Middle Eastern Studies PhD Program
The recent changes in Turkish foreign policy have aroused a new interest in academic circles, especially in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the number of institutes and programs focusing on the Middle East in our universities is far from meeting the interest shown in this field. On the other hand, in order to offer an alternative to Turkish foreign policy makers who have started to establish close ties with the Middle East, studies that analyze the region politically, economically and culturally are needed.
Moreover, research on the region in Turkey remains only academic in nature and the lack of practical research/researchers is one of the most important deficiencies. Therefore, this program was opened in 2011 to conduct more studies on the region and to reduce the lack of researchers. In particular, the political developments and changes in the Arab world that started in 2011 cyristallized the necessity of opening this program, and after the Master's program opened at the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year, it became more important to start education at PhD level with the start of the 2013-2014 academic year.
Students who will complete their studies in the Middle Eastern Studies Graduate Doctoral Program will have the opportunity to specialize around five main research areas. These research areas are History of the Middle East, Religion and Society in the Middle East, Economics in the Middle East, Foreign Policy in the Middle East and Politics of the Middle East. Since the PhD program will provide education in 3 languages (Turkish, Arabic and English), students must get at least a score of “60” in English or at 55 in Arabic from equivalent exams accepted by the board of directors of the relevant institute. Or those who have graduated from an educational institution (high school or undergraduate) that provides education in a language other than Turkish are considered to have met the language requirement. Students are required to take at least 3 out of the total 8 courses in a different language during the enrollment terms. The students must take one of the Arabic or Persian language courses that are not added to the ECTS credit load and are not included in the average to pass onto the thesis stage. Students who are not successful in these language courses cannot pass to the Proficiency stage. PhD dissertation must be written in English and/or Turkish. Thus, the program aims to bring together students from different cultures and to conduct studies in different languages.
Although the graduation period is eight terms, students who fail to graduate within this period are entitled to an extra four semester extension. The students are required to take 6 of the minimum 8 courses from the PhD program to pass onto the PhD candidacy. Students who have completed the enrollment terms can complete their thesis study in any of the program languages.
Applications are taken from http://ebasvuru.sabis.sakarya.edu.tr/
You can find the courses taught in the program here.
You can find detailed information about the application requirements and process for prospective foreign students here.
