Güzide Gulizar Özalp, a Turkish graduate student, is a Research Assistant at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. With a keen focus on communications, she supports the Center’s efforts to elevate and publicize research and demonstration projects that advance urban equity and community development.
Alongside this role, she works with the Camden County Department of Community Development, where she supports initiatives focused on housing, homelessness prevention, and community development. Her work includes conducting policy research, preparing reports, and collaborating with local and state partners to design community-based solutions that advance social and economic equity.
Güzide earned her Master of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in United Nations and Global Policy Studies from Rutgers University, where she also served as a Graduate Assistant and Student Ambassador for the UNMA program. During her graduate studies, she was recognized as the winner of the 10th Annual UNMA Essay Contest for her paper titled “From Adoption to Revocation: Understanding the Istanbul Convention Withdrawal in Türkiye.” The essay examined the ideological and political narratives surrounding Türkiye’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, highlighting how gender equality was reframed as a foreign threat through processes of norm spoiling and nationalist discourse.
Before joining Rutgers, she worked in communications and research roles with international and non-governmental organizations in Türkiye, including the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Türkiye and the International Relations Studies Association (TUİÇ). Her work in these positions centered on politics, digital communications, and international relations.