“The difficulties of the global COVID pandemic have shown us just how important the Global Centers are for our continuing communication as members of the Columbia community. While quarantine and travel restrictions have forced us to postpone much of our work in the region, at the same time we have found the importance of the Global Centers growing as venues for the exchange of ideas among faculty and students both in New York, and at all the regional centers.”
Zainab Bahrani, Istanbul Center FAC Chair
The Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC) provides academic and intellectual input, leadership, and advice regarding the Center’s activities and plans, supports its engagement with faculty, helps identify, expand, and advance scholarly exchange, and creates innovative and sustainable programming at and through the Istanbul Center.
The FAC is chaired by a faculty member who serves a renewable three-year term and is viewed as a thought leader by other members of the faculty. Committee members represent a wide spectrum of faculty interests and disciplinary areas and are selected because of their commitment to globalization and their familiarity with and scholarly interest in the region.

Istanbul FSC
Zainab Bahrani
Edith Porada Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art History and Archaeology, Department of Art History and Archeology; Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee of Columbia Global Centers | Istanbul
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Emily Bell
Founding Director and Leonard Tow Professor of Journalism

Istanbul FSC
Yanis Ben Amor
Assistant Professor of Global Health and Microbiological Sciences

Istanbul FSC
Jason Bordoff
Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Zeynep Celik
Adjunct Professor of History, Department of History

Istanbul FSC
Carol Gluck
George Sansom Professor of History, Department of History and Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures; Chair, The Committee on Global Thought
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Ayten Gündoğdu
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Barnard College
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Sarah H. Cleveland
Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights, and Faculty Co-Director of the Human Rights Institute at Columbia University Law School

Istanbul FSC
Marianne Hirsch
William Peterfield Trent Professor of English, English & Comp Literature

Istanbul FSC
Nihal T. Isiksel
Associate Professor of Political Science, Dept of Political Science

Istanbul FSC
Valentina Izmirlieva
Professor of Slavic Languages; Chair, Department of Slavic Languages
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Rashid Khalidi
Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Department of History and Department of Middle Eastern, Asian, and African Studies (MESAAS)
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Holger A. Klein
Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Vishakha N. Desai
Vice Chair, Committee on Global Thought; Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President; Senior Research Scholar, SIPA

Istanbul FSC
Tunc Sen
Assistant Professor of History, Department of History
Research Interest

Istanbul FSC
Neslihan Şenocak
Associate Professor, Department of History