Tuğçe Ellialtı-Köse

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. I received my PhD in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania, MA in Cultural Studies from Sabancı University, and BA in Sociology from Boğaziçi University.

My research lies at the intersections of law, medicine, and science in institutional and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence, bridging the sociology of law with socio-legal studies on gender and medicine. I examine socio-legal processes in the “management” of gender-based violence, including the production and circulation of expert and scientific knowledge that shapes these processes and state systems more broadly. My recent projects explore the role of families in reproducing social inequalities, parenting ethics among immigrant parents, and the impact of #MeToo on Canadian news depictions of sexual violence.

I draw on sociological, feminist, and anthropological frameworks, employing in-depth qualitative methods to understand interactions, norms, and practices that sustain inequalities and injustices. I have published on sexual violence, law, legal reforms, and media, and I am an award-winning educator, supervisor, and mentor.

My research focuses on the relationships between gender, law, medicine, and social inequality, as well as the understandings and practices of people interacting within domains governed by law. I am particularly interested in the complex ways in which law can either alleviate or reinforce discrimination based on social statuses such as gender, class, and immigration status.

More specifically, I examine socio-legal processes and the management of violence against women and gender-based violence, including the production and circulation of expert and scientific knowledge and practices that shape these processes and state systems more broadly. I approach these questions through research designs that deploy in-depth qualitative methods to understand interactions and processes.

I pursue two main lines of investigation. First, I study the institutional—mainly legal, socio-legal, and medico-legal—discourses and practices that operate within the under-examined context of sexual violence against women in settings where sexual assault law is ostensibly progressive and “gender-friendly.” Second, I explore how inequities at the intersection of gender, class, and immigration status shape individuals’ relationships with the law, particularly their decisions to engage the criminal justice system in cases of gendered violence. Both lines of research have important implications for understanding inequality, the reproduction of gender injustices, and vulnerability arising from marginalization.

In my work, I draw on sociological, feminist, and anthropological theories to account for processes of violence, inequality, and injustice. I also engage with broad theoretical questions related to feminist politics, the state, scientific expertise, governance of law, and state responses to violence. Most recently, my research has expanded to explore how immigration, class, and gender intersect within the context of parenting and childrearing.

• 2025 Early Career Faculty Graduate Advising and Mentorship Award
• 2023 CSAHS Teaching and Learning Excellence Award for Early Career Faculty
• 2025 Nomination for the Last Lecture
• 2022 Nominee for the Decanal Award for Teaching Excellence in Humanities and Social Sciences, Trent University
• 2021 Nominee for the Award for Excellence in Online Teaching, Trent University

Recent Publications

• Ellialtı-Köse, Tuğçe. 2024. “The Damage is Permanent”: Law, Women’s “Honor,” and the Psychiatrization of Sexual Violence in Post-reform Turkey. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State, and Society.
• Ellialtı-Köse, Tuğçe. 2024. “Refashioning Race: How Global Cosmetic Surgery Crafts New Beauty Standards,” Alka Menon. International Sociology Reviews 39(5) 564-569. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02685809241278057
• Ellialtı-Köse, Tuğçe. 2022. “The New Sex Wars: Sexual Harm in the #MeToo Era,” Brenda Cossman. Law and Society Review 56(1): 157-158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12598
• Ellialtı-Köse, Tuğçe. 2022. “Capable Women, Incapable States: Negotiating Violence and Rights in India,” Poulami Roychowdhury. Feminist Legal Studies 30(3): 367-370. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10691-021-09484-0

• Turkovich, Nicholas*, and Tuğçe Ellialtı-Köse. Autonomy at a Crossroads: Representations of Track 2 MAiD in Canadian News Media. Under review.
• Ethier, Ashley*, Myrna Dawson, and Tuğçe Ellialtı-Köse. Invisible Victims? Assessing LGBT Intimate Partner Homicide in Canadian Domestic Violence Death Reviews Committees Through Cultural Competency. Under review.
• Falkenstein, Sami*, and Tuğçe Ellialtı-Köse. “The Script is Very Different for Women”: Service, Motherhood, and The Double Bind of Academic Identity in Canada. In preparation for submission.
• Ellialtı-Köse, Tuğçe. Coverage of Sexual Harassment in Canadian Magazines: A Sociological Analysis of Gender, Media, and Popular Culture. In preparation for submission.

• SOC*6070 Sociological Theory
• SOC*4320 Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice
• SOC*4030 Advanced Topics in Criminology
• SOC*4010 Violence and Society
• SOC*3730 Courts and Society
• SCMA*2040 Research Methods for Social Sciences

I welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students interested in studying topics/issues similar to my research interests (see “About”).

Raising Children at the Intersections of Gender, Class, and Culture: A Sociological Study of Parenting in Immigrant Households

I devote considerable time and care to teaching, which I approach as explicitly inclusive and responsive. Through both my courses and supervisions, I seek to foster critical thinking, cultivate curiosity about the world beyond the classroom, and help students recognize themselves as agents capable of effecting change.

Mentoring, for me, is both a means and an outcome of this approach: it is rooted in dialogue and inclusion and constitutes a vital part of my efforts to make a meaningful impact on students’ intellectual and personal growth.