Hidden curriculum and orientalism in undergraduate education of international relations in Turkey: A critical pedagogical approach

This study focuses on the curricula of the undergraduate education of International Relations from the selected universities of Turkey. A critical pedagogical approach is employed to analyze the organization of the curricula, course names and contents, textual discourses, repetitions and meanings. This thesis, a pioneering attempt that aims at combining Critical Pedagogy and International Relations, concentrates on the orientalist themes and discourses within the analyzed curricula. The theory of 'hidden curriculum,' implying a control mechanism in the process of education, will help deconstructing the texts of International Relations. This attempt of deconstruction is developed especially on the headings of positivism, neoliberalism and Islam as an internal-Other. The primary aim of this thesis is to present that ontologically pluralist studies can provide a liberating terrain for the research in International Relations in Turkey. Keywords: Critical Pedagogy, Orientalism, Deconstruction, International Relations,Hidden Curriculum.