EDUCATION

• Ph.D. 2005, Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University 2000, Women’s Studies Minor, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Dissertation Title: The Empowerment of Women in Reproductive Services: A Poststructural feminist case study of two women’s health centers in U.S.

• M.S 1997, Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University
  • Thesis Title: A Grounded Theory of Family Distance Explaining Independence/ Interdependence in Modernizing Turkish Families

• B.A.   1994, Double Major, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • Psychology (Valedictorian)
  • Political Science and International Relations (High Honors)

CERTIFICATES

• MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Teacher Certificate by the IMA: Institute for Mindfulness Based Approaches, July 2021.
• Meditation Teacher Certificate by Shai Tubali’s School of Meditation, Human Greatness Center in Berlin, August 2020.
• NORM Method Level 1 Certificate by Mehmet Parpudar, Parpudar Academy, May 2020.
• Usui Reiki Master Level (RMT) (Usui Shiki Ryoho) from Uma Chonyi (Uma Füsun Unat), 2015.
• Usui Reiki Shiki Ryoho Level 2 from Mehmet Parpudar, Parpudar Academy, May 2020.
• Goal Oriented Thinking Skills and Consciousness for Universal Intentions and Prayers Certificate, Mehmet Parpudar, Parpudar Academy, November 2020.
• WakeUp Schools, Level 1, December 2018-January 2019, Plum Village, France. Wakeup Schools is a project to bring mindfulness to schools.
• Nature & Forest Pedagogy Trainer Training, co-organized by the Alternative Education Platform & Petra Jäger, Children and Nature for the World’s Future, February-April 2021.
• Reggio Emilia Pedagogy Training, co-organized by the Alternative Education Platform & Barbara Moser, Reggio Bildung, March-April, 2021.

TRAINING IN MINDFULNESS  

• 20 years of Tai Chi and Qiqong experience. Continuing training at the XUAN – Gong Fu Academy school for internal kung fu in Berlin.
• Attended Be-in-Movement Workshop, Paul Linden, July 2019.
• Attended Wudang Style 5 Animals Qiqong workshop with Master Yuan Li Min, Ming Shan Taoist Center, Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland ,September 22-23, 2018.
• Attended retreats at Plum Village Center in France (December 2016-January 2017 and December 2018-January 2019).

TRAINING IN MINDFULNESS WITH CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND EDUCATORS

• Completed Training & Certified in Nature & Forest Pedagogy Trainer Training, co-organized by the Alternative Education Platform & Petra Jäger, Children and Nature for the World’s Future:
  • Forest Games, April 13, 2021
  • Projects, Rituals and Celebrations, March 16, 2021
  • The Role of the Teacher in Forest Kindergarten, February 23, 2021
• Completed Training & Certified in Reggio Emilia Pedagogy Training, co-organized by the Alternative Education Platform & Barbara Moser, Reggio Bildung.
  • Process Learning & Projects, April 24, 2021
  • Classroom Design & the Culture of the Atelier, March 27, 2021.
• Assisted the children’s program in the German-speaking retreat “Family as Sangha” held in the Institute for Applied Buddhism (led by Ms. Tineke Spruytenburg), Waldbrol, Germany, July 2018.
• Completed a workshop by Richard Brady on working with middle and high school youth. Brady is a former high school math teacher and founder member of Mindfulness in Education Network in the U.S.

short portrait as an academic: As a Visiting Scholar at the Margherita-von-Brentano-Zentrum At Freie universität, Berlin

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• “From Grief to Joy” Sound and Meditation Workshop with Duygu Muziktherapie, May 30, 2021, Berlin.
• Tending the World, Tending Ourselves: Introduction to Mindfulness for Activists/Academics at Risk. Online workshop held at the Humboldt Foundation Philipp Schwartz and Inspireurope Stakeholder Forum 2021, April 17, 2021.
• Online MBSR Course: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course in Turkish. November 2020-Present.
• Conducted a short walking meditation in I.S.I.: Initiative Selbständiger Immigrantinnen e.V., January 15, 2021.
• Co-organized (with BIRADA and TODAP organizations), a 3-week online wellbeing workshop (that included a sharing circle) for Academics for Peace living in Turkey. Gave a meditation and qiqong workshop entitled “Standing Like a Mountain in Life”, November 15, 2020.
• In person Meditation classes at the IBZ: Internationales Begegnungszentrum der WissenschaftV. in Berlin (December 2018-March 2020). The course included basic qiqong and sitting meditation practices.
• Online Meditation classes (March-July, 2020) to provide qiqong and meditation to those who would like to practice during Corona times. Donations were sent to individuals who are in hardship during this time. The course includes basic qiqong and sitting meditation practices.
• Online Qiqong and Meditation classes on The HomeWorkshops platform, Turkey, April-June 2020.
• In person Meditation Classes at the Human Greatness Center, Berlin, July 2020.

Awaiting participants at the Tending the World, Tending Ourselves:
Introduction to Mindfulness Workshop for Activists/Academics in Exile
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Philipp Schwartz and Inspireurope Stakeholder Forum 2021