Prof. Murat Somer Chosen as OSUN Senior Democracy and Development Fellow

Professor Murat Somer, a faculty member at the International Relations Department at Özyeğin University, has been chosen as an OSUN (Open Society University Network) Senior Democracy and Development Fellow at the Democracy Institute at Central European University in Budapest and Vienna for the 2024-2025 academic year.

As a Senior Fellow, Prof. Somer will play a leading role in Democracy Institute and OSUN Forum’s interdisciplinary and cross-regional comparative research projects on populism, ideology, and political discourse as sources of polarization, contribute to a broader conversation regarding strategies for mitigating negative societal impacts, and build liaisons with these institutions. He will also work on two books in progress, one on how to counter extreme polarization and another on democratic erosion and opposition behavior.