Welcome to web page of Hacettepe University Department of Sociology
Sociology is the basic social science studying all aspects of and interconnections between all levels of the social life of individuals, groups and societies. Social life comprises, as a process, all types of purposeful human action displayed and all forms of relations that humans establish with their own kind in the maintenance of life. Central to sociological enterprise is the effort to understand and explain what forms these actions and relations have taken, the transformations they have undergone from past to present, and from one society to another, and to interpret and criticise what consequences they have borne for the lives of individuals, social categories, social groups and societies at large. Sociology was first established in the late 14th century by Ibn Khaldun as a rational scientific discipline studying human social life. It was however only in Western Europe from the mid 19th century onwards that it managed to make remarkable progress, especially in connection with its efforts directed at understanding, explaining and criticising the causes and consequences of modernity. It seems that sociologys intellectual-academic mission in the 21st century will be constantly to make critical assessment of achievements in the social sciences in order to define the boundaries of social science and topics for fruitful specialization within itself and among social science disciplines. It is according to requirements of this perceived mission of sociology that Hacettepe University Department of Sociology is planning and carrying out its educational and research activities