Associate Members
Emin Adas
Dr. Emin Adas worked as an Assistant Professor in Gaziantep University before joining the Department of Sociology at UIUC as a Visiting Assistant Professor. His research interests include economic, political and cultural manifestations of Islamization in Turkey, Islamic Entrepreneurs and their politics, health policies and inequalities, migration and poverty.
Ercan Balci
Dr. Balci is the Turkish program coordinator and a Turkish lecturer in the Department of Linguistics. He teaches all levels of Turkish language, Turkish culture and identity and global studies classes. His research interests include Turkish morpo-phonology, Second Language Acquisition, Turkish culture and identity, Curriculum development and Less Commonly Taught Languages.
Noshir Contractor
Adjunct Professor, Department of Communication, Department of Psychology, and the Coordinated Science Laboratory. Dr. Contractor's research interests include the emergence (creation, maintenance, and dissolution) of communication and knowledge networks. Applications of complexity theory, chaos theory, and self-organizing systems theory to the study of organizing. Globalization and new forms of organizing. Computational modeling of organizational structures and processes. Advanced quantitative data analytic techniques including structural equation modeling, time series analysis, and network analysis.
Serife Genis
Dr. Serife Genis did her undergraduate studies in the Department of Sociology at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey and her PhD studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She worked as an Assistant Professor in Gaziantep University in Turkey before joining the Department of Sociology at UIUC as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Her research interests include global cities, gated communities, migration, urban inequalities, poverty, and social exclusion.
William Hechler
Dr. William Hechler is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English. Dr. Hechler teaches technical writing and science journalism. He is interested in forestry and demography in the western Tarai region of Nepal, particularly in the areas where Nepali-speaking hill people are moving into the areas traditionally occupied by the Tharu tribe.
Yore Kedem
Visiting Instructor, Program in Jewish Culture and Society and Department of Religion. Hebrew language instructor. Dr. Kedem's research interests include music education and Israeli identity.
Farhad Malekafzali
Dr. Farhad Malekafzali is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science.
Mithilesh Mishra
Lecturer and Coordinator, Hindi Program, Department of Linguistics; Lecturer, Center for Global Studies.
Eman Saadah
Language Coordinator of Arabic; Lecturer, Department of Linguistics. Arabic language instructor.