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Ahmet Atay co-edits book on mentoring in higher education

Ahmet Atay, professor of communication studies and chair of Women�s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Global Media and Digital Studies programs at ������˾��, is the co-editor of a book that focuses on the mentoring of both faculty and undergraduate and graduate students in the communication studies discipline. Mentorship and Communication: Theories and Practices was published in May 2021 by Peter Lang and co-edited by Diana Trebing. �We took a critical and cultural perspective to carefully examine what mentoring means and why it is important in academic settings,� Atay explained.

The book was conceptualized through the editors� personal experiences with mentoring as former students and then eventually as faculty members. �All my experiences with students and faculty at ������˾��, in one way or another, led me to envision this book,� Atay said, citing conversations with historically marginalized faculty and students. �It pushed me to think about the importance of mentoring to survive and thrive in higher education.� Approaching the topic of mentoring through case studies and authors� own lived experiences, the project fills a gap in mentoring research in communication studies and �provides a much-needed scholarly discussion about its role in academic lives.� In addition to editing, Atay co-wrote the introductory chapter and authored another chapter on collaborative cultural mentoring. �I emphasized the importance of taking a cultural perspective and having multiple mentors in different locations,� he said. �Hence, we can create webs of mentors.�

Additionally, Atay considered the ways he can incorporate the book into his role mentoring faculty and students at ������˾��, proposing �a reading group where both groups come together and talk about mentoring.� He also hoped to include some of the chapters in his own courses. �We hope that this publication will create more academic spaces to talk about mentoring and provide tools for faculty to mentor students as well as other faculty,� Atay said.

Posted in Faculty, News on July 12, 2021.