Introduces basic concepts, methods and approaches to the study of society. Focuses on social, cultural, and political systems and structures, social conflict and social institutions. Topics include family, education, gender, race and ethnicity, social class, the economy, organizations, social groups, aging and generations.

Critically examines a range of social problems facing modern societies from a sociological perspective. The course will highlight the causes and consequences of social problems, how societies respond to them, and the policy implications of the sociological approach. Possible topics include crime, racism, poverty, global inequality, environmental degradation, and war.

Students will develop an understanding of the family as a social institution and as a context in which individuals develop, make choices, and influence each other. The course will introduce the students to how social scientists understand and study the family. Today's most pertinent family issues are discussed such as dating, sex, cross-gender relationships, marriage, divorce, parenting, family violence, and family law.

This course examines gender as a major organizing principle in social life. Particularly, it focuses on how gender identities are socially constructed and how gender intersects with ethnicity, nationalism, class, sexuality, age and other dimensions of identity and social inequality. It also investigates the roles of family, education, the media, politics, economics and religion in shaping gender identities and inequalities.

Inequalities based on socio-economic class, gender, and ethnicity; historical and contemporary debates in social stratification; approaches in understanding and conceptualizing different forms of stratification. Readings also focus on sites of conflict and resistance; ways different groups in society deal with forms of inequality.

Discusses the development of modern organizations and bureaucracies, and the deviations from the bureaucratic model with a focus on business organizations. Also provides an introduction to the sociology of work. Focuses on labor control, labor process, gender relations and the transformation of the structure of employment in industrial and service sectors.

Examines the works of major classical sociological theorists such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Simmel. Discusses twentieth-century perspectives that build on classical theory (such as structural functionalism). Also explores the contemporary challenges to classical theory such as feminism, postcolonialism and poststructuralism.

Focuses on micro-sociological perspectives that approach society in bottom-up ways. Discusses our taken-for-granted and seemingly private experiences in everyday life and explores the ways in which larger forces and processes, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and class, are intertwined with the micro processes.

Main approaches to various institutions and actors that make up the field of international political economy. Question of who gets what at a global level from a multi-actored, multi-level and multi-disciplinary perspective. Interactions between states, markets, firms, NGOs, and not-for-profit organizations at the local, national, regional, and supranational levels. Global trade, production, finance, and knowledge structures and relations in the context of international organizations, transnational corporations, global financial structures, regional integrations, North-South relations, discourses and practices of development, and problems of global poverty.

This course examines qualitative methods used in social science research, focusing primarily on participant-observation, on asking questions, on writing fieldnotes, and on the transformation of these primary field data into written ethnographic documents. Course readings on specific research methods will contribute to the formulation of a simple research project to be carried out during the semester. Literature on the theoretical and ethical aspects of these methods will also be considered.

Detailed examination of current topics in sociology.

Examines the basic qualitative research methods used in sociological research with their weaknesses and strengths. Course covers qualitative data collection methods, ethnography, interview techniques, archive research methods, oral history, and document analysis methods.

Examines contemporary theoretical approaches that emerged after the Second World War as a follow up to classical sociological theories. Course presents different theoretical approaches including structuralism, post-structuralism, post-modernism, feminism, post-Marxism, and subaltern studies, by reading and discussing the work of most important figures of these fields.

Covers the fields of classical and new economic sociology. Introduces the classical theoretical perspectives of Adam Smith, Max Weber and Karl Polanyi as well as recent conceptual debates about the character of markets, the informal economy, ethnic economies and networks.

Introduction of main themes of discussion within the field of sociology of culture, focusing on four selected themes: 1) culture and domination; 2) culture and signification, 3) culture and practice, 4) cultural continuity and discontinuity. A good mix of theoretical and empirical orientations, with examples from both the Turkish context and around the world in order to understand how symbols, language, conceptual structures, forms of knowledge and forms of power interact to create meaning in our lives.

Introduction of main themes of discussion within the field of sociology of culture, focusing on four selected themes: 1) culture and domination; 2) culture and signification, 3) culture and practice, 4) cultural continuity and discontinuity. A good mix of theoretical and empirical orientations, with examples from both the Turkish context and around the world in order to understand how symbols, language, conceptual structures, forms of knowledge and forms of power interact to create meaning in our lives.

Introduction of main themes of discussion within the field of sociology of culture, focusing on four selected themes: 1) culture and domination; 2) culture and signification, 3) culture and practice, 4) cultural continuity and discontinuity. A good mix of theoretical and empirical orientations, with examples from both the Turkish context and around the world in order to understand how symbols, language, conceptual structures, forms of knowledge and forms of power interact to create meaning in our lives.

Present realities of contemporary global migration in the context of social sciences. Critical analysis of the social problems such as social mobility, poverty, gender and education, inequality and citizenship as they relate to migration. Understanding the basic methods used for analysing migration related issues. Exploring fundamental consequences of migration for shaping social relations at local and global levels. Examination of social forces within the contexts of migration and migrant integration.

Present realities of contemporary global migration in the context of social sciences. Critical analysis of the social problems such as social mobility, poverty, gender and education, inequality and citizenship as they relate to migration. Understanding the basic methods used for analysing migration related issues. Exploring fundamental consequences of migration for shaping social relations at local and global levels. Examination of social forces within the contexts of migration and migrant integration.