enables scholars to pursue their research while enriching the U-M community with expertise, creativity, and international experience. A second year of the scholar’s residency will be supported by AiE in Germany.
“I am deeply grateful to join the University of Michigan at a time when sustaining feminist scholarship requires both intellectual rigor and institutional solidarity,” Bolat said. “I look forward to contributing to the U-M community by sharing my research, engaging students and colleagues across disciplines, and strengthening transnational critical scholarly dialogue.”
While at U-M, Bolat will be involved in the institute’s fellowship program as well as the Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) department, where she will work closely with a faculty mentor to advance her research. She will participate in the institute’s weekly fellows seminar, present at least one public-facing lecture, teach two courses, and engage with faculty and students across campus.
