Department of Political Science and International Relations
Acting Head of Department : Prof. Dr. Selver Buldanlıoğlu Şahin
Associate Departmant Head: Selçuk Aydın
Professors : Mine Eder, Mehmet Ali Çiçekdağ*, Hakan Yılmaz*
Associate Professors : Murat Akan, Gün Kut, Zühre Aksoy Terzibaşoğlu, Emine Aslı Calkivik*
Assistant Professors : Mert Arslanalp, Selçuk Aydın, Volkan Çıdam, Gaye İlhan Demiryol, Başak Taraktaş, Alper Yağcı, Jaan Sulaiman İslam
Assistants : Aybala Bulut, Ceren Filiz Eser, Mehmet Yusuf Aktaş, Sümeyye Koca, Tayfun Mertan, Umut Mişe, Mehmet Ali Samur, Ahmet Serdar Ünal
*Part-time
The Department of Political Science and International Relations offers B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Its academic program covers the four major subfields in the discipline: comparative politics, international relations, political theory and Turkish politics.
The Department's main objective is to provide a balanced education committed to diversity. In addition to courses that orient them to the field, students are given the opportunity to conduct extensive research on such contemporary issues as the European Union, political economy, democratization, human rights, gender and identity politics. An expert staff including visiting professors from abroad offers a wide range of elective courses in order to allow students to specialize from the junior year onwards in areas of their choice.
Department graduates find career opportunities at home and abroad in the private as well as the public sector, particularly in organizations affiliated with the United Nations and the European Union, in the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in universities and the media, and in private companies. As this range of career options indicates, the Department's educational philosophy is to provide students with intellectual depth and with the necessary tools to think independently, to question and criticize, engage in collaborative work and be open-minded about alternative points of view. The Department has therefore adopted an interdisciplinary perspective and a multi-dimensional approach to the accumulation of knowledge.
Faculty members, all of whom have degrees from distinguished American or European universities, are in constant interaction with colleagues and institutions in many countries of the world. Exchange programs carried out with numerous foreign universities give undergraduate students the chance to study in a different environment for a semester or more. In addition, the Department's academic ties serve as a bridge for students interested in enrolling in M.A. or Ph.D. programs in universities abroad. Each year several students receive scholarships from U.S. and European universities for graduate study.
Established
1971
ISCED Code
313
Educational goals and objectives
TThe Department’s main objective is to provide a balanced education committed to diversity. In addition to courses that orient them to the field, students are given the opportunity to conduct extensive research on such contemporary issues as the European Union, political economy, democratization, human rights, gender and identity politics. An expert staff including visiting professors from abroad offers a wide range of elective courses in order to allow students to specialize from the junior year onwards in areas of their choice.
Admission and special requirements
- Admission is done on the basis of principles determined by the Senate, in line with the Higher Education Law (no: 2547) and Higher Education Council regulations
- Students from abroad are admitted on the basis of principles determined by the Senate, in line with the relevant regulations
- Students admitted to the program can enroll upon documenting their English language proficiency with an exam proposed by the School of Foreign Languages. Those without language proficiency take language education.
Acknowledgement of previous learning
- Courses previously passed with at least CC but not counted towards a degree earned can be acnowledged by the relevant governing committee
- Courses taken in other higher education institutions can be transferred with P grade and credits. Courses taken in the university can be transferred with letter grades and credits.
- Rules regarding exemption from first year courses will be determined by the Senate
Graduation requirements
- Being enrolled in the university during the last semester before graduation
- Passing all credit- and non-credit courses taken with at least DD or P grades
- Completing at the university the number of credits required by the department, amounting to at least half of the graduation credits
- Completing the program with at least 2.00 GPA
Program learning outcomes
- Knowing the basic concepts and theories in the disciplines of political science and international relations, with their applications
- Being able to access the relevant and correct information pertaining to the area of specialization
- Being an efficacious citizen who is loyal to democracy, cognizant of basic legal concepts, and with critical thinking habits
- Being able to use the research methods and the relevant computer software required for the analysis of quantitative an qualitative data pertaining to politifal, social and administrative iissues
- Being able to effectively express oneself in speech, writing and visual presentation
- Being able to work effectively, develop oneself, and take initiative as part of a working team
- Being able to contribute to socially inclusive and sustainable solutions to societal problems at local, national, regional and global levels
- Possessing the professional skills required to work in public, private and civil society organizations as well as internaitonal institutions; being a specialist capable of adapting to new developments in the field
- Using English effectively in activities relating to the field and in professional life.
