Dr Merve Alcayir

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the project AIDS Campaigning between the Global South and Western Europe since the 1980s at University of Stirling. I hold a PhD in Communication Sciences from Hacettepe University, specialising in disability studies. My research focuses on disability, illness experiences, and their intersections with culture, particularly cultural representation. My doctoral research examined the representation of disabled women in 2000s cinema and its reception among disabled women audiences. Alongside my academic work, I spent more than three years working in the mental health policy sector, contributing to World Health Organization initiatives aimed at promoting the social inclusion of people with mental disabilities in Türkiye through engagement activities. My current research explores the history of HIV/AIDS activism in Türkiye and its transnational connections since the 1980s. I investigate the interactions, exchanges, and collaborations between Turkish activists and global HIV/AIDS movements. Building on my previous work on disability inclusion, I also examine the intersections between HIV/AIDS activism and disability activism, with particular attention to questions of inclusion and diverse lived experiences.

Projects:

AIDS Campaigning between the Global South and Western Europe since the 1980s https://www.stir.ac.uk/research/hub/contract/1903033