Gastronomy is defined as healthy, well-organized, pleasant and delicious food arrangement and system. Preparing healthy and reliable foods and beverages ready to consume in a way that are eye-pleasing and appealing to the taste buds of the consumers constitutes the working subject of gastronomy. It is a multidisciplinary profession which is fed from many positive and social sciences and transforms food culture into science and art. Today, people place more importance on the sensory, chemical and microbiological quality of what they consume. The way of serving and presenting foods and beverages play an important role in choices of consumers. there are also differences in dietary habits due to social and cultural changes; there is an increase in demand for different delicacies in the globalizing world. Gastronomy is also effective in selecting destinations for tourists; it is increasingly included in the package programs of travel agencies. Demand for gastronomy created a necessity to professionalize in this area. 

Gastronomists should have the necessary basic knowledge in this field to express their tasks with high efficiency. For this reason, they have to receive education for a four-year period. A bachelor's degree from a respected university is the minimum qualification to be a gastronomist. Success in this profession requires creativity, aesthetics, sense of responsibility, passion and patience. He/she must be able to use his/her attention at a high level; his/her hand-eye coordination, taste and smell perception and imagination must be developed. He/she must be able to work hard, have a spirit of teamwork, dedicate himself/herself to his/her work and be able to move quickly. He/she should be an innovator interested in doing researches. The Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts has begun to educate and train by accepting its first students in Academic Year 2014-2015. It completed the necessary infrastructure and continues to expand its academic staff. Being a young department, it has begun to appear at both academic and student level activities on gastronomy and culinary arts outside the university.

The department program covers a four-year period. During the bachelor's degree program, students are given theoretical and practical lessons on the subjects of basic art and culture, nutrition, food science, food processing and conservation, food safety, hygiene and sanitation, occupational health and safety, basic culinary knowledge, food and beverage preparation and presentation techniques, pastry, mixology, Turkish cuisine, world cuisine, business management, restaurant management, human resources, catering and events management, design, food styling and photography, menu planning, and molecular gastronomy. Students are also given the opportunity to choose from courses taught by the Faculty of Fine Arts or other faculties of the university for their professional and personal developments. The basic principle is that all professional courses must be taught under the supervision of professionals. Approximately 40% of the lessons a student takes during an academic year are comprised of practical kitchen lessons. In the last two years, students are given opportunity of on-site applications in high level enterprises. Our department provides education with professionals who are specialized in different areas of gastronomy. During the education period, guest chefs conduct workshops in our demonstration kitchen. In the same way, seminars and interviews are periodically held by inviting professionals with high level careers working in this industry for the personal and professional developments of the students. Our students are encouraged and supported to participate in events such as expos, festivals and congresses in this area. 

Gastronomy as a rising value in the world has become an important career area for young people as a result of increasing number of institutional hotel and restaurant chains and spreading the culture of eating outside in our country. There are many options for the graduates of Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts to practice their professions. They can work as administrators, designers and executives in all kinds of institutions that foods and beverages are prepared and served such as hotels, holiday villages, restaurants, bars, catering companies, accommodation facilities, airlines, cruises, hospitals; product development departments of food premises; mass and print medias; education institutions. They are able to work abroad in direction of their talents. They can set up and manage their own businesses. They can build an academic career by receiving master's degree and doctoral degree after bachelor's degree. 

Erasmus is an education program implemented by European Union in the field of higher education. The purpose of Erasmus program is to give students the opportunity to study for a certain period of time in educational institutions outside their own countries. Our students have the chance to take education for one or two semesters in relevant departments of the universities that we have an agreement within the scope of Erasmus. 

The department has a fully equipped education and application unit built on an area of approximately 640 m². The unit consists of Kitchen I to prepare hot and cold meals; Kitchen II to teach flour products, desserts, cakes and chocolates; demonstration kitchen to host our chefs and guest chefs and their workshops; bar and cafeteria to prepare beverages and teach the service and presentation of foods. The unit also includes areas such as a cold storage room, a frozen storage room, a storeroom, a vegetable house, a slaughterhouse, a dish washing area,   and a garbage room. Our kitchens are designed for both individual and team works and equipped with modern preparation and cooking equipment and countertop equipment adequate for all the students.