Ezgi Yildiz

Ezgi Yildiz is an Assistant Professor of Government and Legal Studies at Bowdoin College and a research affiliate at the Global Governance Center at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She also serves on the Coordinating Committee of the European Society of International Law’s Interest Group on Social Sciences and International Law. 

Originally from Turkey, she received her Ph.D. in International Relations and International Law from the Geneva Graduate Institute in Geneva (Switzerland). Before joining Bowdoin, she held research and faculty positions at Harvard University, Boston University, and California State University, Long Beach. 

Her interdisciplinary research bridges international relations and international law, with a focus on international courts, human rights, and ocean governance. Her research has appeared in the Review of International Organizations, the European Journal of International Law, the German Law Journal, and the Journal of Human Rights Practice, among others, and has been supported by multiple grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Doc.CH, Early Postdoc.Mobility, and Spark) and the European Research Council.

Her first book, Between Forbearance and Audacity: The European Court of Human Rights and the Norm against Torture (Cambridge University Press, 2024), received the American Political Science Association (APSA) Human Rights Section’s Best Book Award and an Honorable Mention for the Chadwick F. Alger Prize from the International Organization Section of the International Studies Association (ISA). It is available with open access.  

Her recent article with Umut Yüksel, “The Defocalizing Effect of International Courts: Evidence from Maritime Delimitation Practices” (Review of International Organizations, 2024) received the inaugural Best Article on International Law and Social Science Award from the American Society of International Law’s Interest Group on International Law and Social Science. It is available with open access.

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