Lesar Yurtsever
Academic Appointments, Scientific Activities & Outreach
| September 2025 |
Participation in the workshop “The Expo Script: The Political Economy of Nation State Image Management,” Osaka, Japan |
| December 2024 |
Participation at the CIH VII conference “Uncertain Boundaries”, John F. Kennedy Institute (Berlin). Presentation: Turkish Delights for Henry Cowell: Avant-Garde Music and the Redefining of Cultural Boundaries Between the United States and Turkey. |
| June 2024 |
Organizer and participant in the workshop “Welcome to the (Il)liberal State: Place Branding as a Diplomatic Practice”, SCRIPTS (Berlin) |
| 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” |
| April 2018 |
Public Lecture: „In the Footsteps of Béla Bartók. Folk Music and National Identity.“ (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln) |
| October 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
| 2021- Present | Since 2021: Pianoteacher at the Fanny-Hensel Musikschule (Berlin) |
| 2022- Present | Doctoral Researcher at Freie Universität Berlin |
| Summer Term 2025 | Lecturer at the John F. Kennedy Institute, Berlin |
| January - June 2025 | Visiting Doctoral Researcher at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS), part of the Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) |
| March 2025 |
Second reviewer for an article in the “European Journal of American Studies” |
| August-September 2024 |
Visiting Researcher at the Orient-Institute Istanbul Archival Work in Turkey |
| August- December 2023 |
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| Nov 2019 - April 2020 | Erasmus at the Conservatory „Santa Cecilia“ (Rome, Italy) |
| Oct 2016- March 2021 | Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, B.A. Instrumentalpädagogik (Piano) |
| April 2015- August 2017 | Universität zu Köln, M.A. History and Musicology |
| Oct 2011- March 2015 | Universität zu Köln, B.A. History and Musicology |
Fellowships, Stipends, and Awards
| 2022- Present | Scholarship at SCRIPTS |
| August 2019 | Scholarship at the Richard Wagner Foundation |
| April 2016- August 2017 | Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Study Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies |
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
- Gienow-Hecht, Jessica, Tobias Klee, Marlene Ritter, and Lesar Yurtsever. “Welcome to the Liberal State! Place Branding as a Historical Practice.” SCRIPTS Working Paper Series, Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” 48 (2024).
- CATS Network Roundup, June 2025 with contributions by Sinem Adar, Berk Esen, and Lesar Yurtsever.