Zeynep Aksoy holds a MSc degree in International Relations (1996) and a MA degree in Public Relations (2009) from Istanbul University, Turkey. As she had a longtime experience in cross-cultural interactions during her work as a project manager in international events, her academic interest have been concentrated in intercultural communication. In 2013, she received her PhD degree in Public Relations from Ege University (Izmir) with her dissertation on “Cultural Intelligence and Its Role in Multicultural Environments” which is the first published book in Turkish academic literature on cultural intelligence.

Since 2012, she has been teaching at Izmir University of Economics Faculty of Communication in various subjects including intercultural communication, communication theories, public relations and research methods in communication. Her research focus is mainly about international migration, intercultural communication and cultural intelligence. Aksoy is currently running a research project entitled as “The Role of Erasmus Experience on Intercultural Communication Competence” which is funded by Izmir University of Economics Scientific Research Projects. The study attempts to understand how Erasmus study abroad experience impacts students’ intercultural communication competences. The scope of the study will be expanded within a comparative approach, as she will be running this research at ARTES in 2016.