Alpaslan, Nisa Naz | Turkey

Nisa Naz Alpaslan is a dedicated Master’s student in Sociology at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. After completing her Bachelor's degree at Izmir Dokuz Eylul University, she gained foundational field experience by completing a summer internship as a sociologist at the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services. There, she worked in units such as the Socio-Economic Support Unit and the Child in Need of Protection Unit, directly observing the challenges faced by disadvantaged groups. Subsequently, she worked for a year providing comprehensive guidance and counseling services to middle school students, systematically monitoring their academic progress and fostering their educational motivation. These practical field experiences have profoundly shaped her academic focus. Observing the changing dynamics of youth, she became deeply curious about the relationship between children’s and youth’s use of artificial intelligence, their digital gaming habits, and the potential links to violent tendencies.

Project at IAS-STS: Research on Digital Gaming, and Youth Behavior: A Comparative Analysis

This research project aims to develop an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural understanding of how digital gaming and artificial intelligence impact youth behavior, and how these phenomena are interpreted in different societies. The study focuses on examining the socio-cultural narratives surrounding youth gaming habits, specifically investigating how recent violent incidents among youth are associated with digital games and AI in public discourse in Turkey, and comparing these narratives with the Austrian context. Adopting a literature-based and exploratory perspective, the research investigates practical approaches within the Austrian educational and social systems for preventing digital addiction and mitigating youth violence. By exploring how different societies frame the "problem" of digital media and what solutions they propose, this research will contribute to a deeper sociological understanding of the impacts of youth gaming habits.