Gender and Politics subdivision of Political Science and Public Administration, AÜ SBF

 Gender and Politics subdivision of Political Science and Public Administration, AÜ SBF

The academic board of our department is formed by faculty members from various faculties and departments of our university who have extensive academic studies on women's studies. The main feature of the master's program of the Women's Studies Department that this subdivision is closely connected to, is that it is interdisciplinary and that it is the providing of lectures, seminars and master's theses in basic fields such as education, law, politics, communication, literature, sociology, labor economics, medicine, agriculture, and management. This program is unique when compared to the Women's Studies master's programs at other universities in the variety and richness of the courses it offers. A large number of students who graduated from different fields and have different professional experiences apply to this program every year, and the most qualified ones are selected and become students. The program currently has 49 students and 17 students have graduated so far. To date, 280 students have applied to our program, and a total of 130 students have registered.

In the formation of the curriculum, both the gender and women's studies programs of the leading universities in the world were used, and the opening of the courses on the subjects that are important for our country. The education methods of the courses and seminars were constantly updated in an interactive way through discussion hours organized with the joint participation of students and teachers, and the opinions of participants from every field of science gained importance in the program, which has an interdisciplinary feature. In addition, a tradition has been established with the "opening lessons" held at the beginning of each academic year. In these "opening lectures" attended by the executive academicians of our university, the aforementioned retired faculty members shared their experiences with the younger generations.

In addition to education and training activities, Heads of Departments, faculty members and research assistants have carried out various long-term research and report studies published by universities, research institutions and non-governmental organizations. They actively participated in meetings abroad, in universities and research centers and non-governmental organizations that mainly carry out women's studies. However, at the point reached, there is a need for a larger organization such as an institute. The reasons for this can be listed as follows.  

In the process of harmonization with the European Union, the need for practical research projects was increasing in order to develop policies to ensure equality between women and men. With its interdisciplinary structure, the Department of Women's Studies had the capacity to address various issues related to gender and women's issues from different aspects. However, as a postgraduate education program, the Department of Women's Studies lacked the infrastructure required for research that needed to be coordinated at the central level. Thus, the Gender and Politics subdivision of Political Science and Public Administration was created to channel the accumulation of the graduate department into the areas of Political Science and Public Administration.