Işılay Gürsu received her PhD in Management and Development of Cultural Heritage from the IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy, in 2013. Before commencing her doctoral studies, she worked for the Istanbul Archaeological Museums Development Project. She joined the BIAA in 2013 as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research focuses on public archaeology, cultural heritage, and the relationships between archaeology, society, and the state. She has conducted extensive research in the ancient region of Pisidia, leading to the development of the Pisidia Heritage Trail, a 350 km long-distance walking route connecting archaeological sites across the region. She has also co-led the Living Amid the Ruins and Safeguarding Archaeological Assets of Turkey (SARAT) Projects, both of which explore public engagement with archaeology and cultural heritage.
In 2022, she was awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, to complete her monograph, Public Dialogues in Archaeology: New Methodologies from Turkey, published by Bloomsbury in 2026. She also edited the BIAA monograph Public Archaeology: Theoretical Considerations and Current Practices in Turkey and subsequently translated it into Turkish, making it freely available through the BIAA’s website. Her publications in English and Turkish include journal articles and book chapters on public perceptions of archaeology, state–citizen relationships, heritage politics, and the social and economic impacts of archaeological heritage.
Since autumn 2025, she has been a part-time lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Bilkent University, where she teaches Museum Practices and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. She also contributed to UNESCO’s Massive Open Online Course Preventing Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property with a lecture entitled Why Cultural Heritage Matters.
In addition to her research and teaching, Işılay co-hosts the BIAA’s Heritage Türkiye podcast with Dr Peter Cherry.
Fields of Expertise: Public Archaeology; Cultural Heritage; Museum Studies; Public Perceptions of Archaeology and Heritage; Heritage Politics; State–Citizen Relationships; Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property.
