Lecturer of German
Ph.D., Binghamton University

Areas of Interests

Research Interests

• German language curriculum and instruction
• Foreign language pedagogy
• Migrants and refugees in the German and global context
• Diaspora and cultural production
• Minority cinemas
• Minority and immigrant representation
• Feminist and sexuality studies

Teaching Interests

• German language
• Transnational German cinema
• Contemporary German minor literature
• Turkish-German cinema: displacement and diaspora
• Women’s cinema

Biography

Dr. Guelden Olgun is a Lecturer of German in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Florida. Her research and teaching engage with the intersections of gender, identity, and belonging in contemporary German-language film, literature, and culture, with a particular focus on migrant and minority narratives. She examines discourses of marginalization, resilience, and diaspora, especially as they pertain to the lived experiences of women and underrepresented communities in Germany.

She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Binghamton University and brings over sixteen years of experience in higher education. Before joining the University of Florida, she taught at Binghamton University, the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, and the University of Kassel in Germany. At UF, she teaches all levels of German language courses as well as seminars such as Migrant and Minority Voices in Germany, Women in the Diaspora in Germany, and Refugee Narratives.

Her current research explores feminist performance art and the affective politics of gendered food, embodiment, and diaspora in Turkish-German contexts.

Recent Publications

• “Homeland Films without Homeland: Examining Homeland in Soleen Yusef's Haus ohne Dach” in Home and Homeland in Asian Diaspora: Transnational Reflections in Art, Literature, and Film, edited by Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun, Palgrave Macmillan, December 2023
• “Kurdistan as Mythical and Imaginary Homeland” in Interdisciplinary Reflections on Domestic Space, Home and The Ancestral Homeland [in Diaspora], edited by Jean Amato and Kyunghee Pyun, Palgrave Macmillan, (forthcoming)
• “Challenging Stereotypes and the Liberation of the Middle East Woman from Victimhood" in Women Representing Women: A Transnational Perspective, edited by Lidia Radi and Simona Wright, Vernon Press, (forthcoming)

Education

• Ph.D., Comparative Literature, Binghamton University
• MA, German as a Foreign and Second Language, University of Kassel, in Germany
• BA, German Language Teaching, Anadolu University of Eskisehir in Turkey