The UNESCO Chairs program began in 1992. Its aim is to develop inter-university cooperation at the global level and to encourage knowledge sharing and academic solidarity among universities.
This program, which started with 17 chairs in 1992, continues today with 849 chairs. There are 14 UNESCO Philosophy Chairs in the world, 8 of which are active.
There are 15 UNESCO Chairs in Turkey. These UNESCO Chairs and the universities they are located at are as follows:
1- Boğaziçi University Mechatronics UNESCO Chair (1993),
2- Galatasaray University Computer-Aided Manufacturing Engineering UNESCO Chair (1997),
3- UNESCO Chair in Philosophy and Human Rights at Maltepe University (2009),
4- UNESCO Chair in Management and Promotion of World Heritage Sites: New Media and Participation at Kadir Has University (2015),
5- UNESCO Chair in Cultural Diplomacy, Governance, and Education at Istanbul Aydın University (2015),
6- Yaşar University International Migration Chair (2016)
7- Giresun University Development of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women UNESCO Chair (2016),
8- Koç University Gender Equality and Sustainable Development UNESCO Chair (2016),
9- Aydın University UNESCO Chair in Education for Sustainable Peace (2016),
10- Yaşar University UNESCO Chair in International Migration (2017)
11- Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University UNESCO Chair in Intangible Cultural Heritage in Formal and Non-Formal Education (2017)
12- Istanbul Bilgi University UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Diplomacy (2018)
13- Izmir Institute of Technology UNESCO Chair in Biotechnology and Innovation (2019)
14- Maltepe University UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Culture (2019)
15- Başkent University, Cultural Heritage and Digital Memory UNESCO Chair (2020)
16- Trakya University, Quality Education and Digital Transformation UNESCO Chair (2021)
17- Karabük University, Foresight Studies, Future Literacy, and Strategic Forecasting UNESCO Chair (2022)
Established in 2009, our UNESCO Chair aims to conduct human rights research based on philosophical knowledge at the global level, particularly to determine the content of concepts related to human rights, to establish and implement law based on these foundations, and to provide human rights education based on these foundations.
The understanding that guides our work is the opposite of the common understanding of human rights—that human rights protect the individual against the state—namely, the understanding that the reason for the existence of the human-legal institution we call the state today is to protect the human rights of citizens. When the state is understood in this way, the public duty also becomes the duty to protect human rights.
The international meetings organized by the Center and the Chair and the conferences given by experts are as follows:
- Human Rights 70 Years After the Universal Declaration: Stand Up for Human Rights! (2018)
- Human Rights 60 Years After the Universal Declaration: Dignity and Justice for All of Us (2008)
- Rethinking the Philosophy of Law: Legal Theories, Constitutions and Human Rights (2009)
- Fifth Balkan Countries Seminar of Philosophy on the Problem of Identities in South-Eastern Europe and Human Rights (2009)
- Human Rights in Israel after the Goldstone Report and Gaza: A Forgotten Prison, Anat Biletzki (2010)
- Laїcité and Human Rights: An Odd Couple, Anat Biletzki (2010)
- Secularism and Human Rights, Pierre Sané (2010)
- Ethical and Human Rights Problems in Making and Applying the Law (2011)
- Violence and Human Rights (2012)
- Human Rights Education in the Light of UNESCO's Resolutions and Data, in collaboration with Hacettepe University and the UNESCO Chair (2014)
- Looking at Human Beings and Events from a Human Rights Perspective (2014)
- Value, Values and Meaning (2016)
- On the Tenth Anniversary of the Establishment of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty (2020)
- “The Death Penalty: Justice or Revenge?” Webinar (2020)
- UNESCO Chairs Conference
- Philosophy of Global Issues