Collegiate Affiliation

Tankut is a PhD candidate in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies & Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He holds two master’s degrees in Gender Studies and Sociology/Cultural Studies. His current project looks at the socio-political dimensions of what might be the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic in Turkey. He specifically asks, 'How do regimes of HIV care negotiate the double meaning of HIV as a moral and as a public health problem? And, how do queer activists imagine and enact community-based HIV care?' He seeks to understand and redress the ways in which the Turkish State violates access to health(care) and fails in responding to the HIV epidemic. Although he is passionate about teaching and researching, he is also aware that radical transformation is not possible without activism and community involvement. He tries to be an active part of the grassroots HIV organizations not only in Turkey but also in the US. Being a member of differently marginalized groups, he is especially invested in producing academic work that is not divorced from the lived realities and aims at challenging structural inequalities and injustices. Outside of academy, Tankut is a proud dog and plant father. He is vegan as he is convinced that environmental justice, animal rights, and human rights are inextricable.

Educational Background & Specialties
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Educational Background

  • B.A: Political Science, Bogazici University, 2014 -
  • M.A: Cultural Studies and Sociology, Complutense University of Madrid, 2015 -
  • M.A: Gender Studies, Central European University, 2016 -

Specialties

  • Medical Anthropology
  • Bioethics
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Critical Science and Technology Studies
  • Global health
  • Public Health
  • Ethnographic research methods