Jean Monnet is considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union. Jean Monnet Chairs named after him are given to university professors who have shown tremendous effort and excellence in their careers on matters related to EU. They are awarded as the highest recognition of a sign of prestige in research, teaching and dissemination activities by the European Union.

The Department of Political Science and International Relations (DPSIR) of İstanbul 29 Mayıs University is already known to be contributing vividly to facilitation of Türkiye-European Union (EU) relations in the current stagnated state through implementing a module system where students choose EU module among others to specifically focus on many aspects of the European integration process. The department members are internationally renowned, having PhDs from European universities, which provides a good background to the study of the European contribution to Türkiye. Professor Özgür ÜNAL-ERİŞ who was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration by the European Commission with her project dedicated to the theme of EU Awareness, Relations and Cooperation (COAWARE) in 2020, aims to create an important impact on European studies through teaching BA and MA courses like External Relations of the EU and History and Politics of European Integration and through hosting various seminars, webinars, workshops and meetings with the main aim of creating a bridge between academics, civil society experts and high level policy-makers across Turkey and Europe. The main aim of raising and promoting awareness on European Union is not only targeting students, but it is also targeting public in general. This JM Chair intends to provide a platform for this aim for the years between 2020-2023 by using Istanbul 29 Mayıs University as the main venue. This project is all supported by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.

The main aim of this project is to measure ‘the impact of EU policies, institutional structures and norms on Türkiye, and how these norms influence decision making processes towards migrants and women’. To reach the objective, three core courses are designed within the European module. Additionally, three workshops will be organised at the end of each academic year for three consecutive years, followed by the participation of the Chair applicant and the member of the staff in one international conference each year and the submission of their presentations for publication in a prestigious journal.

As a result of the project, we aim to increase the quality of the teaching activities at İstanbul 29 Mayis University and to increase knowledge about the EU and its norm shaping potential through migration and gender policies within the Turkish public, youth in particular. DPSIR students are future policy makers, bureaucrats, practitioners, civil society and local government representatives, and will be trained at various topics concerning the EU: Migration policies, Gender mainstreaming, the EU Politics and Institutions, and Türkiye–EU relations. The  project will increase the visibility of the EU module in İstanbul 29 Mayıs University. This is particularly important in a period of skepticism and declining efforts for Türkiye’s integration with Europe; developments which have recently resulted in a recorded decline of support from universities in Türkiye.