The Department of Political Science and International Relations aims to educate professional who can interpret the network of contemporary relations from a conceptual framework and follow the current developments.
The ideal goals of the department is to educate individuals who have knowledge of the world and Turkey, know a foreign language, adopt analytical thinking, criticize and solve them, renew themselves continuously, take initiative, questioning, adopt ethical values, and inclined to work together and participate in democratic participation.
The purpose of the Department of Political Science and International Relations is to educate individuals who have mastered world’s and Turkey’s issues, know foreign language, adopt analytical thinking structure, criticize and solve them, constantly renewing themselves, entrepreneurial, questioning, adopting ethical values, participating in joint work and democratic participation. The graduates of the Political Science and International Relations can work in international organizations, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union Institutions, international private companies, political and foreign policy departments of media, banks, foreign relations departments of other public and private institutions.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi
İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Fakültesi Political Science and International Relations 2021-2022 Undergraduate Curriculum |
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FIRST YEAR | ||||||||||||
1st Term | 2nd Term | |||||||||||
Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 107 | Political Science I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 108 | Political Science II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 127 | International Relations I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 128 | International Relations II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 129 | History of Civilizations | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 130 | Fundamental Concepts of Law | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
RPSI 109 | Positive Psychology and Communication Skills | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PHIL 122 | Critical Thinking | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
ATA 101 | Principles of Atatürk and History of Turkish
Revolution I |
2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ATA 102 | Principles of Atatürk and History of Turkish
Revolution II |
2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
ENG 101 | English I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | ENG 102 | English II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
TURK 101 | Turkish Language I | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | TURK 102 | Turkish Language II | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
RCUL 101 | University Culture I | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | RCUL 102 | University Culture II | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
Total Credit | 19 | 2 | 20 | 30 | Total Credit | 19 | 2 | 20 | 30 | |||
SECOND YEAR | ||||||||||||
3rd Term | 4th Term | |||||||||||
Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 227 | Classical Political Thought | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 226 | Modern Political Thought | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
PSIR 229 | Political History I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 228 | Political History II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 231 | Constitutional Law | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 230 | International Law | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
PSIR 233 | Research Methods in Political Science | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 232 | Fundamental Skills of Academic Writing | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 235 | Political Theory | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | RPRE 104 | Entrepreneurship and Project Culture | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
PSY 124 | Concepts and Approaches in Psychology | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 | SOC 143 | General Sociology | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
Total Credit | 18 | 2 | 19 | 30 | Total Credit | 16 | 2 | 17 | 30 | |||
THIRD TERM | ||||||||||||
5th Term | 6th Term | |||||||||||
Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 327 | Turkish Politics I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 326 | Turkish Politics II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 301 | International Organizations | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 328 | Comparative Political Systems | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 331 | International Relations Theories | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 332 | Political Psychology | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective IV | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective V | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective III | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective VI | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
Total Credit | 18 | 0 | 18 | 30 | Total Credit | 18 | 0 | 18 | 30 | |||
FOURTH TERM | ||||||||||||
7th Term | 8th Term | |||||||||||
Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 425 | Graduation Project I | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 | PSIR 426 | Graduation Project II | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 | |
PSIR 401 | Turkish Foreign Policy I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | PSIR 402 | Turkish Foreign Policy II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective VII | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective X | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective VIII | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective XI | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective IX | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | XXX XXX | Departmental / Non-Deparmental Elective XII | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
Total Credit | 12 | 6 | 15 | 30 | Total Credit | 12 | 6 | 15 | 30 | |||
T | P | C | Prereq. | |||||||||
Total Course Credit | 142 | 20 | 146 | 240 | ||||||||
Total Elective Course Credit | 36 | 0 | 33 | 60 | ||||||||
Elective / Total Credit | 25% | 0% | 23% | 25% | ||||||||
Departmental Elective Courses | ||||||||||||
5th Term |
6th Term |
