WELCOME TO ORÇUN SELÇUK’S ACADEMIC WEBSITE
I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Luther College, Iowa. I have a Political Science Ph.D. from Florida International University (FIU). My research broadly focuses on populism, polarization, and democratization from a cross-regional perspective. I am also a passionate instructor who has taught Comparative Politics, International Relations, and first-year-writing courses for the past six years.
I am currently working on my first book “Polarizing Populism in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Turkey: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Opposition.” The book project examines Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s polarizing populist leadership. Methodologically, the book utilizes qualitative content analysis, quantitative surveys, and secondary sources on polarizing populism in the three countries.
Out of my current research on populism, polarization, and democratization, I have published three peer-reviewed journal articles: “Strong Presidents and Weak Institutions: Populism in Turkey, Venezuela, and Ecuador”, “The Rise of the Democracy-Authoritarianism Cleavage and Opposition Coordination in Turkey (2014-2019)” and “The Erdoğanization of Turkish Politics and the Role of the Opposition” in Democratization and Southeast European & Black Sea Studies. Besides those articles, I have published several book chapters and book reviews.
At Luther College, I have taught Global Politics, Developing Democracies, Latin American Politics, Global Populism, Research Methods, Global Politics and Movies, International Studies Seminar, and Model United Nations. I am also the faculty adviser of Luther’s Model United Nations team. In 2020, we attended the Midwest MUN and the American MUN conferences.
During my time at FIU, I had taught Introduction to Comparative Politics, Politics of Latin America, Politics of South America, and first-year-writing courses at the undergraduate level. I also worked as teaching assistants for courses on the Politics of Latin America, the Middle East, the United States, and Russia. Based on faculty nominations, I won the Best Political Science Teaching Assistant Award in 2017.
On this website, you can find my latest CV, publications, and pictures from research trips.
You can reach me by sending an email to oselc001@fiu.edu or a direct message on Twitter @orcunselcuk.
Orçun Selçuk's Academic Website 