Description
Graduate theses constitute a revealing indicator of the nature and transformation of knowledge production in local academia. One central avenue to assess the epistemic engagements of Turkish academia with the Middle East is the graduate research conducted at Turkish universities in the form of graduate theses. This paper is a critical investigation of MA and Ph.D. theses on the Gulf submitted to Turkish universities since 1981 when the Turkish Council of Higher Education was founded. The research draws on the National Thesis Center database of the Turkish Council of Higher Education to access the theses under investigation. The theses are then subject to a comprehensive quantitative coding along a broad spectrum of parameters. Relevant data obtained from this process is collected in four categories: the thesis, the author, the supervisor, and the university. The research aims to observe and analyze multiple dimensions of knowledge production about the Gulf in Turkey. These dimensions include the locality of knowledge production within Turkey, the temporality of knowledge production in the local academia, and the gendered practices of knowledge production among the epistemic community. A particular inquiry concerning theses submitted in the discipline of international relations is conducted. The research is expected to constitute a meaningful contribution to the debates on the dynamics and manifestations of knowledge production in Middle Eastern studies.
