Hi!
My name is Ecehan Yurukoglu, though I mostly use the short version Ece (eh-geh- you can also call me AJ). I am from Istanbul, Turkey, and I am majoring in Political Science with a minor in Visual and Media Studies.
Since I was very young, I had always looked up to my grandfather, who served as an army general, a NATO military ambassador and ambassador of Turkey to Romania. Through my experiences of talking with him about wars and nations for years, I naturally developed an interest in politics. Growing up in a very turbulent region in terms of foreign affairs, economy and human rights, I knew I wanted to work to understand those issues better to hopefully be able to make contributions to not only my country, but to the world in the future.
What I really enjoy is researching about the intersection between politics and media- specifically political messages delivered in forms of entertainment media. I also love to write about art, art history and books.
As a big art lover, I have been working at the Nasher Museum for over a year, which has been an amazing experience. Visit the Nasher if you can- they have really amazing, diverse pieces of work.
I am also very passionate about gender equality and women's rights in the Middle East, and I am happy to say that Baldwin has gave me a whole different perspective, a much deeper and valuable one, on women’s empowerment. I am forever thankful for this group of people who have been supportive of me.
You can always contact me at ecehan.yurukoglu@duke.edu.