Sengul Yildiz-Alanbay

Şengül Yıldız-Alanbay is an Instructor and Advisor in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. 

Dr. Alanbay holds a Ph.D. from the interdisciplinary Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT) doctoral program at Virginia Tech. Her research lies at the intersection of international relations, critical political theory, social theory, cultural studies, aesthetics, and critical dance and performance studies. She employs interdisciplinary and critical approaches to examine dissensual dance performances within and of social movements. Specifically, her research investigates how such aesthetic performances challenge dominant political, social, and cultural narratives and disrupt structures of power beyond the politics of representation in terms of race, gender, and colonialism. Also, thinking through affect theory, she interrogates how dissensual dances function as modes of resistance and a vehicle for social change or, at the very least, an affective force for shifts in perception. 

Previously, she served as a guest editor for SPECTRA: The ASPECT Journal, and has published work in New Political Science, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Spectra (Virginia Tech Publishing), and Dance Research Journal. She also served as a reviewer in SPECTRA, Global Studies Quarterly, and Journal of Contemporary European Studies. I strongly advocate for interdisciplinary pursuits and collaborations.

Alongside her research, Dr. Alanbay is deeply committed to pedagogy. She fosters an inclusive and compassion-centered classroom environment, emphasizing both critical engagement and skill development.