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Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 351 | Theories of Democracy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 330 | International Political Economy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 353 | Theories of Imperialism | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 350 | Political Modernity | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 355 | Politics of Authoritarianism (Project Course) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 352 | Evolution of Turkish Political Thought | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 357 | Politics and Society in Southeast Europe | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 354 | Gender and Politics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 367 | Politics and Society in Central Asia and Transcaucasia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 366 | Public and Cultural Diplomacy (Project Course) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 369 | Nationalism and Globalisation | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 382 | Neuropolitics and Biopolitics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 375 | Political Psychology of Violence | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 384 | International Development | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 377 | Basic Economics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 386 | European Integration Process | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 379 | Global Politics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 388 | Global South | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 381 | Politics and Societies in the Middle East | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 390 | Political Anthropology | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 387 | Current Issues in World Politics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 392 | Theories of Secularization | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 389 | Comparative Cultural Studies | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 312 | Russian Foreign Policy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 391 | International Migration Problems | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 338 | Digital Humanities | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 393 | Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 398 | Turkish Politics for International Students | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
7th Term |
8th Term |
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Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | Code | Course Name | T | P | C | ECTS | |
PSIR 451 | US Politics and Society | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 450 | Transboundary Water Problems | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 453 | Politics and Society in Latin America | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 454 | Politics and Society in Africa | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 455 | International Ethics | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 456 | Politics and Society in Russia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 459 | International War and Peace | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 476 | The European Union and Turkey | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 461 | Cinema and Political Psychology | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 478 | US Foreign Policy | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 463 | Foreign Relations of the European Union | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 480 | Administrative Law | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 483 | Cold War | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 484 | Populism | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 485 | Politics and Society of China | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 486 | Dynamics of Political Changes | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 487 | Social Change and Politics from Ottoman to | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | PSIR 488 | Comparative Grand Strategy in the Digital Age | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
PSIR 489 | Protection of Human Rights at International Level | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |||||||
Elective Language Courses | ||||||||||||
ARA123 | Arabic I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ARA124 | Arabic II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
CIN123 | Chinese I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | CIN124 | Chinese II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
RUS123 | Russian I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | RUS124 | Russian II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
ISP123 | Spanish I | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ISP124 | Spanish II | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
PSIR 107 – Political Science I
This course aims to introduce students to basic concepts and main issues of political science. We will begin with a session to address the questions: What is politics? What is political science? What is the relationship of political science with other social sciences? What are the branches of political science? The course then looks into major ideologies and basic concepts of politics and political science such as authority, power, government, state, identity, order, sovereignty, legitimacy and representation.
Introduction to Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012.
This course is a continuation of PSIR 107 Political Science I. It aims to introduce students to basic concepts and themes of political science. We will explore concepts and themes such as identity politics, gender politics, political culture, media, democracy, representation, elections, voting behaviour, political parties, interest groups, executive, legislative, assembly, judiciary, constitution, bureaucracy, regionalism, multilevel governance, security.
Introduction to Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012.
This course is designed to give students the basic knowledge required to understand and analyze International Relationship. Conceptual framework of international relations and factors which define international politics will be examined in this course such as: Modern State, Security, War, International Law, International Society, Diplomacy, Great Powers, The United Nations, Global Economic Institutions, Non-State Actors: Multinational Corporations and International Non-Governmental Organizations.
Course Material:
K.J. Holsti New Jersey Prentice-Hall, International Politics: A Framework for Analysis, 1995.
This course will complete major topics of the course PSIR 127 - International Relations I. In this course, we will focus on issues such as Arms control, Global Trade, Global Finance, Global Poverty, Inequality and development, Globalization and Its critics, Religion and Secularism, Global Terrorism, Human Rights, Migration and Refugees, Post-Conflict State- Building, Global Environmental Politics and Climate Change.
The fundamental purpose of this course is to introduce the students to the history of civilisations comparatively. During the course, the questions like how the civilisations are evolved, what makes the civilisations etc. will be tried to be answered. The major world civilisations from the start up to the modern period will be studied. Students will be expected to have a general perspective about both the development of human civilisation in general and the emergence of distinct traditions, namely the Middle Eastern, the Indian, the Chinese and the Greek-European traditions.
This course aims to teach basic principles of the law. In this context, in addition to general concepts of the law, such as society and order, societal rules, justice, good faith, burden of proof, crime and punishment, genearl information will be given about different branches of law.
The course includes subjects like the general framework of the basic concepts of communication sciences, solutions and recommendations to strengthen communication skills, interpersonal communication, group communication, organizational communication, mass communication, public communication, international communication and intercultural communication.
The documents will be given during the course period.
Critical thinking is a way of thinking consisting of mental processes such as reasoning, analysis and evaluation. Critical thinking involves processes of thinking on concrete or abstract issues in order to arrive at clear conclusions consistent with common sense and scientific evidence. Critical thinking is a process in which the quality of the thinking method is improved by skillfully managing structures in the individual's thinking system and by bringing them to intellectual standards. The content of the course consists of reading comprehension, literacy types, critical reading, critical thinking, culture of knowledge and knowledge, self-learning, learning to learn, learning society, learning culture.
The documents will be given during the course period.
In the content of this course, the period fromthe mid-19th century until the year of 1924 will be examined. Efforts and reforms of Westernization in the late Ottoman period, social and economic changes, the First World War, the rise of Turkish nationalism, the Independence War, internal and external affairs, Lausanne Treaty and Declaration of the Republic will be the main concerns.
Course Material:
This course covers the period from Lausanne Treaty to the demise of Atatürk. The reforms related with the Principles, developments in social and economic areas, changes in cultural and ideologic sides, events in domestic and foreign affairs and the situation of Turkey in world politics will be undertaken.
Course Material:
The course in Fall and the course in Spring are the courses in a combined program observing the course material. Main target is improving the students' understanding capacity of English language and their capacity to understand and interpret current and academic texts and capacity of language skills for using the language as a communication system.
In addition to general purpose of ENG 151, in this course it is aimed to improve students' academic writing skills.
The definiton of language, types and features, relations between language and art, culture, literature, methods of understanding texts, knowledge of written communication ( choosing topics, defining the limits of topics, purpose and vision for writing, preparing a plan for writing, writing composition in different types and summarizing texts), verbal communication skills (improvisional speech, prepared speech, debates etc.), Turkish grammar, writing and punctuation).
World and Turkic languages, methods of analysing instructive and descriptive texts, written expression knowledge (sampling, defining, comparing, citation, quotation, using statistics); verbal expression knowledge (improvisional speech, prepared speech etc.)
Course Material:
This course aims to contribute students’ knowledge about social, cultural and political isues, to make students receptive to study multidisciplinary and gain the ability to think critically and analytically.
This course aims to contribute students’ knowledge about social, cultural and political isues, to make students receptive to study multidisciplinary and gain the ability to think critically and analytically.
PSIR 226 – Modern Political Thought
The course examines the genesis and evolution of the political thought in the form of political ideologies from the 19th century onwards. In this respect, liberalism, nationalism, conservatism, socialism and fascism will be discussed with particular focus on their core ideas and continuties and changes in them throughout the historical process.
This course aims to provide students with a survey of political philosophy from ancient to modern times. We will address the questions of what is political philosophy and why political philosophy is essential to understand the origins and development of political concepts such as authority, power, state, order, justice, social contract, sovereignty and legitimacy. The course covers main political thinkers of ancient, medieval and early modern world.
This course covers the period from World War I to the 9/11 attacks. It aims at providing a general perspective on major historical events and a background to the students of the department “Political Science and International Relations” by focusing on the changes, developments, and breakthroughs in international relations of the time period covered in the course. Some major topics of the course are: World War I, Inter-War Period (1919-1939), Crises of the Thirties, The Catastrophes (Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union), World War II, New Realities: West and East, Cold War, Detent and Post-Cold War era.
