Ongoing project by Prof. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil
Universität Wien, Institut für Islamisch-Theologische Studien

The world's first Alevi religious education (Alevitische Religionsunterricht, ARU) was taught in Berlin in 2002/03. The idea and the associated further training of Alevi religious education teachers were developed through the initiative of the Alevi Cem houses on the district and national level.

Within the framework of this project, an initial inventory of Alevi religious education (ARU) in German-speaking countries is to be drawn up and, in a second step, a working platform (Cloud/SharePoint) is to be provided. The aim is to exchange different methods, possibilities and developments in learning and teaching religious knowledge through theological, pedagogical, social, sociological and anthropological approaches in a digital environment. The transparency of the ARU on this digital platform can promote socio-political expectations regarding the integration and identity policies of Alevis in the countries where they live. By incorporating social media and digital interaction, this project can also contribute to the ARU's digital teaching. 

This project is led by Prof. Dr Handan Aksünger-Kizil and Dr. Deniz Coşan Eke. Initial start-up funding will come from the appointment funds of the professorship, and in the further run third-party funding is to be acquired.  

Project duration: April 2021-

As part of the research expertise Bestandsaufnahme und Systematisierung von Erfahrungen, Erwartungen und Empfehlungen zur Qualifikation religiösen Personals in alevitischen Gemeinden in Deutschland [Inventory and systematisation of experiences, expectations and recommendations for the qualification of religious personnel in Alevi communities in Germany], we are looking for interviewees for qualitative interviews.

In each city (Berlin, Hamburg, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Hannover and in the Ruhr area) five to six Alevi clergy (Dede and Ana) as well as Alevi lay people (Talip) are to be interviewed.

The interviews will start in March. In case of interest please contact deniz.cosan.eke@univie.ac.at. Further information can be found here (in German and Turkish).

Project duration: 2020-2022

Even though Alevis have enjoyed a certain level of awareness among the Austrian public after 60 years of migration, the specific needs of Alevis have hardly been recorded in research so far. The project, led by Prof. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil and Mag. Dr. Hüseyin Çiçek, pursues the goal of collecting data on Alevi needs in Austria for the first time, with a particular focus on Vienna. On the other hand, this project will focus on those specific fields of investigation through which "Alevi everyday life" and their inclusion within the Austrian mainstream society (with a special focus on voluntary work, among other things) and as a religious community (cooperation with different parishes, etc.) can best be recorded and analysed in qualitative and quantitative form.

The case study of Vienna serves as a pilot project as well as a pioneering guideline study to find out data and information about Alevi everyday life in different regions of Austria in the future. Apart from important information about Alevis in Austria in general, such a study also offers the possibility to explicitly compare the Alevi community with other immigrant communities in the future and to gain important insights from this. The latter is to be done above all with a view to identifying factors that promote integration as well as factors that hinder integration. Comparative comparisons with Romanian, Turkish, Iranian, Moroccan or other communities are planned. In the course of the project, the necessary third-party funds are to be raised.

Due to the Corona pandemic, this project cannot go forward at the moment.

Project duration: 2019-

Even though the transmission of religious knowledge in Alevism was primarily oral and through ritual acts, there are nevertheless a considerable number of written sources. As part of the project, a historical, Ottoman-language Buyruk manuscript will be transcribed and translated into German, which will appear in a digital version with commentary. The transcription has already been done and the translated version should be available by the spring of 2021. This project is led by Prof. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil and Dr. Cem Kara. Start-up funding for the project will come from the professorship's appointment funds. In addition, further third-party funds are to be raised.  

Project duration: ongoing (2019-)

Prof. Mag. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil unpublished paper in the context of the preliminary study "Religion and Dialogue in Modern Societies"
2011-2012
University of Hamburg, Academy of World Religions

Prof. Mag. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil's doctoral research (Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands)
2007-2011
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Institute of Ethnology and DFG Research Training Group "Civil Society Processes of Understanding from the 19th Century to the Present - Germany and the Netherlands in Comparison"

Prof. Mag. Dr. Handan Aksünger-Kizil's master's research (Berlin and Koblenz)
2004-2005
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Dept. of Social and Cultural Anthropology