I am a lecturer in the Program of Modern Greek Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. I hold a PhD in socio-cultural anthropology from Princeton University and have conducted fieldwork among Pontic-lyra performers and listeners in the bilingual, Pontic-Greek and Turkish speaking, Muslim communities of Trebizond (Trabzon) in northeast Turkey as well as their migrant networks in Istanbul and other places of Anatolia.
My work explored the meanings and uses of this musical genre by the people who make and listen to it. Once at the brink of extinction, the current revival and rising popularity and audibility of Pontic-lyra among younger Trebizondians transforms their listening habits and their sense of self and belonging. This transformation is accompanied and fed by greater interest in family and local history. My broader research interests are: political anthropology, music, arts and power; senses and economy; Greek and Turkish studies.