This course covers the period from the French Revolution to World War I. It aims at providing a general perspective on major historical events and a background for the Political Science and International Relations students concentrating on the changes, developments, and breakthroughs in politics, society, culture, and economics of the time period covered in the course. Major topics of the course are: French Revolution, Napoleonic Europe, Meternich’s Europe, The revolutions of 1848, Nationalism and Unification, The Industrial Revolution and its consequences, Imperialism, The break-up of nineteenth-century Europe, Asian Metamorphoses.
Course Material:
The purpose of the lecture is to provide the students with the knowledge of basic principles of international law to follow actual discussions on international law. In this context, the concept of international law, its sources, its binding effect are taught. In addition to the harmony and the conflict areas with the international politics human rights and the foundations of the peace and international security. In this sense, intertnational courts and international criminal law will be analysed.
The aim of this course is provide the students with detailed information about constitution and constitutional law. In this concept, the basic structure of the state, democracy, elections, the functions of the legislative, executive and judicial bodies of the state, basic principles of Turkish Constitution, constitutional review of the laws, protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms, will be analyzed.
This course is designed to introduce participants various kinds of assignments they will encounter as university students and help them to develop the necessary skills to communicate their ideas in clear and effective prose. The participants will learn the fundamental concepts of academic writing and how to use them in their essays, whether in short or long form. Most importantly, they will learn to make academic arguments, support them with evidence, and establish a structure in their essays. They will also be introduced to practical written communication skills, such as writing an email to a professor, writing a formal letter of request to an academic institution, and writing a cover letter for an application. Throughout the course, the participants will actively use such skills in weekly activities.
Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
In the course, the topics such as progress of social sciences, other science sections and relation between disciplines will be examined and it will be taught to students how to make research in social sciences and present it.
During this course, the area of political theory as an academic discipline along with the questions asked and answered by the political theorists will be discussed.
This course aims to teach students all aspects of project culture including writing projects, findings partners for projects, preparing budget of the project etc.
The documents will be given during the course period.
It provides an objective and scientific approach to the study of human behavior. Course topics include scientific methods of research in psychology, biology and behavior, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, and developmental and social psychology.
The documents will be given during the course period.
Scope of the course: Subject and method of sociology, History of sociology, Basic concepts of sociology, Relationship between sociology and other social sciences, Role of sociology in society, Importance and development of sociological point of view, objectivity problem, founders of modern sociology, basic sociological concepts and discussions.
The documents will be given during the course period.
PSIR 301 – International Organizations
The purpose of this course is to deliver detailed knowledge about important international organizations and to analyse the goals and tasks of these organizations. In this context, global and regional international organizations, such as the United Nations and World Bank, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, European Union, NATO, International Court of Law, International Criminal Court, African Union will be analysed.
This course builds on its first part and inspects Turkish political life after 1960. It starts with the results of 27 May coup d’état and the establishment of new constitutional regime. The establishment of new parties and a more democratic and competitive political life provides a variety of new political movements, personalities and ideologies to inspect. We will focus on the iteration of military interventions and constitutional “reforms” throughout the rest of the 20th century.
In this course, we will assess the main historical events, concepts, political movements, parties and ideologies in Turkish political life. The aim of this course is to gain knowledge about these political movements and thoughts without taking sides and analyze them critically. The course is planned to extend to two terms. In this first term, we will begin with the political movements in the last century of the Ottoman Empire and end with the 27 May 1960 coup d’état. We will focus on the emergence political movements and parties in the Ottoman State, the establishment of the Republic, the Single Party Regime, the introduction of the multi-party regime and its interruption by military control.
This course is an introduction to Comparative Politics. It aims to give students the basic knowledge that is required to understand and analyze political systems across the world. By discussing main concepts and theoretical frameworks in the lectures, this course familiarize students to important theoretical perspectives and debates in the study of Comparative Politics. Through questions, answers, and analyzing some countries as exemplifying cases, the course will cover regime types, democracies and non-democracies, in detail.
