Teaching is a life-long passion for Nur, grounded in her desire to help students develop confidence in their abilities, realize their potential as learners, and establish links between what they do in the Turkish classroom and their personal narratives in life! Originally from the Black Sea region of Turkey, Nur is a native speaker of Turkish and has been teaching Turkish at the University of Pittsburgh’s Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center since 2008. In addition to teaching Turkish language classes, Nur teaches a general education English-medium course on Turkish Culture & Society, and also advises students for the Turkish Minor. She gets her inspiration for teaching from students and hopes that she will inspire and help students become more discerning observers of the world around them through learning Turkish Language and Culture.  

Outside of the classroom, Nur is a fellow at the University Honors College and the advisor for the Turkish American Student Association (TASA). She also coordinates weekly meetings of the Turkish Language Table for students to experience language and culture outside the class. Nur serves on various scholarship committees and has extensive experience mentoring students for nationally competitive scholarship applications. Her recent research focuses on teaching social justice issues in the language classroom. 

Nur holds an MPIA degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and she is fully certified by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages (ACTFL) as an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) tester for the Turkish Language. She also currently serves as president of the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATTL).