Alumni Spotlight Series: Eda S. Uzunlar YC ’23
The following interview is part of the Council on Middle East Studies’ Alumni Spotlight series featuring graduates from the Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Middle East Studies. Alejandra Padin-Dujon graduated from Yale college in 2018. She double majored in Math & Philosophy and Modern Middle East Studies and completed the Human Rights program. During her time at Yale, Alejandra studied postcolonial studies, literature, and the Arabic Language. The Journal of Arabic Literature is publishing her senior thesis, “Mutual Adversaries, Fellow Dissidents: Multilingual Dissent from Wattar’s Al-Zilzāl and Djaout’s Le Derner Été de la raison”, in the Journal of Arabic Literature. Alejandra also holds a master’s in International Development from the London School of Economics and worked in the Caribbean on state development and climate change policy. In her free time, Alejandra co-leads the Arabic Language Table at Yale.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m Eda, a researcher and multimedia journalist currently based in Istanbul as a Fulbright Scholar. Growing up in South Dakota, I drove across town to garage sales with my mom, hunted for geodes and fossils with my dad, and haunted coffee shops to do homework with my friends. I lived with my grandparents in the summertime, swimming for hours on the daily with my sister in a small seaside town in Turkey, where my parents emigrated from. Since I was little, my nickname has been maydanoz, the Turkish word for parsley. Used as an ingredient in nearly every dish, parsley gets into everything; in translation, I’ve always been a curious, at times likely nosy, question-asker. As a teenager and college student, that characteristic came through when I took live calls to ask questions on the community radio shows I hosted. Now, I’m lucky to get to ask people questions every day as a part of my job.
How was your time at Yale? Can you share a few memories that you think might encapsulate your experience?
Two and a half years after leaving New Haven, I still haven’t fully processed my time at Yale. Coming from South Dakota, the East Coast was more of a culture shock to me than my family’s village in Turkey. I fell in love with New Haven quickly and carved my niches into the Yale community the same way its inhabitants made their way into my heart.
Yale was the setting for the truly important part of college: the people. I spent much of my time on Broadway, running the school’s student radio station (WYBC forever) with other students who are family to me today. If I wasn’t at the station, I was likely in the Davenport office working as an aide or, in my senior year, eating lunch with one of my first-years as a FroCo. Being a Modern Middle East studies major often brought me to Sterling’s Middle East and Islamic Studies Reading Room, or, if I was lucky enough to get the key first, the Egyptology room (also known as the best place to study on campus, period). These study sessions opened the academic world to me, and more than once made for naps so refreshing I have yet to feel as rested.
Memories in between include post-Mellon Forum celebrations of friends’ work, midnight walks along Elm St., and a few silent moments of profound change. Coming from an unfamiliar world like many of my fellow students, I didn’t just adapt to my environment; together with the other inspirational people I met – within and outside of Yale – we transformed it, too.
How did you end up at Yale focusing on Middle East Studies?
Like many undergraduates, my course of study wasn’t necessarily straightforward. For my first two years at Yale, I was on track to complete my degree in global affairs. But as I continued my studies, I realized I had a growing interest in regional specialty, and I rerouted to double major in the interdisciplinary track of political science and modern Middle East studies. Through this path, I felt I had freedom to zero in on my interests as a student, which largely involved contemporary media and culture around the Middle Eastern/North African region.
While I had always had these interests in my personal life, it wasn’t until I met some of the faculty in MMES and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations that I realized I could pursue them through an academic lens. Between my involvement with WYBC, my classes in contemporary media and communication in the United States and the Middle East, and my various stints throughout college working in public media, I had built a certain harmony across studies, extracurriculars, and career interests that I know now came about because I pursued my passions in those areas. I feel lucky (blessed!) that I’m continuing that throughline today.
How did your time at Yale and the MMES degree influence your life professionally and or personally?
Everyone’s life changes immensely in their late teens and early twenties, regardless of where they are. I have always been my deeply curious self – and anxious to apply that energy to some sort of project; studying at Yale and within MMES specifically, I learned about areas in which to focus my curiosity and tools to make something out of my momentum. I learned to ask questions critically, yet with earnest interest – of my work, my institution, and myself. As a result, I know to dig deeper with informed precision, both in my practice and my research. It’s important to bear in mind that many incredible thinkers don’t have these institutions behind them; all of us have our inherent passions and dispositions that make us who we are. I have always had the drive and interests that I maintain today; but I know there is an immense privilege in having honed these parts of myself within both the department and Yale on the whole. I’m grateful for this background and wealth of knowledge that has absolutely informed my life, both professionally and personally. The other side of the same coin maintains that I and my fellow Yalies have a responsibility to do social, personal, and professional good with what we have been given.
Can you tell us about your career after Yale and where you are now?
