Assoc. Prof. Seda Kalem Berk

Seda Kalem graduated from Boğaziçi University Department of Sociology in 2000. She continued her studies at The New School Graduate Faculty Department of Sociology (NY) where she got her MA in 2003. In 2010, she defended her PhD thesis titled "Contested Meanings- Imagined Practices: Law at the Intersection of Mediation and Legal Profession; A Study of the Juridical Field in Turkey" which has been awarded “The Albert Salomon Memorial Award in Sociology” by the Graduate Faculty Department of Sociology. Since 2004, she has been working as an expert researcher and coordinator on a number of research projects at Istanbul Bilgi University Human Rights Law Research Center. With a general concentration on law and society research, her main areas of interest include studying law in action especially in the context of courts and in reference to various issues such as access to justice, lay perceptions of  law and justice, legal consciousness, legal profession and ADR mechanisms. She has also been teaching as an Assistant Professor at the Law Faculty of İstanbul Bilgi University. Her courses include Law and Society, Law and Politics, Access to Justice: Research and Policy and Social Transformations and Legal profession. Kalem has co-authored "Alone in the Courtroom: Accessibility and Impact of Criminal Legal Aid in Istanbul Courts", "Judical Proceedings at Istanbul Civil Courts: Parties, Cases and Process", "Ailenin Korunmasına Dair Kanun Kimi ve Neyi Koruyor: Hakim,Savcı ve Avukat Anlatıları" and edited "Adalet Gözet: Yargı Sistemi Üzerine Bir İnceleme".

Research interests: law and society research; law in action especially in the context of courts and in reference to various issues such as access to justice, lay perceptions of  law and justice, legal consciousness, legal profession and ADR mechanisms.

Please click to view detailed CV.