Muna Guvenc Ospina Leon
Degrees
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D.Istanbul University, M.S.
Istanbul University, B.Arch.
Expertise
Modern and Contemporary Architecture, Critical Urbanism, Urban Movements, Middle Eastern Architecture and Urbanism.Profile
Muna Guvenc is an architectural and urban historian. Her work sits at the intersections of contemporary social theory, urban theory, and the politics of architecture. Her current research interests include: global cities, history and theory of architecture, critical urbanism, urban inequality, social movements, housing politics, nationalism, post- colonialism, and Middle Eastern studies. Her current book manuscript, Becoming Kurdish, is the first comprehensive study that examines contemporary architectural and urban history of Kurdish nationalism in Turkey. The book contributes to the efforts to understand how urban space and its socio-spatial divisions play out in experiencing inequalities, challenging existing political structures and engendering alternative visions of social justice in the 21st century.Courses Taught
| FA | 33b | Islamic Art and Architecture |
| FA | 80a | Modern Architecture |
| FA | 180a | Contemporary Architecture |
| FA | 181a | Housing and Social Justice |
| FA | 187a | Approaches to Architecture and the City |
| FA | 193a | Studies in Modern and Contemporary Architecture |
Awards and Honors
Perlmutter Award (2020)
Affordable and Open Educational Resources Grant, Brandeis University (2019)
Crown Center for Middle East Studies Research Grant (2019)
Theodore and Jane Norman Award (2019 - 2021)
Teaching and Learning Fellow, Brandeis University (2018 - 2019)
Scholarship
Guvenc, Muna. "Informal Settlements (Middle East)." Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. 2nd edition ed. Six vols. 2019. (forthcoming)
Guvenc, Muna. "Propositions for the emancipatory potential of urban spectacle." CITY 23. 3 (2019): 342-365.
Guvenc, Muna and Nezar AlSayyad. "Virtual Uprisings: On the Interaction of New Social Media, Traditional Media Coverage and Urban Space during the Arab Spring." Urban Studies 52. 11 (2015): 2018-2034.
Guvenc, Muna. "Book Review." Rev. of Architecture and Armed Conflict: The Politics of Destruction: The Politics of Destruction, by JoAnne Marie Mancini and Keith Bresnahan. Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review vol. 27.1 2015
Guvenc, Muna. "Constructing Narratives of Kurdish Nationalism in the Urban Space of Diyarbakir, Turkey." Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 23. 1 (2011): 25-40.