We are pleased to announce the launch of the Alevi Encyclopedia Open Lectures, developed in collaboration with the Alevi Studies Network. This new initiative draws on that collective knowledge to make scholarly work on Alevism more widely accessible for teaching, research and independent learning.
Open Lectures constitutes the Encyclopedia’s third main content area, alongside its scholarly entries and video archive. These complementary sections serve distinct purposes: encyclopedia entries provide referenced scholarly accounts of particular subjects; the video archive documents oral histories, cultural memory and lived experiences; and Open Lectures offers structured academic introductions to key topics, concepts and debates. Through lectures prepared specifically for educational use, the platform brings research findings and analytical approaches into conversation with the needs of students, educators and wider audiences.
The Autumn 2026 programme currently offers ten lectures: nine in English and one in German. They address sacred places and everyday religious life in Dersim; Hızır; Hacı Bektaş Veli and Bektashi traditions; the epistemic foundations of Alevi theology; physical and epistemic violence; the Dersim genocide; migration and the transformation of Alevism in Europe; Alevism in British religious education; and the experiences of second-generation Alevi-Kurdish youth in London. Together, these contributions introduce different disciplinary perspectives while attending to the historical, geographical and social diversity of Alevi communities.
Prepared by scholars with expertise in their respective fields, the lectures are accompanied by written texts, abstracts, lecturer biographies, keywords, learning outcomes, and references and further reading. Lecture texts, bibliographic details and accompanying information are accessible in Turkish, English and German, while the videos are presented in their original recording languages. The programme has been developed by Dr. Ahmet Kerim Gültekin, with feedback from its Scientific Advisory Board and through a process of editorial review and preparation, to provide academic resources for university courses, seminars and independent study.
Open Lectures also forms part of the Alevi Encyclopedia’s growing institutional and editorial structure. Operating under the institutional responsibility of DAKME Alevitisches Kulturzentrum e.V., the Encyclopedia combines an open-access, multilingual academic periodical with an online museum and oral history archive. It is registered under ISIL DE-4607, the International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations, and ISSN 3055-9928, the International Standard Serial Number. Through its Crossref membership, DAKME e.V. registers DOIs for Encyclopedia publications under the prefix 10.68413. DOI registration for the individual lectures is currently in preparation.
Conceived as an ongoing educational programme, Open Lectures will develop through further editions planned for Spring 2027, Autumn 2027 and Spring 2028, with new subjects and contributions in different languages. Its aim is to build a lasting, freely accessible body of academic teaching materials that reflects the breadth of Alevi Studies and encourages exchange across linguistic and disciplinary boundaries.
