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Yüksel Sezgin

Yüksel Sezgin

Contact Information:

ysezgin@syr.edu

315.443.4431

100F Eggers Hall

Yüksel Sezgin

Associate Professor, Political Science Department


Director, Middle Eastern Studies Program

Research Affiliate, South Asia Center

Courses

  • 2024 Fall
    • PSC 374 Law and Society
    • PSC 300 Selected Topics - Global Landmark Judgements
  • 2024 Summer
    • IRP/PAI/PSC 400/600 Selected Topics - Rel, Law, Humn Rghts: Comp Per
  • 2024 Spring
    • PSC 123 Comparative Government and Politics
    • MES/PSC/REL 381/361 Islamic Law & Society
  • 2023 Fall
    • PSC 374 Law and Society
    • PAI/PSC 768 Law, Courts and Human Rights
  • 2023 Summer
    • IRP/PAI/PSC 400/600 Selected Topics - Rel, Law, Humn Rghts: Comp Per
  • 2023 Spring
    • PSC 320 Comparative Law and Courts
    • MES/PSC 344 Politics of the Middle East
  • 2022 Fall
    • PSC 123 Comparative Government and Politics
    • PSC 374 Law and Society
  • 2022 Summer
    • IRP/PAI/PSC 400/600 Selected Topics - Rel, Law, Humn Rghts: Comp Per
  • 2022 Spring
    • PSC 320 Comparative Law and Courts
    • MES/PSC/REL 381/361 Islamic Law & Society

Highest degree earned

Ph.D., University of Washington, 2007

Areas of Expertise

Legal pluralism; informal justice systems; comparative religious law (Islamic, Jewish and Hindu); human and women’s rights in the context of the Middle East, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research Grant Awards and Projects

"Muslim Family Law Index Website/Visualization Project", Sponsored by American Political Science Association.

"Reforming Muslin Family Laws in Non-Muslim Regimes: the Roles of Civil Courts", Sponsored by National Endowment for the Humanities/Natl. Fndn. on the Arts & Humanities.

"IRAMFAL: A Tool for Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Women's Rights under Muslim Family Laws", Sponsored by Association for the Sociology of Religion.

"Islamic Law in Non-Muslim Countries", Sponsored by Princeton University.

"Partnership Agreement - Dr. Latif Tas", Sponsored by European Commission.

"William A. Steiger Fund for Legislative Studies Research Grant", Sponsored by APSA.

"Joseph H. Fichter Research Grant", Sponsored by Association for the Sociology of Religion.

Selected Publications

  • Book
    • Sezgin, Y., Published Human Rights under State-Enforced Religious Family Laws in Israel, Egypt, and India. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • Journal Articles
    • Sezgin, Y., "Undignified Jurispathy: Muslim Family Law at Ghanaian Courts." Law & Social Inquiry, 2023.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Muslim Family Law Reform: Understanding the Difference between Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Countries." Journal of Law, Religion and State, 2023.
    • Sezgin, Y., "A Global and Historical Exploration: Legislative Reform in Muslim Family Law in Muslim-Majority vs. Muslim-Minority Countries." Law & Policy, 2023.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Muslim Family Laws in Israel and Greece: Can Non-Muslim Courts Bring About Legal Change in Shari'a?." Islamic Law and Society, 2018.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Resiliency and Pitfalls of Crisis Regimes: Reimagining the Future of Turkey's Democracy through the Lens of the Indian Emergency." Review of Middle East Studies, 2018.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Do Not Betray God or Your People': Negotiating Women's Rights under Muslim Family Laws in Israel and India." Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2017.
    • Sezgin, Y., Künkler, M., "The Unification of Law and the Postcolonial State: The Limits of State Monism in India and Indonesia." American Behavioral Scientist, 2016.
  • Book Chapters
    • Sezgin, Y., "Religious Law & Marriage: A Comparative Perspective." In Routledge Handbook of Religious Laws. Bottoni, R., Ferrari, S. and Sandberg, R. (eds.) Ashgate, 2019.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Jurisdictional Competition and Internal Reform in Muslim Family Law in Israel and Greece." In Forms of Pluralism and Democratic Constitutionalism. Arato, A., Cohen, J. L. and von Busekist, A. (eds.) Columbia University Press, 2018.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Anwendung und Regulierung Muslimischen Familienrechts in Nichtmuslimischen Demokratien: Die Rolle der Ziviljustiz bei Scharia-Reformen." In Normenkonflikte in Pluralistischen Gesellschaften. Schröter, S. (ed.) Campus Verlag, 2017.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Reforming Muslim Family Laws in Non-Muslim Democracies." In Islam, Gender and Democracy in Comparative Perspective. Cesari, J., Casanova, J. (eds.) Oxford University Press, 2017.
    • Sezgin, Y., "The Impact of State-enforced Personal Status Laws on Human Rights." In Family Rights and Religion. Eekelaar, J. (ed.) Ashgate, 2017.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Women and Personal Status in Muslim Minority Countries: Between India and Israel." In Personal Status and Gender: Palestinian Women in Israel. Yazmak, H., Kozma, L. (eds.) Pardes Publishing House, 2016.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Nation-Building and Regulation of Pluri-legal Jurisdictions: The Case of the Israeli Millet System." In The Everyday Life of the State: A State-in-Society Approach. White, A. J. (ed.) University of Washington Press, 2013.
  • Book Reviews
    • Sezgin, Y., "Tepe, Sultan, Beyond Sacred and Secular: Politics of Religion in Israel and Turkey (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007)." In Middle East Journal. , 2009.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Kohli, Atul, State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)." In International Studies Review. , 2005.
  • Edited Volume
    • "Special Issue on Human Rights and Legal Pluralism." Sezgin, Y. (ed.) The Journal of Legal Pluralism, 2010.
  • Encyclopedia Entries
    • Sezgin, Y., Pendergast, T., "Azerbaijan." In Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies. Pendergast, S. (ed.) Gale Group, 2002.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Syria." In Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies. Pendergast, S., Pendergast, T. (eds.) Gale Group, 2002.
  • Op-Eds
    • Sezgin, Y., "How a Constitutional Amendment Could End Turkey’s Republic." In Washington Post (Monkey Cage). , 2017.
    • Sezgin, Y., "How Erdogan's anti-democratic government made Turkey ripe for unrest." In Washington Post (Monkey Cage). , 2016.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Could Erdogan lose Turkey’s upcoming election?." In Washington Post (Monkey Cage). , 2015.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Turkish women’s rights beyond Islamists and secularists." In Washington Post (Monkey Cage). , 2014.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Why is Tunisian democracy succeeding while the Turkish model is failing?." In Washington Post (Monkey Cage). , 2014.
    • Sezgin, Y., "What will it take to bring Turkey fully on board?." In Al Jazeera (Opinion). , 2014.
    • Sezgin, Y., "Erdogan's presidency: A risky gamble?." In Al Jazeera (Opinion). , 2014.

Honors and Accolades

ASA Gordon Hirabayashi Human Rights Book Prize (2014)

APSA Aaron Wildavsky Award for Best Dissertation in Religion and Politics (2008)

MESA Malcolm H. Kerr Best Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences (2008)