He was born in Ankara on 25.12.1961. In 1986, he graduated from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema at Ankara University College of Communications. In 1987, he started working as a research assistant at the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema at Gazi University College of Communications. In 1988, he won the Scholarship of the Council of Higher Education for Graduate Education Abroad and went to the United States of America. In 1990, he received his M.A. degree in Communication Arts at University of West Florida. In 1994, he completed Stage and Performing Arts program and obtained his Ph.D. degree in cinema-television at 9 Eylül University Faculty of Fine Arts. He became an associate professor in 1996, and professor in 2004. After serving as the department chair, dean, and vice president in various universities, Peyami Çelikcan has recently worked as the President of İstanbul Şehir University. Çelikcan has been working as the Vice President of İstinye University and also the Dean of Communication Faculty. In addition to giving lectures in the field of communications at undergraduate, graduate, and PhD degree levels, Çelikcan also gave lots of lectures and seminars at the educational programs of various national and international institutions. He held several seminars and workshops for correspondents of Palestine Maan Agency titled “News Broadcasting”; and for programmers at state-run televisions in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kosovo titled “Television Broadcasting” and “Documentary Production”. Çelikcan also participated in various projects about adult education and he directed some parts of two educational films, one broadcasted in TRT and produced on behalf of The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as part of Farmer Education Project (YAYÇEP); and one produced for UNICEF as part of the Visual Parental Education (UNICEF-GABEP). While continuing his studies in the field of cinema and television, Çelikcan has produced many works as a document director and a scriptwriter. Having specialized in cultural and historical documentaries, Çelikcan shot various documentaries which focused on Central Asian, Anatolian, and Caucasian geographies by tracing the Turkish culture and history. He was both the director general and scriptwriter of one of these documentaries, Following Dervishes from Kazakhstan to Hungary, which consists of 13 episodes and was completed in 2000. Peyami Çelikcan directed the 3-episode documentary The Kyrgyz in 2006. In 2007, he worked as both the copywriter and co-director of the 13-episode documentary The Colors of Anatolia-Birth, Wedding, Death. As of 2011, he took part in the documentaries about The History of Caucasus and Central Asia Railways as scriptwriter and co-director. These documentaries are Trans-Caspian Railway (13 episodes), Trans-Siberian Railway (13 episodes), Trans-Aral Railway (13 episodes), and Trans-Caucasian Railway (13 episodes). Çelikcan also took charge as project advisor in projects carried out by the Radio Television Broadcasters Union (RATEM) in order to determine the professional standards and qualifications in broadcasting, and he conducted studies on professional standards and qualifications for the professions of Television Program Director, Assistant Director, and Chief Electrician and Assistant Electrician. In addition to his academic studies on media history, cinema history, popular music, and documentary cinema, Çelikcan continues his research on addiction and participates in international projects as project advisor. Finally, he served as the project advisor for Drug Awareness on Adults (DAWAP) project carried out by the Green Crescent in cooperation with NGOs from four countries that fight against addiction as part of the ERASMUS+ program. Peyami Çelikcan is also the Chair of Green Crescent Scientific Board, and member of International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS), and International Documentary Association (IDA). He is currently working at İstinye University as the Dean of Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences.
Research Areas: Documentary Cinema, Popular Music, History of Media