Lesar Yurtsever

PhD Candidate, SCRIPTS Cluster

Research

Topic of PhD thesis: Sounding out Liberalism: Music and U.S. Turkish Relations from 1930 to 1960

My Ph.D. project centres around the way in which musical performances were part of the Turkish diplomatic strategy to establish Turkey as a modern, liberal state in the United States. In my dissertation I will focus on three major aspects: 1. Cultural and musical diplomacy in U.S. - Turkish relations; 2. Turkey’s efforts to modernize the state; 3. The concept of musical diplomacy and its implications. Furthermore, as part of my project and archival work, I will address the following related questions to my research question: Who were the Turkish/U.S. cultural, musical, and political actors shaping Turkey’s image in the United States? Which musicians did the Turkish government both send abroad and invited to Turkey? How did Turkish and U.S. state and non-state actors define modern music? How did U.S. politicians, newspapers, journalists, and audiences react to Turkish music?

Research Interest

Musical Diplomacy
Nation Branding
International History
U.S. - Turkish Relations
Turkish Foreign Policy

Academic Appointments, Scientific Activities & Outreach

June 17th 2023: Participation in „Meet SCRIPTS, Meet the Scientist x4“ at the“ Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften“ in Berlin Dahlem. Titel of the presentation: „Liberale Sounds. Die Musikdiplomatie zwischen der Türkei und den USA in den 1930er und 40er Jahren“
May 25th - 27th 2023 Turku (Finland): Joining the 5th Conference of the New Diplomatic History Network: “Diplomacy Situated: Settings, Personas, Practices” together with SCRIPTS Principal InvestigatorJessica Gienow-Hecht, Tobias Klee, and Marlene Ritter. Title of our panel: “Welcome to the Liberal State: Place Branding as a Diplomatic Practice, 1920s-1950s”
04/2018: Public Lecture: „In the Footsteps of Béla Bartók. Folk Music and National Identity.“ (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln)
10/2014: Contribution to the Exhibition "Phonographierte Klänge -photographierte Momente. Ton- und Bilddokumente aus deutschen Kriegsgefangenenlagern im Ersten Weltkrieg" at the Ethnological Museum in Berlin-Dahlem, Project of the University of Cologne

Education and Work Experience

August 1st - December 31st:
- Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
- Archival work in the United States:
  - Washington DC: National Archives (College Park), Library of Congress, Georgetown University Archive, National Museum of American History
  - New York City: New York Public Library Archive, Columbia University Archive, Rockefeller Archive Center (Sleepy Hollow), United Nations Archive
  - Boston: Harvard University

Since 2022: Doctoral Researcher at Freie Universität Berlin
Since 2021: Pianoteacher at the Fanny-Hensel Musikschule (Berlin)
11/2019-04/2020: Erasmus at the Conservatory „Santa Cecilia“ (Rome, Italy)
10/2016-03/2021: Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, B.A. Instrumentalpädagogik (Piano)
04/2015-08/2017: Universität zu Köln, M.A. History and Musicology
10/2011-03/2015: Universität zu Köln, B.A. History and Musicology

Fellowships, Stipends, and Awards

Since 2022: Scholarship at SCRIPTS
08/2019: Scholarship at the Richard Wagner Foundation
04/2016-08/2017: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Study Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies.

Summer Semester 2025

Undergraduate:

From Honeymoon to Headaches: Turkish-American Relations During the Cold War, Lesar Yurtsever, Mondays, 10:00-12:00