Biography

Shakil Reja Efti is a media studies researcher and creative practitioner, currently teaching Strategic Communication and Public Relations at WUB and Culture to Cultures at Curtin University, Australia. He is a PhD researcher and sessional academic at Curtin's School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, where he has received the John Curtin Graduate Research Scholarship. His doctoral research focuses on disability media and is supported by the Australian Research Council.

Shakil completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Journalism at Istanbul University, Türkiye, as a recipient of the fully funded Turkish Government Scholarship (Türkiye Burslari). As part of his MA research, he also conducted his thesis work at Charles University in Prague as an Erasmus+ Exchange Scholar.

Previously, Shakil served as the Director of the Bangladesh Study and Research Centre at Istanbul Gedik University. He also worked as a graduate research scholar on a project funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK), analysing Türkiye’s podcast industry.

Shakil’s research has been published in leading academic journals, including Disability & Society (Routledge, Q1–SSCI). His current research interests include audio media, disability media, and podcasting. He has presented his work as an invited speaker at international conferences and symposia organised by the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the International Communication Association (ICA), and the Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts (CEDIA), Birmingham. In 2025, he received the Most Original Research Prize at the 1st ECREA Radio and Sound Postgraduate Conference, awarded by the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA, UK), for his research on the sonic representations of disability. He regularly peer-reviews for leading scholarly journals. 

Shakil is also a published author and podcaster. His memoir on Istanbul, Amar Istambul, along with his other books, has gained a wide readership. He is passionate about literary translation and has translated notable works of Bengali literature into Turkish. Additionally, he works to archive endangered cultural elements through his platform, Take Me Home. His podcasts on Radyo Iletisim (Istanbul University Radio Station) and Radyo Gedik (Istanbul Gedik University Radio Station) have been well received in Türkiye for their content and their academic and archival value.

Education/Academic Qualification

External positions

Sessional Academic, Curtin University, Australia
2026

Graduate Research Scholar, TÜBİTAK 1001 Research Project, Faculty of Communication, Istanbul University
2024 → 2025

Director, Bangladesh Study and Research Center, Istanbul Gedik University, Turkey
2023 → 2024

Research expertise keywords