2026
Awards
The Talal Asad Best MA Thesis Award
Talal Asad Award
The Award is named in honor of Talal Asad, one of the most distinguished and esteemed anthropologists of our time. An unconventional thinker, Talal Asad’s works and ideas have inspired scholars across multiple disciplines, and contributed greatly to shaping the landscape of Anthropology, Sociology and the Humanities and Social Sciences at large.
The Talal Asad Award for the Best Master Thesis aims to honor and carry forward his rich, vibrant and critical tradition of thinking in our department.
Award Highlights:
- Prestigious Recognition: The Award will be presented during the Annual Sociology Days in May 2026, 8-10.
- Inspiring Excellence: The winner will receive a Citation Letter that recognizes academic merits and excellence.
- Prize: 30.000 TL
Eligibility: All MA theses in the Sociology Department defended before occurrence of Sociology Days in 2026 are eligible.
Jury Composition: A committee of three jury members will review the nominations, focusing on academic excellence as the criterion for the award.
The Jury
Prof. Mücahit Bilici –John Jay College (Ibn Haldun University / Visiting Scholar)
Assoc. Prof. Ayşe Güç- Ankara Social Sciences University
Dr. Şeyma Ayyıldız – Boğaziçi University
| Year | Award Winner | Thesis Title | Supervisor |
| 2025 | Dima Faress | Coping Strategies of Aleppian Elder Parents from an Intergenerational Perspective: Aleppo and Istanbul | Asst. Prof. Tesnim Khriji |
| 2024 | Akbar Mohammadi Kahrizeh | The Politics of Religiosity and Secularism: Narratives from the West Azerbaijan, Iran | Prof. Ramazan Aras |
| 2023 | Zahide Şeyda Karabatak | Changing Experiences of Marriage and Masculinity in Turkey: Turkish Men’s Transnational Marriages to Indonesian Women in the Black Sea Region | Prof. Ramazan Aras |
| 2022 | Büşra Coşkun | Religion, Memory, and Sense of Belonging: the Tradition of Memorization of the Qur’an in Turkey (1923-1950) | Prof. Ramazan Aras |
The Al-BIruni Award for the Best Undergraduate ThesIs
Al-Biruni Award
The Department of Sociology is excited to introduce the Al-Biruni Award, celebrating the pioneering scholarship of Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al-Biruni (d. 1050). This award aims to underline the presence and richness of an anthropological-sociological approach in non-western traditions long before the rise of anthropology in the western/modern world.
Award Highlights:
- Prestigious Recognition: The Award will be presented during the Annual Sociology Days in May 2026, 8-10.
- Inspiring Excellence: The winner will receive a Citation Letter that recognizes academic merits and excellence.
- Prize: 20.000 TL
Eligibility: The thesis nominated for the award will be selected by the faculty members of the Department of Sociology from among the undergraduate graduation theses submitted during the 2024-2025 academic year. The selection will be made exclusively from the theses they have personally supervised.
Jury Composition: A committee of three jury members will review the nominations, focusing on academic excellence as the criterion for the award.
The Jury
Asst. Prof. Mehmet Ali Başak – Ibn Haldun University
Dr. Nesibe Demir – Lecturer, Medipol University
Dr. Abdirashid Diriye Kalmoy – Ibn Haldun University
| Year | Award Winner | Thesis Title | Supervisor |
| 2025 | Aysha Shahalabath | Disciplined Bodies, Disciplined Minds: A Critical Inquiry into the Wellness Industry | Asst. Prof. Tesnim Khriji |
| 2024 | Yunus Yeşil | Identity Construction in the Relation of Trauma and Community Building: The Example of ‘Little Palestine’ in the Context of Chicago | Prof. Ramazan Aras |
| 2023 | Oumaru F. Sheriff | An Exploratory Study of Post-War Challenges Hindering Reintegration into Civil Society: The Case of Former Child Soldiers in Liberia | Prof. Ramazan Aras |
| 2022 | Rahma Waleed Al-Sayed | Pharaonism and Ideological State Apparatuses in Post-Coup Egypt | Prof. Alev Erkilet |
Best Paper Awards
Awards and certificates will be given to the top three best papers in three different categories: Graduate, Undergraduate, and High-School. Please note that only submissions in full-paper format will be considered for evaluation.
High School Category
1. (Gift Voucher Worth 7.000 TL) Melis Nakşılar, Prof. Dr. Mümtaz Turhan Social Sciences High School
2. (Gift Voucher Worth 5.000 TL) Fatma Betül Akgünlü, NUN Schools
3. (Gift Voucher Worth 3.000 TL) Yusuf Kayra İlter, NUN Schools
Undergraduate Category
1. (Gift Voucher Worth 12.000 TL) İrem Ak, Ibn Haldun University
2. (Gift Voucher Worth 10.000 TL) Yasin Şahin, Boğaziçi University
3. (Gift Voucher Worth 8.000 TL) Reyhan Yıldırım, Balıkesir University
Graduate Category
1. (Gift Voucher Worth 15.000 TL) Hatice İ. Erdem, Mimar Sinan Fine Art University
2. (Gift Voucher Worth 12.000 TL) Hatice Ay, Necmettin Erbakan University
3. (Gift Voucher Worth 10.000 TL) Merve Ak Efe, İstanbul Medeniyet University