Perspective”, Sixth Edition, Wadsworth Cengage Learning 2011.
This course is an introduction to International Relations Theories. It aims to give students the basic knowledge that is required to understand and analyze International Relations Theories. By discussing main concepts and theoretical frameworks in the lectures, this course introduces students to important theoretical perspectives and debates in the study of International Relations. Through case discussions and analyzing examples, we will cover IR Theories in detail.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to historical and contemporary perspectives in political psychology. This course focuses on social behavior from political behavior and personality interaction; It aims to analyze the learning, methods and knowledge of the discipline of psychology from a wide range of political science products in a multidisciplinary context. The course includes what the political psychology is. Political psychology deals with the historical development process of the discipline and periodic field topics according to its stages. The course also deals with the psychology of various international political relations, various political systems, ideologies and phenomena. The course is processed by using lecture, question-answer and discussion methods.
PSIR 330 International Political Economy
This is an introductory course to International Political Economy. We will analyze the theories and practices of international aspects of economic decisions and their relation to foreign and domestic policies.
In this course, we will focus on the concept of Political Modernity, relation between Political development and Ideology according to Modernity theory, the transition process from the Traditional Society to Modern Society, relation between Ideology and Democracy in non- western societies, Ottoman modernity and relation between Kemalism-Democracy.
Yayınları, 2003.
Democracy is a challenging concept to define and assess because it involves people’s decision- making; yet, there is ambiguity in both how to define the people and to identify decision-making procedures. Besides, there is no clear roadmap for how to achieve collective decision-making. Therefore, this course intends to define democracy first and then familiarize students with the theories on democracy. Moreover, strengths and weaknesses of democracy in current political context will be covered.
The course examines the historical evolution of modernism, nationalism, liberalism, conservatism, Kemalism and socialism from the late Ottoman to the republican period. Studies into main tenets of these ideologies are accompanied by a close reading of the economic, social and political backdrop of the relevant periods.
Imperialism is not a new phenomenon but a historical one. Nevertheless, with the contribution of Marxist tradition, debates on imperialism has gained momentum and amplitude. This course will introduce different theoretical lenses on imperialism and bring forward recent theoretical debates. In this line, ideas of prominent thinkers such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin and John Atkinson Hobson will be analyzed in this course.
The course aims to discuss the ways in which gender and gender inequality shape political institutions and processes, the social and political construction of gender, and political mobilization-based on gender with particular focus on feminist politics.
Definition of the region, developments in the region in historical process, political, social and cultural structures in the Southeast Europe, changes during the post-cold war era and main actors in the region will be analysed in the course.
The changes that Public Diplomacy has encountered since the 1960s, in particular the features of diplomacy carried out with non-state actors, will be examined in its history. In this course
the basic concepts of diplomacy, specifications development, public relations, the example of public diplomacy in Turkey and other countries will be examined.
Course documents will be presented during the course period.
This course introduces students to the emergence of the modern Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan from the beginning of the Soviet rule in the early twentieth century to the present. We will explore how Soviet legacy has a bearing on contemporary political and social issues in the Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan.
Globalization is considered to enforce homogenization of political, economic, cultural and social habits all around the world. Nationalization, however, is believed to resist such homogenizing trend dictated by globalization. This course first introduces conceptual understanding of nationalism and globalization as two seemingly opposite forces and then examines nationalistic and globalizing trends in the world.
Edition, Penguin Group, Toronto, 2009.
The course provides students with a historical and theoretical background on how to deal with the basic political concepts such as state, law, order, revolution and violence as a political phenomenon; class, ethnicity, gender, generation, political psychology of violence.
This is an introductory course for main concepts and theories of economics. Students will learn the basic tools of micro and macroeconomics. They will learn the behavior of households, firms, government. The other topics that are included are the functioning of markets, their relations with the state institutions, economic welfare and how the price and production values are determined.
