As an Istanbulite, from a young age, Deniz was surrounded by historical neighborhoods, local stories and people with many different lives. Growing up, he developed an interest in spaces and movements and viewed Istanbul as a social milieu that was fast in pace, graceful in looks, erratic in nature, and unequal in practice. During his undergraduate years his interest in the change through space and time found a place and were further materialized as particular interests on urban history, social history and digital humanities methods including GIS mapping. Therefore, he received his B.A. in History (major) and Sociology (double major) and a track in Asian-Eurasian Studies at Koç University in 2024. He is particularly interested in the historical progression of urban development in relation with socio-political actors, governmental policies and global developments.

On October 2024 he joined the Global History program, in the hopes of expanding his methodological approach in terms of historical research and theoretical frameworks. He sees the program as a great opportunity in developing a historical lens to understand historical connections, movement and global and local interactions.