Emre Erdoğan is a political scientist conducting researches on political participation, foreign policy, public opinion, child and youth well-being, methodology and statistics. His research interests include youth in Turkey, integration of Syrian refugees, othering, polarization and populism. He actively participates in research projects, serves as a reviewer, and he is the editor-in-chief of Istanbul Bilgi University Publishing House and editor of REFLEKTİF Journal of Social Sciences. He is involved in different COST Actions, H2020 and Erasmus projects.

Pınar Uyan-Semerci  is a faculty member at Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of International Relations. Since 2007, she has been the director of the Center for Migration Center at the same university and since 2017 she has been the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. Uyan-Semerci, whose academic fields of study are political philosophy, comparative politics, social policy and methodology in social sciences, has conducted many research projects, published articles and books on justice, rights, citizenship, human development, capability approach, poverty, migration, youth, collective identity formations, othering, polarization, child labor and child well-being.

Assistant Prof. Mehmet Ali Tuğtan has been a member of İstanbul Bilgi University Department of International Relations since 2008. Mehmet Ali Tuğtan has been the Chair of Bilgi Distance Education Center (UZEM) since August 2017. Majored in International Relations and Political Science in Marmara University, Mehmet Ali Tuğtan has completed his MA in 2000 with the dissertation titled Emergence of A Post Cold War European Security Architecture and his PhD in 2007 with the dissertation titled Turkish-US Security Relations 1945-2003: A Game-Theoretical Analysis of the Institutional Effect in Boğaziçi University Political Science program.Dr. Tuğtan’s areas of study include Turkish Foreign Policy, 20th Century Political History, Contemporary World Politics and Security Studies. In addition to several book chapters and articles on these subjects, Dr. Tuğtan has edited a book on the Turkish involvement in the Korean War (Kore Savaşı: Uzak Savaşın Askerleri) published in 2013. For Massive online open course projects of Dr. Tuğtan on his areas of study, see: l  EdX Contemporary Issues in World Politics (With Prof. Ilter Turan), l  FlipEU: A Flipped Course on EU (With Ast. Prof. Özge Onursal Beşgül)

Is a veteran tv journalist, documentary film maker and a media & strategic communications executive with international field/ strategic level consultancy experience. Utku has extensive experience in working in international humanitarian crises and conflict zones and has managed newsrooms and worked as a consultant for news & entertainment broadcasters, publishers, documentary film makers and digital content creators. As a media executive he has extensive experience in traditional and digital content, strategy and management. He has worked for multinational marketing & PR companies with a senior marketing communications consultant and executive board member capacity. He is not only experienced in marketing strategies, content, ideation and PR & social media campaigns but has run political marketing campaigns as well. Utku has also worked in the humanitarian sector with executive capacity. He is experienced in public diplomacy, advocacy, IO-INGO-NGO and public sector relations, fund raising, sensitivity management and key leader engagement. He founded and run skills based psycho social support programs for disadvantaged children. He has been working as a StratCom & Media SME in international & national military exercises and has been a researcher on hybrid warfare, influence operations, strategic communications theories and military history.

Tuğçe Erçetin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Istanbul Bilgi University, an MA in Political Science from the University of Essex and an MA in International Relations from Istanbul Bilgi University. She has been involved in research projects on polarization, migration, populism, othering, civil society and volunteering, and information disorders. Her research interests include populism, identity, nationalism, othering, political communication, political psychology,and comparative politics. She is the associate editor of REFLEKTİF Journal of Social Sciences at Istanbul Bilgi University.  She has published articles in journals such as Democratization, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Turkish Studies, Philosophy & Social Criticism, and national and international book chapters. Erçetin is involved in different TUBITAK, Erasmus and EU Horizon projects.

Şaban Çaytaş is a lecturer in the International Projects Office at Istanbul University. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul University in 2017, he completed his master’s degree at Marmara University Department of the International Political Economy. He is a PhD student at Marmara University Department of Political Science and International Relations. He worked as a project specialist and researcher in the projects seeking to mitigate information disorders at Istanbul Bilgi University and Marmara University. His current studies mainly focus on media and politics, information disorders and conspiracy theories.

She graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University, Department of TV Reporting and Programming and International Relations. She completed her master’s degree in Media and Communication Studies at Galatasaray University. She worked as a member of Istanbul Bilgi University Child Studies Unit team between 2021-2023. She took responsibilities as project expert, project coordinator, content development expert in non-governmental organizations working for children. She continues to work with children and adults in the fields of child rights, child participation and child safeguarding. She is a PhD candidate at Istanbul Bilgi University Political Science PhD Program.

She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at Marmara University Department of Political Science and International Relations and Istanbul Bilgi University International Relations Programme respectively. Since 2007, she has been working at Istanbul Bilgi University Migration Studies Application and Research Centre (BİLGİ-GÖÇ). At the Centre, she contributes to the organisation of projects on migration and social inclusion, migration and education, rural and urban child labour, polarisation, as well as events on migration, art, literature, raising awareness and breaking prejudices about migration and migrants.