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Seray Bircan Afsin

Profile picture for Seray Bircan Afsin

Contact Information

702 S Wright St.
3059 Lincoln Hall
Urbana, IL 61801

Office Hours

Tuesdays 12 pm - 1 pm
Doctoral Candidate
Graduate Teaching Assistant

Biography

I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My research focuses on the intersection of care work, digitalization, and globalization, with particular emphasis on medical sociology, political sociology, and organizational studies. My current research examines the global flow of digital health technologies, investigating the key actors who initiate this flow and how sociocultural contexts influence their implementation and utilization in diverse hospital settings. 

I hold a master's degree in sociology from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. My master's thesis explored the transformations in nurses' experiences within the Turkish healthcare system over a 30-year period. This research provided valuable insights into the evolving nature of nursing practice and the broader changes in healthcare delivery in Turkey. The study examined various aspects of nurses' occupational lives, including their roles, responsibilities, and working conditions. It highlighted how factors such as healthcare reforms, technological advancements, and shifting societal expectations have influenced the nursing profession over three decades.

Research Interests

Medical sociology, digital health technologies, globalization, care work, digitalization, political economy, work and organizations, Turkey

Research Description

My PhD dissertation explores the two parallel transformations that the Turkish healthcare system is undergoing: privatization and digitalization. I am researching how these two phenomena extend each other's realm in providing healthcare services in the country. I am currently conducting research with care workers as well to understand how these two parallel transformations are changing the way care work is delivered and, at the same time, how medical knowledge becomes integrated into technologies through the emergence of new sub-nursing professions. My multi-sited fieldwork consists of three different yet related sites of relations from Chicago to Ankara and to Istanbul.

Education

B.S., M.S.: Middle East Technical University - Department of Sociology

  • Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Sociology: 2014-2018
  • Master of Science (M.S.) in Sociology: 2018-2020 
    • Thesis Title: Burden of Being a Nurse: A Case Study on Retired Nurses' Occupational Experiences in Turkey 

Grants

Fulbright PhD Scholarship, Awarded as Principal Nominee for Fulbright Scholarship, 2020

Bastian Summer Fellowship, (Sociology Department at University of Illinois), 2023 Summer

Conference Participation Fellowship, (Sociology Department at University of Illinois), 2024
 

Awards and Honors

Conference Travel Award, (Sociology Department at University of Illinois), 2023

Conference Travel Award, (Sociology Department at University of Illinois),  2024

Conference Travel Award, (Graduate School), 2024

Excellence in Teaching, Teaching Assistant and Discussion Section Leader, Introduction to Sociology, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024

Excellence in Teaching, Teaching Assistant and Discussion Section Leader, Introduction to Sociology, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 

Excellence in Teaching, Teaching Assistant, Global Inequalities and Social Change, Fall 2020

Courses Taught

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Sociology, Spring 2025

Guest Instructor, Technology and Society, Fall 2024

Teaching Assistant, Technology and Society, Fall 2024

Teaching Assistant and Discussion Section Leader, Introduction to Sociology, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 (Excellence in Teaching)

Teaching Assistant and Discussion Section Leader, Introduction to Sociology, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 (Excellence in Teaching)

Guest Instructor, Sociology of Family, Spring 2022

Teaching Assistant, Health, Illness and Society, Spring 2022

Teaching Assistant, Sociology of Deviance, Fall 2021

Teaching Assistant, Sociology of Gender, Spring 2021

Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Sociology, Winter 2020

Teaching Assistant, Global Inequalities and Social Change, Fall 2020
(Excellence in Teaching)

Additional Campus Affiliations

Visiting Researcher at Koç University, Department of Sociology

https://cssh.ku.edu.tr/en/programs/sociology/

Professional Memberships

Member since 2020, American Sociological Association

Member since 2023, Midwest Sociological Society

Member since 2023, Sociologists for Women in Society

Member since 2024, Eastern Sociological Society