My career in journalism began while I was still in college. Much like I didn’t expect to major in MMES when I first arrived at Yale, I also didn’t expect to become a reporter. At some point as a first-year, my love of media and my generally inquisitive nature finally clicked. I first worked as a production assistant at Wyoming Public Media as a summer internship, and while on a gap year later on, I began my role as an intern on NPR’s Education Desk. I worked at the same desk as a news assistant during my junior year. In that mix, I piloted an internship program between Yale’s student radio station and New Haven’s local NPR station, WSHU Public Radio, loving the work of local journalism. After being accepted into the Poynter Institute’s Media and Journalism Fellowship that focused on local efforts, I chose to return to WSHU. I worked first as a general assignment reporter, then as the station’s arts and culture reporter and weekend news anchor – I can only go so long without going on air!
While at WSHU, I found myself asking new questions about media and communication, especially as news of other local news groups shutting down became a more frequent occurrence. What makes people feel connected to the information they see/hear/read? As artificial intelligence crowds into the field, why is it important that news is not just fact-checked or produced, but also reported by another human being? What about when the communities that have run out of news sources? Finding myself lost in these questions sitting across my stumped newsroom director increasingly often, I knew a new chapter was coming. I applied to the U.S. Fulbright Program as a researcher with a project seeking to answer many of those questions through a cultural lens I knew would bring new perspectives, and a year later, I moved to Istanbul to find new answers. Now, I’m traveling to rural villages in remote parts of Turkey to learn about informal news systems when there isn’t any mainstream news available, with intentions to inform new grassroots news networks in rural U.S. communities facing the effects of news deserts. This endeavor also explores themes of connection through news information and trust between the informant and the recipient. Though it’s hard to imagine leaving a city I love as much as Istanbul, I plan to continue this work as a graduate student back in the United States.
What advice would you give either to a current graduate student in MMES or an undergraduate student who is considering focusing on the Middle East as an undergrad or for graduate study?
Give it your all! Every major or area of study at Yale is what you make of it, even the most rigorous. Though I might be biased, the nature of MMES makes deep engagement incredibly accessible. Some of the kindest and most dedicated faculty are there to not only help students along; they’re also doing their own inspiring, enduring research at the same time. Because MMES is such an intimate, tight-knit area of study on campus, students are provided with an unparalleled opportunity to work with a concentrated group of passionate academics. While my current research does largely connect with all that I learned in the major, even the work I do that doesn’t apply to the region is informed by the methods and theory I learned when studying literature in the field. My advice: if you’re feeling a pull towards modern Middle East studies, embrace it; you’ll be welcomed with open arms.
The following interview is part of the Council on Middle East Studies’ Alumni Spotlight series featuring graduates from the Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Middle East Studies. Alejandra Padin-Dujon graduated from Yale college in 2018. She double majored in Math & Philosophy and Modern Middle East Studies and completed the Human Rights program. During her time at Yale, Alejandra studied postcolonial studies, literature, and the Arabic Language. The Journal of Arabic Literature is publishing her senior thesis, “Mutual Adversaries, Fellow Dissidents: Multilingual Dissent from Wattar’s Al-Zilzāl and Djaout’s Le Derner Été de la raison”, in the Journal of Arabic Literature. Alejandra also holds a master’s in International Development from the London School of Economics and worked in the Caribbean on state development and climate change policy. In her free time, Alejandra co-leads the Arabic Language Table at Yale.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m Eda, a researcher and multimedia journalist currently based in Istanbul as a Fulbright Scholar. Growing up in South Dakota, I drove across town to garage sales with my mom, hunted for geodes and fossils with my dad, and haunted coffee shops to do homework with my friends. I lived with my grandparents in the summertime, swimming for hours on the daily with my sister in a small seaside town in Turkey, where my parents emigrated from. Since I was little, my nickname has been maydanoz, the Turkish word for parsley. Used as an ingredient in nearly every dish, parsley gets into everything; in translation, I’ve always been a curious, at times likely nosy, question-asker. As a teenager and college student, that characteristic came through when I took live calls to ask questions on the community radio shows I hosted. Now, I’m lucky to get to ask people questions every day as a part of my job.
How was your time at Yale? Can you share a few memories that you think might encapsulate your experience?
Two and a half years after leaving New Haven, I still haven’t fully processed my time at Yale. Coming from South Dakota, the East Coast was more of a culture shock to me than my family’s village in Turkey. I fell in love with New Haven quickly and carved my niches into the Yale community the same way its inhabitants made their way into my heart.
Yale was the setting for the truly important part of college: the people. I spent much of my time on Broadway, running the school’s student radio station (WYBC forever) with other students who are family to me today. If I wasn’t at the station, I was likely in the Davenport office working as an aide or, in my senior year, eating lunch with one of my first-years as a FroCo. Being a Modern Middle East studies major often brought me to Sterling’s Middle East and Islamic Studies Reading Room, or, if I was lucky enough to get the key first, the Egyptology room (also known as the best place to study on campus, period). These study sessions opened the academic world to me, and more than once made for naps so refreshing I have yet to feel as rested.
