Alevi Studies and Debates on "Orthodoxy" & "Heterodoxy"
Orthodoxy refers to the official and dominant interpretation of a religion, while heterodoxy defines belief systems that deviate from or are marginalised by that norm....
Gağan (1)
Gağan (Khal / Kalo Gaxan, Gaxand, Gaxan) is a religious-magical transition ritual unique to Kurdish Alevi communities in Dersim, symbolically marking the end of the...
A Historic Turning Point and the Will to Safeguard the Future of Alevi Knowledge
The Alevi Encyclopedia is a vital project enabling Alevis to combat centuries of physical and epistemic violence and assimilation. It seeks to document their cultural heritage using their own voice...
Dr. Ahmet Kerim Gültekin
Ahmet Kerim Gültekin is an exiled academic based in Germany since 2018, where he has focused on diasporic religious communities, particularly Alevi communities in the European diaspora. Prior to exile, he served as an Assistant Professor at Munzur University (Tunceli, Turkey), where his research on non-official religious and ethnic minorities -especially the case of Kurdish Alevis in Dersim- led to important scholarly contributions. His politic activism and critical scholarship resulted in his unjust dismissal in 2017 and subsequent recognition as a “scholar at risk” by the SAR network.
He holds a Ph.D. in Ethnology from Ankara University (2013), where he also completed his M.A. in Social Anthropology. Since moving to Germany, he has broadened his research to include the Alevi diaspora in Western Europe, conducting long-term ethnographic fieldwork, especially in Berlin and London. He has led and contributed to several academic projects at Leipzig University (2018–2021, DFG-funded “Multiple Secularities”) and at the Free University of Berlin (2021–2023), where he also taught graduate seminars on the Alevis of Dersim. He was also a visiting researcher at the University of Westminster (London, UK) in 2023.
Gültekin’s academic research is shaped around themes such as ethnic- and cultural-identity, political belonging, collective memory, folk narratives and beliefs, mythology, oral history, sacred sites, Alevism studies, Dersim studies, cultural heritage, migration and transnational communities, diaspora studies, ethnography and qualitative research.
He holds a Ph.D. in Ethnology from Ankara University (2013), where he also completed his M.A. in Social Anthropology. Since moving to Germany, he has broadened his research to include the Alevi diaspora in Western Europe, conducting long-term ethnographic fieldwork, especially in Berlin and London. He has led and contributed to several academic projects at Leipzig University (2018–2021, DFG-funded “Multiple Secularities”) and at the Free University of Berlin (2021–2023), where he also taught graduate seminars on the Alevis of Dersim. He was also a visiting researcher at the University of Westminster (London, UK) in 2023.
Gültekin’s academic research is shaped around themes such as ethnic- and cultural-identity, political belonging, collective memory, folk narratives and beliefs, mythology, oral history, sacred sites, Alevism studies, Dersim studies, cultural heritage, migration and transnational communities, diaspora studies, ethnography and qualitative research.
