Illustration of a woman with glasses and a headphone

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Hi, I am Betül Gaye.

My pronouns are she/her. Hear my full name in this link.

I am an early-career researcher, illustrator, and writer. I currently pursue a doctoral research (PhD) at Northumbria University in Newcastle, the United Kingdom. My practice-based project focuses on making a picturebook with interdisciplinary methods ranging from cartography to walking and digital humanities inspired by the collection of Seven Stories the National Centre for Children's Books.

Keywords for my interests: children's books, fiction and nonfiction picturebooks, early childhood concept books, comics, multimodality, materiality, museums, cultural heritage, archives, walking pedagogies, drawing, more-than-human mapping, geographic-information-systems, DEI and accessibility, digital storytelling.

View my complete resume in this link.

My expertise blend

Below you can browse abstracts of my publications and presentations, which will direct you to the full texts. If you need access to a work, send me an email as I might have a copy for you!

(Open-access) Slowing Down to Find Magic in Viewing: The Poetics of Kęstutis Kasparavičius’ Illustrations

Blog Posts

an anthropomorphic egg and a rabbit meeting

(Open-access) Interacting with Nonfiction Picturebooks in Art Museums

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Book cover written Verbal and Visual Strategies in Nonfiction Picturebooks

Reading, play, and critical engagement with cultural heritage: Associating children with Orientalist paintings through an interactive picturebook

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Excerpt from the book cover written "inclusion and participation in cultural heritage"

Göbeklitepe and Ecological Thinking: Human/Nature Entanglement in Fırat Yasa's Graphic Novel, Tepe (Hill).

Peer-reviewed Articles

Photo of T Shape pillars in Gobekli tepe archaeological excavation

(Open-access) Interactive Storytelling through LEDs and Paper Circuits: Tapping into Materials and Technology in Children’s Literature Education

Peer-reviewed Articles

White paper sculpture with triangular shapes, stock image

Illustrating Tipitip Bubblegum Comics in Turkey

Peer-reviewed Articles

Illustration of 5 characters of Tiptop family, boy, a mother, a father, a little girl and a dog.

The two modern glass and steel buildings of Northumbria University with trees.

Doctor of Philosophy

Initial Teacher Education
Thesis title: "Seven Stories' Story: Mapping Topographies of British Children's Literature," ongoing.
With scholarship

Expected graduation date: 2027

Historic gothic-style building of the university of glasgow with a tall spire and stone facade.

Erasmus Mundus International Master in

Children's Literature, Media and Culture
Thesis title: "NaturalCultural Compositions through the Thickness of Stones in Children's Books", completed at Wrocław University.
With scholarship

Graduation with distinction, 2022

The Koc University's aerial campus view with beige buildings and red roofs in a forestry area.

Master of Arts

Design, Technology and Society
Thesis title: "Interdisciplinary Research on Picturebooks and Comics for Museums and Cultural Heritage Sites"
With scholarship

2020 Academic Excellence Award

Bachelor of Arts

Archaeology and Art History (major)
English Language and Comparative Literature (double major)
Gender Studies (specialisation track)
With a full merit scholarship

Graduation rank: 1st in both majors, 2018

A list of organisations that I am presently collaborating with, as well as those I have previously worked for or briefly supported:

Interested in collaborating?

Whether you want to discuss a project or simply say hello, you can send me an email or contact me through social media with the links below. I look forward to talking to you!

E-mail Instagram LinkedIN ResearchGate OrcID