Events

Jason Rodriguez Vivrette is a third-generation Oakland-native and a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, specializing in Ottoman and Modern Turkish, Arabic, and Italian literatures. His dissertation project explores questions of hydropoetics and hydropower in the management of the peripheries of the Ottoman Empire, with a comparative focus on the frontier zones of Kurdistan and North Africa (including intersections with Sicily and the Italian Mezzogiorno). Since 2013, Jason has served as Lecturer in Turkish in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley, where he teaches all levels of Modern Turkish language, along with advanced courses in Ottoman, Turkish and Azeri literature and film. He holds an MA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, as well as BA degrees in both Film and Italian Studies from the University of Southern California. In addition to his academic accomplishments, Jason is an established musician (electric bass, piano, guitar, vocals). He is also the English translator of literary and scholarly works from Italian, Arabic, Modern Greek, French, and Ottoman and Modern Turkish.

Ali Yağız Şen is an Istanbul-born linguist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and scholar, deeply engaged in the language and musical traditions of the Balkans. With a Master's degree in Linguistics from Boğaziçi University, he has over a decade of experience teaching Turkish at prestigious institutions like Boğaziçi University, the University of Pittsburgh, and The Turkish Program under the Halbuki Linguist Cooperative, of which he is a co-founder and the current director. Passionate about multilingualism and historical linguistics, Yağız dedicates much of his time to improving access to high quality education in less commonly taught languages, while supporting linguist livelihoods, linguistic justice, and revitalization of endangered languages at Halbuki. Fluent in Turkish, English, and German, he is also studying Russian and Quechua, and is an experienced translator, activist and researcher; his translation work includes the Turkish publication of Cities for People, not for Profit (2011). As a musician, Yağız is proficient in bouzouki, guitar, percussion, bass, and vocals. He leads The Metanastys, a San Francisco-based musical ensemble, fostering a communal approach to music through workshops and performances. Yağız has taught makam theory at the legendary Eastern European Folklife Center (‘Balkan Camp’) in Mendocino, CA.