The Department of Sociology offers graduate program leading to the degrees of "Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology". In accordance with the basic principles of METU, all degree programs in Sociology aim at:
developing an in-depth conceptual understanding of theoretical debates.
employing techniques of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data informed by different methodological standpoints.
empowering sociological knowledge with research experience and an historical and comparative perspective, with a specific emphasis on Turkey.
Entering the Ph.D. program requires an M.A. or M.S. degree or its equivalent in Sociology. Candidates with a Master's or equivalent degree in another field may be accepted on the condition that they attend a preparation year from the undergraduate or Master's program in Sociology before they begin the Doctoral program.
Fields of Study :
Political Sociology, Rural Sociology, Sociology of Education, Sociology of Religion, Sociological Theory, Methodology and Social Research, Industrial Sociology, Economic Sociology, Sociology of Change and Transition, Urban Sociology, Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Technology, Sociology of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus, Feminist Theory, Sociology of the Body, Sociology of Development, Sociology of Family, Sociology of Law, Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Theory, Women's Studies, Migration, Sociology of Arts, Social Mobility, Ethnicity, Citizenship, Environmental Sociology, Population Movements, Sociology of Work, Anthropology of Religion and Islam, Identity Politics, Turkish Transformation, Ideology and Discourse Analysis, Civil Society, Media Studies.
PROFESSORS
Akşit, Bahattin: B.A., METU; M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago.
Rural Structural Transformations, Social Change, Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Middle East and Central Asia, Sociology of Health and Population Research, Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Technology, Disaster Management
Ayata, Sencer (Director of the Graduate School of Social Sciences): B.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Urban Culture, Industrialization, Poverty, Political Movements
Ecevit, Mehmet: B.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Social Thought, Feminism, Social Science Methodology, Sociology of Family, Rural Sociology
Ecevit, Yıldız: B.A., M.A., Hacettepe University; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Sociology of Work, Women, Labor and Employment, Women Studies, Feminist Theory and Methodology, Poverty, Civil Society, Social Politics and Social Security
Ertürk, Yakın: B.A., M.A., Hacettepe University; Ph.D., Cornell University.
International Human Rights, Regimes and Multilateral Dialogue, Identity Politics, Violence Against Women and Conflict, Globalization and Population Movements, Household Labor Use Patterns, Women in Development
Mutlu, Kayhan: B.A., Ankara University, M.Ed., University of California; Ph.D., Utah State University.
Criminology, Conventional Crimes, White Collar Crimes, Organized Corporate Crimes, Ethnicity, Sociology of Religion
Nalbantoğlu, Hasan Ünal: B.A., METU; Post-Graduate Diploma, University College, London; Ph.D., Hacettepe University.
Sociology of Science and Knowledge, Philosophy of Technology, Sociology of Arts
Özcan, Y. Ziya: B.A., Ankara University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago.
Social Stratification and Social Mobility, Research Methods in Social Sciences, Statistics
Özdalga, Elizabeth: B.A., Ph.D., University of Göteborg, Sweden
Religion, Nation and Society in the Modern Middle East.
Yeğenoğlu, Meyda: B.A., M.A., METU; M.A., Ph.D., University of California at Santa Cruz.
Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Theory, Globalization, Feminist Theory, Middle East, Orientalism, Contemporary Social Theory, Migration, Ethnicity and Citizenship
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
Hoşgör Gündüz, Ayşe: B.A., M.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Western Ontario.
Sociology of Development, Gender Issues, Social Stratification and Mobility, Methodology and Social Research Techniques, Applications of Statistics in Social Sciences
Kalaycıoğlu, Sibel (Chairperson): B.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Welfare State and Social Citizenship, Social Inequality, Social Mobility, Political Sociology, Sociology of Work and Industry, Migration, Family Safety Nets and Survival Strategies, Poverty Indicators, Labor Market and Informal Sector, Domestic Violence, Social Exclusion, Social Deviance, Sustainable Development
Saktanber, Ayşe: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., METU.
Cultural Studies, Gender and Women's Studies, Media Studies, Islam in Middle Eastern Studies, Islam, Culture and Politics in Turkey
Rittersberger Tılıç, Helga (Vice Chairperson): Vardiplom, Diplom, University of Bonn.; Ph.D., University of Essen.
