Reyhan Topal, Ph.D.

Welcome to my website!

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Augusta University. My research interests span technology, political violence, security, authoritarianism, and civil resistance. More specifically, I study how new technologies are transforming state repression and contentious politics. Utilizing a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and computational research methods, I examine the implications of AI-powered surveillance domestically and transnationally, the use of online platforms to resist state repression, and the impact of emerging technologies on various aspects of collective action. I am also an Information Controls Fellow with the Open Technology Fund, which supports my project on China’s digital transnational repression efforts targeting the Uyghur diaspora.

I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), where I specialized in International Relations and Comparative Politics. I earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Bilkent University with a merit-based scholarship and a master’s degree in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University. Previously, I was a Dissertation Scholar affiliated with Princeton University’s Bobst Center for Peace and Justice, which funded my dissertation research. As a Next Generation Fellow at Women in International Security during the 2021-2022 academic year, I conducted research on the gender gap in technology and security studies and proposed solutions to make these fields more inclusive and diverse. In 2019, I joined the University of California, Berkeley’s Program in Science and Technology Studies as a visiting researcher to observe the circulation of radical ideologies within and across violent online subcultures.

With over 10 years of experience, I have worked as both an academic researcher and a practitioner at international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including NATO, the European Union, the UN Refugee Agency, and Global Voices, as well as academic institutions. Most recently, I served as a research manager at the Center for Policy Research at Albany, where I oversaw a Department of Homeland Security-funded project focused on violent extremism in the United States for two years.

Alongside my research, I teach undergraduate and graduate courses such as Theories of Cyberwar, Violent Political Conflict, Information Technology and World Politics, and Research Seminar in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity.

Please take a tour of my website to learn more about my research.