Yusuf Kaplan is an academic and author born in Sivas in 1964. He has conducted research in the fields of media culture and civilization and has participated in various publishing and educational projects. He is currently affiliated with Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University.

Childhood and Youth

Yusuf Kaplan was born in 1964 in the Şarkışla district of Sivas province. He completed his primary middle and high school education in Kayseri. He developed a habit of reading books during primary school which was further strengthened during secondary education. He graduated from Kayseri İmam Hatip High School.

Academic Education

In 1986 he graduated from the Cinema-TV Major of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dokuz Eylül University. In 1989 he went to England on a scholarship from the Ministry of National Education to pursue graduate and doctoral studies. In 1991 he completed his master’s degree at the University of East Anglia with a thesis titled “The Function of Television as a Narrative and Myth-Generating Tool.” He began his doctoral research in 1992 at the University of London and Middlesex Polytechnic under the supervision of Dr. Roy Armes and completed it in 1998 with a thesis on Turkish cinema and modernization.

Career and Achievements

Career Path

During his student years in London Yusuf Kaplan represented Yeni Şafak Zaman and Kanal 7 in the United Kingdom. In 1992 he co-founded the newspaper Yeni Şafak with a group of friends. He wrote articles under various pseudonyms for this publication and continues to serve as a columnist. He represented Yeni Şafak and Kanal 7 in London. In 1998 he declined the British passport offered by the United Kingdom and returned to Türkiye. From 1999 onward he taught courses at Bilgi University at both undergraduate and graduate levels in communication theory cultural theories civilizational thought and world cinema. In 2002 he founded Açılımkitap Yayınları. He then managed the journal Umran for three years. In 2003 he became the founding general director of TV5 and later participated in the establishment of TVNET. Between 2006 and 2008 he served as a member of the Cinema Support Board of the Ministry of Culture. In 2008 he founded Külliyat Yayınları under the umbrella of İnsan Yayınları. From 2009 to 2011 he served as the cinema director for Istanbul European Capital of Culture during which he produced seven feature films and thirty-three documentaries. In 2019 he established the Medeniyet Tasavvuru Okulu (MTO) as a digital education platform under Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University (İZÜ) which today provides education to over 50000 students. Yusuf Kaplan continues to serve as the Director of Civilizational Studies at the same university.

Notable Achievements

In 2002 Yusuf Kaplan was awarded the “Ideas Writer” prize by the Turkish Writers Union. In 2006 he received the “Strategic Vision Writer” award from TASAM. In 2025 he was honored with the “Achievement and Encouragement Award” under the Mehmet Akif İnan Awards organized by the Mehmet Akif İnan Foundation and Memur-Sen. During his tenure as an institutional manager he developed innovative practices in publishing through talent-based approaches and the influence of his educator identity. Through his academic work and media productions he has made significant contributions to thought and culture in Türkiye.

Published Works

Authored Books

• Television as a Narrative and Myth-Generating Tool – Academic / Research
• What Is Reading? – Education / Thought
• Map of the Journey – Thought
• Conception of Civilization – Philosophy / Thought
• The Myth of the Information Revolution – Critical Essay / Media and Society Critique
• The End of Anti-Communist Capitalism – Society Critique / Economic and Political Essay
• Civilizational Excavations with a Anatolian Beacon – Dialogue / Intellectual Exchange

Translations

• Africans: Three Cultural Heritages – Ali Mazrui
• The Seven Pillars of Wisdom – T. E. Lawrence
• Liberal Islam: A Study of Liberalism Modernization and Islam – Leonard Binder
• Beyond Postmodern Thought – Huston Smith
• Progress and Religion – Texts in the Philosophy of History – Christopher Dawson
• Western Civilization – George Frankl
• The Adventure of Thought – Alfred North Whitehead
• Thinking Based on Imagination – Edward L. Murray
• Deccal – Friedrich Nietzsche
• In the Twilight of the Idols – Friedrich Nietzsche
• Min Esrari’t-Tenzîl – Fahreddin er-Râzî