Bogazici University and Raoul Wallenberg Institute sign partnership agreement in social policy research and education

Bogazici University and Raoul Wallenberg Institute sign partnership agreement in social policy research and education

Bogazici University, The Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences has committed to a 3-year partnership with Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), one of the most experienced international research and academic institution with offices, programmes, and convening power covering 40 countries working with the mission of promoting universal respect for human rights and humanitarian law by means of research, academic education, dissemination and institutional development.

Within the scope of this agreement, RWI will support the development of new research programs in Bogazici University Social Policy Forum; support human rights based social policy education as part of MA Program in Social Policy and contribute to the strengthening of the relationship between the academia and the society through organizing human rights-themed seminars.

One of the first outputs of the partnership has been the preparation of an inventory of social scientific academic publications on themes related to the rights of people with disabilities and the elderly by Bogazici University faculty member Volkan Yilmaz and Social Policy Forum researcher Nazli Avsaroglu. A workshop was organized to share the results of this literature survey with academics specialized in disability issues from different social science disciplines from all around Turkey. Another inventory on health inequalities, with special emphasis on access to health care, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, working conditions of health care professionals and stigmatization and discrimination in health care, is on the pipeline.

This year, a workshop entitled “Bringing disability rights into the classroom: Inclusive education” will be organized to support academics to design and organize their courses in accordance with accessibility requirements. Bogazici University faculty member Hande Sart and the head of Bogazici University’s Assistive Technology and Education Laboratory for Individuals with Visual Disabilities (GETEM) Engin Yilmaz will share their experiences in this workshop.

A 3-day summer training will be organized to support graduate students in social sciences in incorporating disability rights framework into their research projects.

Starting from this year, Bogazici University and RWI launches Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation Award in Disability Research, which will be granted every year.

With the support of RWI, a graduate student who will be accepted to MA Program in Social Policy this year with a research proposal relying on human rights framework will be awarded a two-year scholarship.

Finally, RWI will support Social Policy Forum to enrich this year’s program of Social Policy Seminar Series by inviting distinguished academics from abroad to give a talk on different dimensions of health inequalities and issues around right to health.