The department of International Relations which was approved to be opened by the YÖK Presidency in 1992, was established in 1994 by the decision of the senate of our university. In our department, which started its activities in the 1997-1998 academic year with graduate education, undergraduate education started in the 1999-2000 academic year. Doctoral education in our department started in the 2020-2021 academic year.
Our teaching staff includes six professors, five associate professors, three assistant professors, three lecturers and seven research assistants. While the language of instruction is English in undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programs, the language of instruction in non-thesis master's program is Turkish.
Apart from Hacettepe University, our department is affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the General Staff, TÜBA, TIKA, SAM, T.C. Central Bank and the UN. It also cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Foreign Policy Institute, the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants and other universities.
Our undergraduate program is designed to give students the capacity to interpret key international issues and current international developments. It is ensured that students can use the knowledge they have acquired on international law, the history of diplomacy and the theories of international relations in the definition and analysis of these problems and developments. In order to follow the developments in the international arena, our undergraduate program follows the scientific literature and current sources in the field of international relations. Our program conducts research on global and regional issues by using scientific data and theoretical approaches from this basic and current literature. Research on these problems is carried out both individually and as a team, and students are encouraged to participate in such studies and to carry out similar studies by themselves. Our undergraduate program actively uses advanced English and other medium-level foreign languages in the acquisition of information, applies the necessary computer technologies, prioritizes a critical approach in the evaluation of the acquired information and complies with social, scientific and ethical norms in this process.
Our graduates work in public institutions and organizations such as the Presidency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Ministry of Trade and TİKA. Our graduates also work in international organizations such as the United Nations, UNICEF, UNHCR and their sub-units, as well as national and international non-governmental organizations. Some of the graduates of our department can continue their graduate and doctorate studies at prestigious educational institutions in the country and abroad, with various scholarship opportunities. After these studies, the number of our graduates who work in various universities to form the academic staff of the future is increasing. At the same time, in think-tanks that have become widespread in our country recently, our department graduates are wanted members for the staff of researchers and specialists. In addition, our graduates are employed in managerial positions in foreign trade and foreign relations departments of companies operating in various fields such as international companies, the media sector (such as TRT and BBC), banking, insurance, international financial consultancy.