Aksaray University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Sociology was established in 2010. With new faculty members, in 2012 the department accepted its first bachelors. In the academic year of 2014/2015, the first students to graduate program of Urban Sociology were accepted. We have two professor, two associate professors, one lecturer and two research assistants in our department.
The Importance of Sociology Program
In today's world there is a growing interest in the field of social sciences.This situation is clearly felt in Turkey as well. Depending on this scientific interaction, the importance of sociology in our country is gaining momentum. The political, cultural, economic and legal processes in which our country is located and global social change that we have witnessed collectively increases this interest. Within this changing world and country conditions, educating modern social science experts who are well acquainted with the social and cultural realities in Turkey and who can connect the past and the future is important in this respect.
The sociology program in this sense is important in terms of aiming to create a tolerance zone which will contribute to the creation of living practices of individuals with different cultural and ethnic structures in Turkey
The Aim of Sociology Department
The main aim of the sociology education that we envision is not to transfer knowledge to the students but to prepare them to gain knowledge and skills to analysis the information. For this reason, it is incompatible with the purposes of the program to train students who only memorize what they are given. On the contrary, our program aims to educate sociologists who can analyze events and theories with a critical and independent view. The program envisaged in this context is a program that will train experts who can collect and analysis data, and capable of doing scientific research, using the technology required by the times, performing field researches in the field. Our educational program will train sociologists in harmony with these aims and will continue to change and develop in itself with the experience that we have yearned for. Our desire for our department is to get a distinguished place among the departments of sociology in Turkey and to establish professional lives with a self-confident maturity of our graduates.
Work Opportunities for Graduates
Today, graduates of Sociology Department in Turkey are employed in a wide range of occupational fields with the title of 'sociologist'. Sociologists working in the public sector have a professional status as a specialist in the technical services class (THS). Examples of the institutions in which the sociologists are employed in the public sector are: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Family and Social Policies, Social Services Provincial Directorates, Social Security Institution, Employment Agency, Social Services and Child Protection Agency, Turkish Statistical Institute, State Planning Organization, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, General Directorate of Rural Services. Many non-governmental organizations, such as the Chambers of Industry and Trade and Trade Unions. In media organs, sociologists work as researchers, journalists or civil servants. They can also work as specialists, consultants and researchers in TRT and other public economic institutions. In the private sector, the sectors in which sociologists are employed are rapidly growing, gaining importance in society and the economy: Communication and Advertising business lines; Public opinion polling and Market research companies; Public Relations Services; Personnel and Human Resources Services; Social, Familial, Personal Counseling Services; Course and Training Services; etc.
In addition, thanks to an additional one year education after the license (Pedagogical Formation), sociologists can also work as teachers in the Ministry of National Education.There is a great need for sociologists to work in a country that is in the process of rapid social change and economic development like Turkey, in order to plan social planning, to develop democratic social relations, to solve countless collective life problems and to provide collective services, and to monitor or evaluate the results of these services.
Requirements for completing the program
In order to graduate from the program, students need to take at least 30 credits per semester during the course of study, equivalent to 240 credits at the end of a total of 8 semesters.In order to graduate from the department, students are also required to perform Field Research Application in the 5th or 6th semester. At the end of 7th and 8th semesters, students are required to prepare graduation work.