Urban Sociology, Social Movements, Migration, Environment Sociology, Population Studies, Ethnicity, Racism, Identity, Poverty, Informal Economy
Tokluoğlu, Ceylan: B.A., M.A., METU; Ph.D., Carleton University.
Theories of State-Building, Nationalism and Ethnicity, Turkish Transformation, Political Sociology
Yeğen, Mesut, B.A., M.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Essex.
Ideology and Discourse Analysis, Citizenship, Turkish Modernization, Kurdish Question in Turkey
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
Aydıngün, Ayşegül: B.A., METU; M.A., Bilkent University; Ph.D., METU.
Central Asia and Caucasus, Ethnicity, Post-Soviet Nationalisms, Sociology of Education, Turkish Jews in Israel
Erdemir, Aykan (Vice Director of Graduate School of Social Sciences): B.A., Bilkent University; M.A., Ph.D., Harvard University.
Nonprofit Organizations, Alevis, Middle East, Political and Legal Anthropology, Anthropology of Religion and Islam
Ergun, Ayça: B.A. Ankara University; M.A., Ph.D., University of Essex.
Civil Society, Political Parties, Caucasian and Black Sea Countries, Social Science Methodology
INSTRUCTORS
Akçay, Adnan: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., METU.
Sociology of Body, Medical Sociology, Quality of Life, Social Indicators, Turkish Transformation, Regional Development, Rural Structures
Şen, Mustafa: B.A. Ankara University; M.A., Ph.D., METU.
Economic Sociology, Sociology of Transition to Free Market Economy, Contemporary Central Asia, Sociology of Religion, Rural and Urban Sociology
Yıldırım, Erdoğan: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., METU.
Political Sociology, Sociology of Law, Sociological Theory, Tribal Socio-Political Organization, Turkish Social History
Required Courses
SOC 631 Current Issues in Sociology and Social Theory
SOC 632 Recent Developments in Methods of Sociological Inquiry
SOC 641 Sociology of Industrialization and Modernization
SOC 642 Sociological and Anthropological Studies in Turkey
SOC 699 Ph.D. Dissertation
SOC 800 Special Studies
Elective Courses
SOC 600 Ph.D. Seminar
SOC 628 Global Society
SOC 633 Social History of Institutions
SOC 643 Advanced Issues in the Sociology of Knowledge
SOC 644 Public Opinion, Culture and the Media
SOC 646 Family, Marriage and Kinship: Debates and Issues
SOC 647 Power, Status and Social Rank
SOC 648 Order and Social Control: Formality and Informality
SOC 649 States, Nations and Political Alignments
SOC 650 Sociology and History
SOC 651 Comparative Study of Agrarian Social Structures
SOC 652 Organization and Work
SOC 653 Sociology of Studies on Women
SOC 654 Economic and Social History of Turkish Society
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
SOC 600: Ph.D. Seminar (3-0)-3
The purpose of this seminar is to help Ph.D. students in writing up their proposals and conducting their research.
SOC 628: Global Society (3-0)-3
This course aims to identify the major trends of change within the globalization process, i.e., transformation of contemporary world. The emphasis will be on the changing character of global division of labor and its implications for the relationships between state, community and the individual both in developed as well as underdeveloped societies.
SOC 631: Current Issues in Sociology and Social Theory (3-0)-3
The purpose of this course is to follow up the most recent topics of discussion in sociology. Concepts and theories will be critically scrutinized in terms of logical consistency, empirical validity and the general relevance of the issues.
SOC 632: Recent Developments in Methods of Sociological Inquiry (3-0)-3
The course will introduce recent quantitative/qualitative techniques to students. Various techniques for data collection, fieldwork and data analysis will be introduced. Students will be encouraged to use recent research techniques in the course so as to increase their mastery of the research tools.
SOC 633: Social History of Institutions in Turkey (3-0)-3
The key institutions and processes of institutionalization in Turkey's recent history. Course material will include basic books, official reports, legal documents, newspaper collections, pamphlets, literary works as well as personal materials such as letters, diaries and journals.
