M.S. PROGRAM IN GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES (THESIS AND NON-THESIS)
The Gender and Women's Studies Graduate Program is an interdisciplinary program, established in 1994 as a part of the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University. It provides an integrated framework through courses both designed specifically for the purpose of this program and those taught in various departments of the University. The program includes both theoretical and applied courses in gender and women's studies.
Prospective degree candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds are eligible for enrollment upon demonstration of their English language competency (METU English proficiency 65, TOEFL 190 for minimum) and general level of aptitude. Students are expected to take LES and have a minimum score of 45. Since the establishment of the program, students from various disciplines such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, American literature, economy, mathematics, electrical engineering, physics education, medicine and industrial engineering have been accepted.
The Gender and Women's Studies Graduate Program, which offers a two year interdisciplinary curriculum, aims to examine the issues of knowledge, society and gender within a feminist perspective in order to contribute towards an understanding of the social position of women and the inequality between women and men with a primary focus on the case of Turkey. In this regard, the program has a three-fold mission - education, research and advocacy - and it endeavors to actualize the following five goals:
- To contribute to the development of education and research on issues of gender and women's studies both theoretically and in an applied manner.
- To contribute to the creation of public awareness and sensitivity on the concept of gender, the field of women's studies, and the social position and problems of women in society.
- To contribute to the process of building mental constructs compatible with the notions of women's empowerment and equality between women and men.
- To sponsor institutional and policy oriented initiatives towards the creation of gender sensitivity both on and off campus.
- To benefit from and contribute to global developments in the area of education, research and advocacy on gender issues.
As such, in its essence, the mission of the Gender and Women's Studies Program emanates from a transformative vision of society. In order to contribute towards social change, the program aims at linking three areas of activity and their related institutions, these are: (i) production of knowledge (academic institutions); (ii) practice implementations (women's movement and NGOs); and (iii) policy formation (local, national and international decision making bodies).
Within this context, the education and research activities of the Gender and Women's Studies Program of Middle East Technical University aims, on the one hand, to critically examine the existing theory/knowledge in terms of their implications for policy and practice and on the other hand, serve as an active agent of change through establishing a feedback system between its activities and those of other relevant actors.
When considered within such a vision, METU's Gender and Women's Studies Program has a multiple task in actualizing its mission: offering a specialized interdisciplinary education of high academic caliber; providing advisory services on gender issues; and serving as a reference point for expanding a gender equality perspective within and outside the university in the production of knowledge, drawing of action plans and formulation of policies.
Fields of Study:
Gender and Women in Business Administration, Sociology, History, Political Science and Public Administration and Psychology
PROFESSORS
Acar, Feride (METU/Political Science and Public Administration): B.S., METU; M.A., Ph.D., Bryn Mawr College.
Political Sociology, Turkish Political Life, Women's Human Rights, Women and Education
Ecevit, Mehmet ( METU/Sociology): B.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Social Thought, Feminism, Social Science Methodology, Sociology of Family, Rural Sociology
Ecevit, Yıldız ( METU/Sociology): 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
Güneş Ayata, Ayşe (METU/Political Science and Public Administration):B.S, METU; Ph.D., University of Kent.
Turkish Politics, Political Parties, Women in Politics, Gender and Ethnicity
İmamoğlu, Olcay (METU/Psychology): B.S., METU; M.A., University of Iowa; Ph.D., University of Strathcylde.
Psychology of Gender, Balanced Differentiation-Integration Model, Social Psychology of The Elderly, Assessment of Home Environments
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS
Saktanber, Ayşe (METU/Sociology
): B.S., M.S., Ph.D., METU.
Islamic Praxis in Vernacular Politics and Narratives; Globalization, Popular Culture and The Uses of Urban Space; Media Studies; Youth and Gender and Women's Studies
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
Akman Aslan, Canan (METU/Political Science and Public Administration): B.S., METU; M.A., Trinity College-Dublin; Ph.D., McGill University.
Political Science, Gender, Turkish Politics, Democratization and Political Parties, Israeli Politics
Gündüz Hoşgör, Ayşe (METU/Sociology): B.A., M.A., METU; Ph.D., University of Western Ontario .
Sociology of Development, Gender Issues, Social Stratification and Mobility, Methodology of Social Research Techniques, Application of Statistics in Social Sciences
M.S. PROGRAM IN GENDER AND WOMEN STUDIES
Required Course
GWS 501 Introduction to Women's Studies (3 Credits)
GWS 505 Prothesis Seminar (Non-Credit)
GWS 589 Term Project (Non-Credit)
GWS 599 Master's Thesis (Non-credit)
Elective Courses
GWS 502 The Woman Question in Turkey: Interdisciplinary Conceptualizations (3 Credits)
GWS 512 Issues on Family and Women (3 Credits)
GWS 513 Women and Civil Legislation (3 Credits)
GWS 514 Women and Development (3 Credits)
GWS 518 Working Women and The Law (3 Credits)
SOC 519 Feminism and Methodology in Social Sciences (3 Credits)
SOC 503 Problems of Studying Women in Muslim Societies (3 Credits)
SOC 509 International Regimes and Gender Equality
SOC 516 Gender, Media and Cultural Representations (3 Credits)
SOC 526 Issues in Women's Work and Employment (3 Credits)
SOC 533 Gender Issues in Class and Patriarchy (3 Credits)
BA 4214 Gender Aspects in Organizational Life (3 Credits)
ADM 572 Gender in Politics and Political Participation (3 Credits)
PSY 550 Psychology of Gender and Women (3 Credits)
PSY 562 Psychology of Close Relationships (3 Credits)
HIST 510 Women's Experience with Hierarchy and State (3 Credits)
HIST 536 Cultural Construction of Gender: Women in Central Asia and Turkey (3 Credits)
ECON 471 Statistical Database for Turkey (3 Credits)
