Hande is a specialist in Media and Cultural Studies. She is a graduate of Ankara University's Department of Radio-TV-Cinema and holds a Master of Science in Film Production from Boston University. Before beginning at Columbia, Hande worked for a number of national newspapers and TV stations in Turkey , including Hurriyet, Show TV, Kanal D, TRT. Having worked in documentary film production & distribution for over a decade, she worked to acquire and distribute hundreds of educational films to schools and colleges in the U.S. Her latest documentary film, shot in Greece and Turkey, is an oral history account of the population exchange that took place in 1923 between Greece and Turkey. Hande is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Athens, College of Communication.