Memories in between include post-Mellon Forum celebrations of friends’ work, midnight walks along Elm St., and a few silent moments of profound change. Coming from an unfamiliar world like many of my fellow students, I didn’t just adapt to my environment; together with the other inspirational people I met – within and outside of Yale – we transformed it, too.
How did you end up at Yale focusing on Middle East Studies?
Like many undergraduates, my course of study wasn’t necessarily straightforward. For my first two years at Yale, I was on track to complete my degree in global affairs. But as I continued my studies, I realized I had a growing interest in regional specialty, and I rerouted to double major in the interdisciplinary track of political science and modern Middle East studies. Through this path, I felt I had freedom to zero in on my interests as a student, which largely involved contemporary media and culture around the Middle Eastern/North African region.
While I had always had these interests in my personal life, it wasn’t until I met some of the faculty in MMES and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations that I realized I could pursue them through an academic lens. Between my involvement with WYBC, my classes in contemporary media and communication in the United States and the Middle East, and my various stints throughout college working in public media, I had built a certain harmony across studies, extracurriculars, and career interests that I know now came about because I pursued my passions in those areas. I feel lucky (blessed!) that I’m continuing that throughline today.
How did your time at Yale and the MMES degree influence your life professionally and or personally?
Everyone’s life changes immensely in their late teens and early twenties, regardless of where they are. I have always been my deeply curious self – and anxious to apply that energy to some sort of project; studying at Yale and within MMES specifically, I learned about areas in which to focus my curiosity and tools to make something out of my momentum. I learned to ask questions critically, yet with earnest interest – of my work, my institution, and myself. As a result, I know to dig deeper with informed precision, both in my practice and my research. It’s important to bear in mind that many incredible thinkers don’t have these institutions behind them; all of us have our inherent passions and dispositions that make us who we are. I have always had the drive and interests that I maintain today; but I know there is an immense privilege in having honed these parts of myself within both the department and Yale on the whole. I’m grateful for this background and wealth of knowledge that has absolutely informed my life, both professionally and personally. The other side of the same coin maintains that I and my fellow Yalies have a responsibility to do social, personal, and professional good with what we have been given.
Can you tell us about your career after Yale and where you are now?
My career in journalism began while I was still in college. Much like I didn’t expect to major in MMES when I first arrived at Yale, I also didn’t expect to become a reporter. At some point as a first-year, my love of media and my generally inquisitive nature finally clicked. I first worked as a production assistant at Wyoming Public Media as a summer internship, and while on a gap year later on, I began my role as an intern on NPR’s Education Desk. I worked at the same desk as a news assistant during my junior year. In that mix, I piloted an internship program between Yale’s student radio station and New Haven’s local NPR station, WSHU Public Radio, loving the work of local journalism. After being accepted into the Poynter Institute’s Media and Journalism Fellowship that focused on local efforts, I chose to return to WSHU. I worked first as a general assignment reporter, then as the station’s arts and culture reporter and weekend news anchor – I can only go so long without going on air!
While at WSHU, I found myself asking new questions about media and communication, especially as news of other local news groups shutting down became a more frequent occurrence. What makes people feel connected to the information they see/hear/read? As artificial intelligence crowds into the field, why is it important that news is not just fact-checked or produced, but also reported by another human being? What about when the communities that have run out of news sources? Finding myself lost in these questions sitting across my stumped newsroom director increasingly often, I knew a new chapter was coming. I applied to the U.S. Fulbright Program as a researcher with a project seeking to answer many of those questions through a cultural lens I knew would bring new perspectives, and a year later, I moved to Istanbul to find new answers. Now, I’m traveling to rural villages in remote parts of Turkey to learn about informal news systems when there isn’t any mainstream news available, with intentions to inform new grassroots news networks in rural U.S. communities facing the effects of news deserts. This endeavor also explores themes of connection through news information and trust between the informant and the recipient. Though it’s hard to imagine leaving a city I love as much as Istanbul, I plan to continue this work as a graduate student back in the United States.
What advice would you give either to a current graduate student in MMES or an undergraduate student who is considering focusing on the Middle East as an undergrad or for graduate study?
Give it your all! Every major or area of study at Yale is what you make of it, even the most rigorous. Though I might be biased, the nature of MMES makes deep engagement incredibly accessible. Some of the kindest and most dedicated faculty are there to not only help students along; they’re also doing their own inspiring, enduring research at the same time. Because MMES is such an intimate, tight-knit area of study on campus, students are provided with an unparalleled opportunity to work with a concentrated group of passionate academics. While my current research does largely connect with all that I learned in the major, even the work I do that doesn’t apply to the region is informed by the methods and theory I learned when studying literature in the field. My advice: if you’re feeling a pull towards modern Middle East studies, embrace it; you’ll be welcomed with open arms.