2025-26

Geography is the study of interactions between environment and society. As one of the social sciences, geography is influenced by other sciences, such as sociology, history, economy and political sciences. The result is the emergence of many geographies, that is, social geography, historical geography, political geography and so on, which result in many ways of studying complex geographic (spatio-temporal) phenomena.

The course commences by clarifying the meaning of the term 'ethnography' and its development, so that the student understands the relationship between social and political anthropology, on the one hand, and Ethnography, on the other, both in the context of so-called 'Ethnographic Realism', that is, the classic version of Social Anthropology, and as part of 'Cultural Critique', which has revived academic discussion of Social Anthropology and Ethnography.

The aim of the course is two-fold: It offers a compact and global overview of fundamental theoretical knowledge centering upon the manifold subject in psychology, the development of the individual. It also highlights the application of this knowledge, to facilitate the understanding and better handling of the individual during the vital periods of childhood and adolescence.

The course focuses both on the changes to be observed in Ottoman administrative structures from the middle period of the Ottoman empire (17th cen.) onwards and on the consequences for economy and society of such changes. The weakening of the Sultan’s institutional power and the emergence of çiftlik land ownership, the implementation of Tanzimat reforms are some of the issues discussed in the course. In addition, the course analyses aspects of social and economic questions of the 19th century and the matter of how far the Ottoman empire enjoyed access to the new industrial era.