Tankut Atuk is a second-year PhD student in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He holds two master’s degrees in Gender Studies and Sociology/Cultural Studies. His current project looks at the socio-political dimensions of the world’s fastest growing HIV epidemic in Turkey. He specifically asks, “What does the refusal to recognize and prevent the national HIV epidemic reveal about the Turkish State's institutional approach towards sex, sexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?” He seeks to understand and redress the ways in which the Turkish State violates access to health(care) and fails in responding to the HIV epidemic.

Although he is passionate about teaching and researching, he is also aware that radical transformation is not possible without activism and community involvement. He tries to be an active part of the grassroots HIV organizations not only in Turkey but also in the US. Being a member of differently marginalized groups, he is especially invested in producing academic work that is not divorced from the lived realities and aims at challenging structural inequalities and injustices.

Outside of academy, Tankut is a proud dog and plant daddy. The only thing he is not humble about is his cooking skills. He is vegan as he is convinced that environmental justice, animal rights, and human rights are inextricable. Besides cooking, he finds his happiness in movies and books, particularly dystopias and feminist/queer sci-fi. He desperately wishes he could sing, yet he is good at lip-syncing.

Tankut is especially excited about being an HIV League Scholar because it means becoming part of a new and growing family to him.

Minneapolis, MN - University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - One-Year Full-Time 2019 HIV League Scholar ($3,500)