In this course, the global structure, actor and dynamics of politics with the main problems and discussion topics will be examined at theoretical and factual level. The course deals with the historical formation and evolution of global politics in modern times, but also focuses on debates and issues of the globalization process from the late 20th century to the present.
It is aimed in this course to teach the students contemporary issues in the Middle East taking into account historical, social, cultural and political dimensions of the region. In this context, political structure in the Middle East after World War I, Palestine issue, Arab-Israel conflict, Gulf crisis, developments after 9/11, terrorism and changing process in the region after 2011 will be analysed in the course.
Neuroscience has made tremendous progress toward understanding the neural bases of human behavior. As this progress continues, neuroscientific knowledge has been applied far beyond its context of emergence to explain human behavior in general and to address a host of specific politics problems. The aim of this course is to provide detailed information about the emerging research field of neuropolitics that seeks to bring neuroscientific methods and findings to political science.
The documents will be given during the course period.
This course offers a foundation for understanding the main concepts, theories, institutions, and history of international development. It attempts to provide answers some of the fundamental questions we pose in the international arena. Why are some nations poorer than the others? How could “lower income” countries catch up with the industrialized nations? Does foreign aid help such countries or hinder their development? What are the roles played by international
institutions in development policies? In order to answer these questions, the course is divided into three parts. First, the history of development and its sources are explored. Secondly, the main theories and approaches to development are critically examined. And finally, the role and impact of international institutions in making and implementing development policies are examined.
This course aims to introduce the historical background of the European integration process in line with the basic European treaties establishing the European Communities and the European Unions. In this context, the main stages of the European integration, main institutions of the Euroepan Unions and the challenges ahead will be reniewed and discussed.
Current issues and problems in world politics will be analyzed considering the changing dynamics of international politics. Some cases of current issues in world politics will be discussed in regional and systemic level. Different theoretical perspectives will provide different point of views and this will improve students ability of using theories in cases. In addition, students will be able to follow news from different sources and make a practice to follow closely current issues in international politics.
Global south and north have followed different development trajectories throughout the history. With a specific emphasis on the regions located in the global South such as Latin America, Africa and Asia, this course aims to analyze and discuss political, cultural and economic differences between global south and north.
This course aims to teach the main approaches of culture and how to debate in the field of cultural studies. Cultural studies as a research area collaborate with other social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, art and media. Culture is defined as a sum of daily life practices. Each place in the world has its rituals, cultural backgrounds and societies. Therefore, different cultures will be handled comparatively in this course.
Anthropology is described as the science of humanity. The main questions are how people’s lives are shaped by culture, society and political and historical background. As an interdisciplinary area, anthropology is related to sociology, political sciences, biology, geography, psychology, economics and history. Although anthropology is divided into four subfields (Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology and Linguistic Studies) this course will focus on social, cultural and political anthropology mostly.
The course investigates the sources, historical tracks and results of the international migration. The focal point will be state policies towards immigration, social and political perceptions towards immigration and immigrants, and integration policies. Both the international and Turkish case will be scrutinized in this respect.
The course examines, with particular focus on the paradigm of modernisation and its critiques, the sources of secularisation, difference between secularisation as a social process and secularism as a worldview, and between secularism and laicism as well as the debate on the “failure of secularism” as a project.
This course introduces students to meanings and dynamics of peace and conflict. It also focuses on conflict analysis by studying on the strategies and tools. It explores various social settings of a given conflict. In addition to this, it teaches what method should be used in conflict studies and how to do a research about conflict issues. In order to make gain skills about peace and conflict studies, this course provides definitions of conflict; indicates current
conflict trends in the literature; introduces the analytic tools used in empirical social science research; discusses and analyzes the comtemporary conflict cases comparatively.
