The Department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul 29 Mayıs University was founded in 2013 to provide first-rate education in the field. Our aim is to train bureaucrats, experts and professionals with strong language skills who can analyse their own society, its politics and the wider world — and to contribute to the training of a new generation of scholars in the discipline.
To this end, our educational approach rests on five foundations:
1. A distinguished faculty
Our academic staff hold degrees from leading universities in Turkey and abroad, publish internationally, and bring strong language and teaching skills to the classroom.
2. Language competence
The programme is taught entirely in English. Students begin their departmental courses after completing a rigorous preparatory programme and demonstrating English proficiency at the B2 level. International students are encouraged to take advantage of the Turkish preparatory programme, and all students are expected to acquire a second foreign language.
3. A stimulating academic environment
Our department draws on the scholarly resources of the Centre for Islamic Studies (İSAM), one of the strongest research libraries in the field, while the university also invests steadily in developing its own academic library. Through conferences, seminars and exchange programmes, we cultivate an environment that encourages inquiry and debate in Istanbul, a genuinely cosmopolitan city.
4. A global and regional outlook
Students are expected to build a solid theoretical and methodological grounding in the core subfields of the discipline — Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, Political Sociology and Turkish Politics. Building on this foundation, our curriculum offers elective courses on the regions that shape the global agenda, allowing students to pursue their own interests in greater depth and encouraging them to think beyond prevailing global trends.
5. An education grounded in respect for difference
We believe that an academic community flourishes only where religious, cultural, gender, national and political differences can coexist, and we expect both our students and our faculty to uphold an inclusive approach.
Our Graduates
Our graduates go on to work in a wide range of fields, drawing on the analytical skills and language competence they acquire here. A significant number serve in public institutions — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs foremost among them — and in international organisations. Others work as researchers and policy analysts in civil society organisations and think tanks, or build careers in the media and the private sector. Those who pursue an academic path are admitted to graduate programmes at respected universities in Turkey and abroad.
The department values its continuing relationship with alumni. Talks, career days and mentoring events allow our graduates to guide current students while strengthening the department's institutional memory.
