M. AYTUG SASMAZ - Department of Government

M. AYTUG SASMAZ - Department of Government

M. AYTUG SASMAZ
Doctoral Student
Department of Government
Harvard University
+1 401 837 0279
[email protected]
INTERESTS
Political economy of development (particularly social policies and education policies)
State-building and state-restructuring, local politics, decentralization reforms
Politics in the Middle East (particularly Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia), Europe and the US
Research methods and analytical strategies in comparative politics and public policy analysis
EDUCATION
Graduate student (PhD) in Government
Harvard University
Jan 2015-
MA Political Science
2014
Brown University
Primary advisor: Prof. Melani Cammett
Primary field: Comparative politics, secondary field: American politics and public policy
* Entered the program as a PhD student in Sep 2013, transferred to Harvard in Jan 2015
MSc (Merit) International Political Economy
2007
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Dissertation on political and structural determinants of labor market outcomes in Eurozone countries
BA (High Hons) Political Science and International Relations
Bogaziçi University (Istanbul)
2008
PROFESSIONAL Education Policy Analyst
2008-2013
Education Reform Initiative, Sabancı University (Istanbul)
Key accomplishments include: Coordination, editing and partial authorship of four annual Education
Monitoring Reports (150+ pages), assessment of the school development grant program in collaboration
with the World Bank, comprehensive situation analysis of public financial management in primary
education for possible steps towards decentralization, conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with
bureaucrats from public agencies, in addition to various other policy analysis and advocacy projects.
Freelance Consultant to the Education Program
UNICEF Turkey Office
2011-2013
Country Editor (Iran), The Business Year Publishing
2010
Key accomplishments include: Lived in Tehran for three months, interviewed 70+ businessmen
academics and bureaucrats for the investment guide. Drafted 10+ reviews about different sectors of
Iranian economy.
PUBLICATIONS Book chapter
•
“Social Welfare in Developing Countries” (with Melani Cammett). In Oxford Handbook of
Historical Institutionalism (Tulia Falleti, Orfeo Fioretos and Adam Sheingate, eds.). New
York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Research and policy reports (selected)
•
•
Politics of Educational Expansion in Turkey. Background Paper for UNESCO Education
For All Global Monitoring Report 2015.
4+4+4: Temel Egitimin Kademelendirilmesi Sürecinin Izlenmesi (4+4+4: Monitoring the
New Grade-Span Configuration in Basic Education in Turkey, with Gülsah Gürkan, Fulya
Koyuncu and Alper Dinçer). Istanbul: Education Reform Initiative and Turkish Education
Volunteers’ Foundation, 2014.
•
School Grants in Turkey: Assessment of the School Development Program (with Aysen
Köse), Istanbul: Ministry of National Education, World Bank and Education Reform
Initiative, forthcoming.
Articles in non-indexed journals
•
•
•
“In which direction does the education policy of AK Party change?”, ResearchTurkey, April
2013. Available at http://researchturkey.org/wp/wordpress/?p=3044.
“PISA 2009: Where Does Turkey Stand?” (with Nihan Köseleci), Turkish Policy Quarterly,
Vol. 10 No. 2, September 2011.
“4+4+4: Turning the education system upside down”, Perspectives (bimonthly political
magazine of Heinrich Böll Foundation), 2012. Available at http://tr.boell.org/web/511408.html.
PRESENTATIONS Conference presentations
•
•
AWARDS &
GRANTS
“School Fees and Local Control – Is There A Link? Evidence from Turkish Case” (with
Aysen Köse and Çagdas Sirin), presentation delivered at the Annual Conference of
Association of Education Finance and Policy, and Annual Conference of Comparative and
International Education Society, March 2013.
“The Financial Management of Primary Schools: Case Studies from Turkey” (with Aysen
Köse), presentation delivered at Annual Conference of Association of Education Finance
and Policy, March 2012.
George Washington University Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Travel Research Engagement Grant ($3,000), Summer 2015
Brown University Watson Institute Graduate Program in Development (GPD) Summer
Preliminary Research Grant ($2,500) and Brown University Middle East Studies Program
Graduate Student Research Grant ($500), Summer 2014
Kutayba Alghanim Fellowship in Politics and Economics for Graduate Studies at Brown
University, 2013-2014
European Commission Jean Monnet Scholarship for Master’s level studies, 2007-08 ($65,000)
Bertha Heraeus and Kathinka Platzhoff Scholarship for European Integration, 2006-07
Ranked 2nd place among Class 2007 of Political Science and International Relations majors,
Bogaziçi University
SKILLS
Languages
Turkish (mother tongue), English (fluent), German (fluent), Arabic (Modern Standard,
intermediate)
Research methods
Elite interviews, survey design and analysis, quantitative econometric analysis (STATA), spatial
analysis (ArcGIS, GeoDa), public budget analysis
References available upon request