This course introduces students to Russia’s foreign and security policy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It explores Moscow’s response to NATO’s eastward expansion into the former communist and Soviet states, civil war in Syria and other contemporary issues. In order to understand change and continuity in Russia’s foreign policy making, the tsarist and Soviet legacies, ideological debate between Eurasianist and Atlanticist traditions will be closely scrutinized.
Digital Humanities (DH) is an emerging field that utilizes information technologies to engage in research on humanities and social sciences. It includes the preservation and sharing of
digitized collections of information and documents via digital databases; new expressions and interpretations of information; analysis of information by using textual, graphical, and computational methods. In this course, we will learn the core concepts and methodology of DH and make use of its brand new tools to explicate the data on human culture.
Burdick, Anne, Johanna Drucker, Peter Lunenfeld, Todd Presner, and Jeffrey Schnapp. Digital Humanities. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012.
Edmond, Jennifer. Digital Technology and the Practices of Humanities Research. Open Book Publishers, 2020.
Gardiner, Eileen, and Ronald G. Musto. The Digital Humanities: A Primer for Students and Scholars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Kokensparger, Brian. Guide to Programming for the Digital Humanities: Lessons for Introductory Python. Springer, 2018.
Muhanna, Elias, ed. The Digital Humanities and Islamic & Middle East Studies. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016.
Schreibman, Susan, Raymond George Siemens, and John Unsworth, eds. A New Companion to Digital Humanities. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley/Blackwell, 2016.
PSIR 401 – Turkish Foreign Policy I
The course examines the evolution of Turkish foreign policy from Ottoman Empire to the end of the until the Second World War.
The course examines the evolution of Turkish foreign policy from the end of the Second World War onwards.
The graduation Project is a two-term research Project in which the students of the Department of Political Science and International Relations conduct research, gather data and write a scientific undergraduate thesis on a topic chosen together with their advisors. In the first term of the project, they determine the scope and content of the topic, collect and classify information and data. In the second term, they write the chapters of their thesis, revise & edit, and finally present it for the final evaluation.
The graduation Project is a two-term research Project in which the students of the Department of Political Science and International Relations conduct research, gather data and write a scientific undergraduate thesis on a topic chosen together with their advisors. In the first term of the project, they determine the scope and content of the topic, collect and classify information and data. In the second term, they write the chapters of their thesis, revise & edit, and finally present it for the final evaluation.
PSIR 450 – Trans-boundary Waters Problem and International Relations
In this course students will be taught about the issues regarding domination, conflict, cooperation of the international waters in the context of international law. Turkey's transboundary waters and impacting dimensions from the relations with neighboring countries will be examined. In this scope, the course aims to present Turkey's basic policies and concerned countries strategies. International water issues around the world, texts in international law and treaties regarding international waters, Fırat and Dicle Rivers, Southeastern Anatolia Project, Peace Water Project will be the topics discussed.
This course provides a basic introduction to the United States of America’s politics and society. The United States is a democratic republic with a presidential system. Its society is a composition of diverse cultures from all around the world. Having the most powerful economy and military in the world, it must be understood and analyzed in the historical context by the students of world politics. In this course, we will explore the history, people, government, political system, society, religion, economy and culture of the United States of America. Using this information, we will assess the position of the US in the contemporary world.
Covering more than 7 million square meters and having population of 639 million, Latin America is one of the most crucial regions of the World. This course examines history, economy, social structure and political systems of Latin America as a region. In addition, countries located in the region will be focused and scrutinized as separate cases.
Physical characteristics of the African continent; African history, it’s social and cultural structure; colonization, decolonization, African Union and regional organizations; relations between Africa and other Powers in international relations such as USA, China, EU and Turkey; Darfur crisis with its local and global dimensions, terrorist organizations in Africa such as Boko Haram and eş Şebab will be analysed in this course.
This course aims to provide students with a survey of contemporary politics and society in Russia. The topics include tsarist and Soviet legacies, post-Soviet transition, federalism, ethnonationalism, semi-presidential system, elections and parties, civil society, political culture, and oil and natural gas wealth.
