Sociology

Hello everyone, I’m Elif Kıran. I am a faculty member of Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University, Department of Sociology. I focus on subjects such as Communication Sociology, Sociology of Consumption. Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Department of Sociology started enrolling students in the 2013 - 2014 academic year. In our department, we have a great academic staff, each of whom is an expert in the field and have carried out studies contributing to national and international literature. In our department, we try to teach our students different conceptualizations related to different fields of Sociology for 4 years. In short, to be able to draw the theoretical and conceptual framework of the science of sociology, we provide sociology theory courses in which we talak about many scientists who have contributed to national and international literature. These can be listed as Classical Sociological Theories, Modern Sociology Theories, Contemporary Sociology Theories. In addition, we have added courses such as Turkish Sociologists and Turkish Sociological History to our curriculum in order to teach the contemporary literature of our country. Apart from the courses in which we teach the theoretical and conceptual framework, in order for our students to analyze basic social institutions, we offer courses such as Family Sociology, Sociology of Economics, Sociology of Religion. Apart from these, we focus on current issues, such as consumption, health, nutrition, communication, media, cinema. In addition to the theoretical courses, we also provide field-based courses to our students. Finally, we also included philosophy and psychology courses in our curriculum for students who want to complete formation training so that they can become teachers in the future, if they want to. Sociology students carry out graduation projects in their final year, divided into 2 semesters. We carry out this project together with the students, titled as the graduation thesis. Each of our students choose a subject accompanied by a mentor and first of all conducts a study in which they incorporate a theoretical framework. They conduct a field search on the subject. This field research can sometimes be a film analysis and sometimes a space analysis. Students can conduct surveys and semi-structured interviews on a subject. In this way, students get to make use of the knowledge they gained from theoretical courses and practice what they have learned in the field. Therefore, graduation projects also become an important token of the time they have spent in university. They also get to learn about the field. We also offer our students the opportunity to become exchange students in various universities within the scope of the Erasmus Program. These countries are Poland, Portugal, Greece and Germany. When they apply to any of these countries through the Erasmus Program and get accepted, they can study as exchange students in these universities for a certain amount of time.
Sociology students are also very lucky students in terms of the offered social activities. Don’t worry about that. Because in our department, we offer students a lot of social activities. To briefly mention these, we have “sociology days” that we organize every year concerning a certain subject. Every year, we choose a theme according to the agenda of that year or according to the joint decision of our teachers and welcome people from different universities and different fields for the sociology days. We bring our students together with these people for a program lasting a day or two. In addition, we have a Sociology Club that has been actively operating since the first day our department was founded. We organize various activities through our Sociology Club. For example, we do film reviews. We analyze the films we choose together with the students under various themes. We also have reading groups. Selected books are examined by meeting with students and teacher. The social themes in the books are analyzed. In addition, we welcome individuals from many universities in Turkey to our school within the scope of Sociology Club activities and bring them together with our students. In this way, our students get learn about many subjects from many people. Sociology students have the chance to encounter various job opportunities in many different sectors. We can summarize these in a few groups and start with the academic careers. Students who receive their master's and doctorate education after graduation can continue in the field of sociology or other close disciplines and plan their postgraduate life in the form of academic careers. In addition, students can find jobs in different companies in the private sector. For example, sociology department students are employed in research companies. In addition, the departments of public relations, human resources and publicity departments of companies hire graduates of the Department of Sociology. As for public institutions, our students can be employed in various ministries and state institutions. In addition, students who receive formation training can find work in institutions as philosophy teachers. I’d like to say this to the candidates of the sociology department. Students who really like to read and research, who can look at what is happening around them in a different and sociological way, who want to have what we call sociological thinking or who want to develop this awareness that already exists, will have a very enjoyable 4 years in this department. At Namık Kemal University, the Department of Sociology does not only provide theoretical education to its students, but also offers very different opportunities for them to engage in the field. In this sense, the Department of Sociology is a department where students with this curiosity will gladly read and then feel very happy and find job opportunities. I wish success to all the friends who will complete this challenging marathon in their academic life and take the exam. I hope you'll make it. We welcome all students who want to study sociology to Namık Kemal University, Department of Sociology.