SOC 641: Sociology of Industrialization and Modernization (3-0)-3
A critical review of theories and debates on the transition from agrarian social structure to modern structures in the West and in the Third World. A critical evaluation of strategies of industrialization and its consequences. Industrialization, urbanization, their interrelationships and their social and cultural consequences.
SOC 642: Sociological and Anthropological Studies in Turkey (3-0)-3
This course has two aims. First, to ensure that the students are familiar with the range of available empirical researches and studies on Turkey, and secondly, to examine critically and in detail some selected examples.
SOC 643: Advanced Issues in the Sociology of Knowledge (3-0)-3
An understanding of the dynamic relations between ideas, ideologies, norms and values; social groups and strata. Reading of classical theorists in the sociology of knowledge. The role of ideas, norms and values in the constitution of historically-determinate social formations and civilizational complexes. The relationships between knowledge and everyday life.
SOC 644: Public Opinion, Culture and the Media (3-0)-3
The role of the mass media in molding and reflecting public opinion and cultural values. 'Agenda-setting' or 'mainstreaming' functions of the media; the organization of public debate around a certain issue in current affair and new programs. Media and politics; political propaganda and campaingning and its effects on political attitudes and voting behavior. Media and culture; advertising and the formation of dominant image patterns.
SOC 646: Family, Marriage and Kinship: Debates and Issues (3-0)-3
Current controversies concerning the relation between modern industrial systems of production and the social relations of reproduction based on domestic groups, marriage and kinship relations.
SOC 647: Power, Status and Social Rank (3-0)-3
Current debates on selected issues in stratification and social mobility. Patterns of status and class differentiation in relation to division of labor, prestige, and esteem. Class formation and internal class divisions. Poulantzas, E. O. Wright and P. Bourdieu on class and status; class and consumption, life-style; class and gender; class and race and ethnicity migration; class and poverty; class and citizenship.
SOC 648: Order and Social Control: Formality and Informality (3-0)-3
Theories and controversies, with detailed examples, concerning the relation between the judicial and penal systems of a modern state and the informal controls over individual conduct based on day to day social interaction.
SOC 649: States, Nations and Political Alignments (3-0)-3
The formation of states, in the light of different theoretical constructions such as Eisenstadt's 'bureaucratic empires', P. Anderson's 'absolutist state', Weber's 'patrimonialism', Rokkan's 'nation state'. Nationalism in the modern world. Increased bureaucratization and the broadening of political participation, the question of democracy and ideologies that either accept of reject its tenets.
SOC 650: Sociology and History (3-0)-3
The course starts with a comparison between history and sociology as two different academic disciplines. Similarities and differences concerning theoretical conceptions and methods will be discussed. 'Social History' will be compared to 'Historical Sociology'. Selected recent examples of the application of sociological theories to historical data, in Turkey and elsewhere, will be critically examined.
SOC 651: Comparative Study of Agrarian Social Structures (3-0)-3
Organization and structure of peasantry, peasant family, village communities and their relationship with market, state and cultural contexts and major changes that have been taking place in these structures and relationships will be studies in historical and comparative perspective.
SOC 652: Organization and Work (3-0)-3
This course attempts first a comparative study of current debates about the way people in different societies organize productive and service sector activities, from hunting to modern industry; and secondly, a reading of a number of selected intensive case studies.
SOC 653: Sociology of Studies on Women (3-0)-3
Critical examination of the data and theories in sociology about women. Biological versus social explanation, stereotyping, sex roles in different societies, and the gender component in power relations. Neoclassical and radical approaches to labor force participation, domestic work, the household and female sexuality. Theoretical and empirical analysis of the connections between production, reproduction and the sexual division of labor.
SOC 654: Economic and Social History of Turkish Society (3-0)-3
This course attempts a comprehensive study of Turkish society in historical perspective, based on the rigorous reading of classical and modern texts of relevance. This projecdt is to be realized at two levels: 1. the survey of certain social structures Turks had, notably those of Central Asia, Seljukid and Ottoman Anatolia, and modern Turkey; 2. issues and theoretical problems and debates of modern Turkish historiography concerning these past forms.