Effect of power and war technology to establishment of international order. In this context the concept of war and its development, changing of Carl von Clausewitz’s war understanding in the modernity process, total war in 20th century will be analyzed in the course.
EU’s role in international politics and its foreign relations will be examined closely. Every week, EU’s relations with a different region and country will be focused. In the beginning of this course, in order to make students understand the actorness capacity of the EU, background information regarding the Union will be presented. Widening-deepening dilemma will be analyzed. Therefore student will obtain the ability to analyzing foreign and external relations of the EU after being familiarized to the EU as an entity.
The course will cover the relations between the European Union and Turkey. First, the historical background of this relation will be overviewed. There are three important pillars to analyze the EU-Turkey relations. First pillar is about the EU’s historical and conjectural change and evolution. In parallel to the first pillar, the second pillar is about Turkey’s historical and political change and transformation. New dynamics and turning points in the international system constitutes the third pillar. Therefore, EU-Turkey relations will be analyze with considering these three pillars as parallel processes.
This course provides a general introduction to US Foreign Policy from its foundation to the 21st century. However, the main focus will be on the postwar period and how the US dominance in the international arena shaped the world politics. The course is divide into two parts. First part gives the general history of foreign relations of the United States of America and this part is also divided into three sections: between independence to First World War; between world wars to the end of the Cold War; post-Cold War to Trump era. The second part analyzes the theoretical approaches to US Foreign Policy based on the historical knowledge provided in the first part.
The purpose of this course is to teach the basic concepts of the administrative law. In this context, basic principles and concepts related to administrative law, main sorurces of administrative law, the administartive organization of Turkey and the main tasks of the administration, administrative action and its elements will be explained. Also, how the interpretation of the decisions at the administarive judicial system will be analyzed.
This course intends to be an interdisciplinary study of the Cold War. We will examine the Cold War from its origins to its unexpected end. We will cover political, military, cultural, economic and intellectual history of the Cold War by using wide range of primary and secondary sources. The Cold War was a global contest for supremacy between the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was a “Cold War” because it stopped short of an all-out-war, yet still was a mutual hostility that included covert warfare and war by proxy. It was not only a struggle for physical control of places, but also a competition between contending political and economic systems, which were sharpened by ideological rifts. In this sense, it was one of the defining elements of the international system in the second half of the 20th century. We will analyze this global phenomenon chronologically, as well as thematically throughout the semester.
Populism recently has transformed into one of the most controversial debates in political science. There have been many attempts to define and measure populism in a comparative fashion. This course analyzes different theoretical approaches and definitions of populism. In addition, populism will be analyzed within the framework of different regions since different
theoretical and empirical approaches explain populism across the geographies. A lively debate on ambivalent relationship between populism and democracy will be conducted.
Chinese history, social structure, state establishment of China will be analyzed in this course by highlighting its foreign policy as a rising power in international relations since 1978.
In a rapidly changing World, drastic alterations in the areas of politics, economics and environment create need for explanations. We will delve into the roots of these alterations by analyzing factors through different theoretical approaches.
The course aims to introduce political and social changes in the Ottoman Empire from the end of the eighteenth century to its dissolution in the course of the First World War. It explores how military and civil reforms led to social and political transformation of the empire. Special attention will be given to the texts such as the Sened-i İttifak (Charter of Alliance of 1808), the Tanzimat Fermanı (Imperial Rescript of the Tanzimat of 1839), the Islahat Fermanı (Reform Edict of 1856) and the Kanun-i Esasi (Ottoman Constitution of 1876).
In this course, arrangement, limitation, protection of the human rights at international level will be analysed in line with the fundamental rights and freedoms. Also, the international regulations and other measures against the racist, religious or sectarian disciriminations, women and chidren rights will be reviewed under the light of international law taking into account the last developments on human rghts at international level.