Gizem Arslan's research and teaching interests include post-war literatures in German, French and Turkish, translation studies, migration studies, theories of language, literary-mathematical experiments, and writing systems of the world. She enjoys teaching German at all levels and learning new languages. Particularly important to her teaching are exploring connections between German and other languages, integrating culture and intercultural learning into her courses, and continually educating herself on diversity, equity and inclusion issues in language programs.

Her current work in progress includes article projects on Spanish-German poet José F. A. Oliver and his literary muse Paul Celan, the influence of Paris-based OuLiPo group's interlingual dictionary games on German-American poet Uljana Wolf's play with German and English false friends, and a book project on literary experimentation with writing systems as a form of resistance to ethno-nationalist ideas about language. Like the authors in her research projects, she enjoys playing with language. She is continually trying to think of new ways to encourage her students to do the same