ISASOR VII – Held in Burdur in 2025
The VII. International Symposium on Strategic and Social Research (ISASOR VII – 2025), organized with the support of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, was held on November 27–28, 2025, in Burdur. The main theme of the symposium was determined as “History, Science, and Society in a Changing, Transforming World”, providing an opportunity for the discussion of current academic studies conducted in various fields of social sciences from an interdisciplinary perspective.
The opening of the symposium was conducted with speeches by the Chairs of the Symposium Organizing Committee, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Karaman and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Dericioğulları Ergun. After the opening speeches, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Oğuz Gürsoy also gave a speech emphasizing the university's support for scientific activities and the role of social sciences in understanding societal issues.
As part of the opening program, a special session was organized on the occasion of November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In this special session chaired by Prof. Dr. Cem Ergun, Prof. Dr. Songül Sallan Gül presented a talk titled “The Past and Present of Shelters in the Fight Against Violence Against Women in Turkey”, addressing the policies for combating violence against women from historical and social dimensions. The session constituted one of the important topics of the symposium with discussions conducted in the context of gender inequalities and social policy.
During the two-day symposium program, numerous academics from fields such as sociology, history, political science, communication, cultural studies, and educational sciences presented their papers. Current social issues such as gender, migration and refugeehood, identity, generations, poverty, labor, media and digital transformation, space, and social inequalities were addressed with both theoretical and empirical dimensions; the symposium created a rich and multi-layered platform for scientific discussion.
It is planned that the full texts of the accepted and presented papers at ISASOR VII – 2025 will be published in a symposium proceedings book with ISBN after a double-blind peer review process. The papers were presented in Turkish and English; a wide academic participation was ensured through face-to-face and online sessions.
One of the notable aspects of the symposium was that no participation fee was charged from the participants, and instead, a donation of saplings was made to the “We Are Planting 20,000 Trees for Our 20th Anniversary” campaign launched as part of the 20th anniversary of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. With this practice, the symposium has made a concrete contribution to the university's sustainability vision and green campus goals, in addition to academic sharing. It was stated that all donations would be used for tree planting activities to be carried out on campus areas in memory of the university's 20th anniversary.
ISASOR VII – 2025 has been completed as an important international academic event that strengthens scientific production and university-community interaction in the fields of sociology and social sciences, with its strong academic content, sensitivity to social issues, and sustainability-focused approach.
We thank all our professors and students who participated and supported.