Head of Program: Macid Ayhan Melekoğlu (Educational Sciences)

Executive Committee: Biray Kolluoğlu (Sociology), Ünal Zenginobuz (Economics), Serra Müderrisoğlu (Psychology), Z. Hande Sart (Educational Sciences), Tuna Kuyucu (Sociology)

Professors : Ayşe Buğra† ((Atatürk Institute), Biray Kolluoğlu (Sociology), Serra Müderrisoğlu (Psychology), Ünal Zenginobuz (Economics)

Associate Professor : Tuna Kuyucu (Sociology), Z. Hande Sart (Educational Sciences),

Assistant Professors :

Instructors :

*Part-time

† Professor Emeritus

Social policy, as an interdisciplinary social scientific field bringing together theory and practice, investigates root causes of poverty and inequalities, manifestations of these in the areas including but not limited to employment, labor relations, health care, education, social services, care and income and their social implications. In an increasingly unequal world, the questions of social policy have become one of the key interest areas in the studies of social sciences.

The Master of Arts in Social Policy aims at introducing the students to the study of social and economic dynamics that engenders poverty and inequalities and the content and impact of social policies introduced to tackle these problems in a historically grounded and comparative perspective.

The main objective of the Master of Arts in Social Policy is to introduce students to the theories, empirical research and policy experiences in the area of social policy that lies at the intersection of different disciplines including economics, sociology, politics, psychology, anthropology, history, philosophy and law.

All candidates for the Master of Arts degree in Social Policy are required to write a thesis and defend it.

The Master of Arts in Social Policy aims to encourage students for further study towards a Ph.D. degree and a subsequent career in the academia as well as equip them with necessary skills to pursue a career in public services, international organizations and non-governmental organizations.

The Master of Arts in Social Policy at Boğaziçi University draws its strength from the legacy of excellence in social policy teaching and research. Social Policy Forum (SPF), which built this legacy over the years, was founded in January 2004 as a research and policy center with the objective of generating critical knowledge pertaining to the main issues of social policy. Since then, Social Policy Forum conducts and supports interdisciplinary social policy research with the aim to instigate and contribute to the debate on welfare models based on citizenship rights and social inclusion. Supported by scientific research, SPF brings evidence based policy approaches to welfare reform discussions and plays a critical role in advocating for Turkey’s place in Social Europe in the EU accession process. Thus, in collaboration with other research institutes in EU countries, SPF aims to conduct comparative studies that look into Turkey in the context of social Europe. The importance of SPF as a research and policy center lies in its exceptional position in bringing together researchers from different disciplines and focusing on social policy as an independent and interdisciplinary area of research in its social, political and economic dimensions. SPF is widely recognized for its scientific quality, extensive experience in field surveys and intellectual depth. SPF conducts qualitative and quantitative field surveys in Turkey, which is also of great interest to researchers working with comparable data in Europe. Affiliated researchers from different disciplines collaborating under the auspices of SPF are senior social scientists who are well known for their distinctive work in social sciences and promising young scientists.

M.A. PROGRAM in SOCIAL POLICY

**An elective course from the departments of Economics, History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Psychology, Sociology as well as from Atatürk Institute for Contemporary Turkish History (ATA) and other related departments, with the approval of the advisor

Total Credits: 24 Credits
Total ECTS: 126 Credits