Department of Religious Education
About Us
The inclusion of Religious Education as a scientific discipline in universities dates back to the early 20th century in the West. In Turkey, the emergence of Religious Education as a scientific discipline occurred considerably later than in Western countries.
Religious Education was not included in the curriculum of the Faculty of Theology, which was established in 1949 as part of Ankara University. In 1953, a “Pedagogy” course was added to the Faculty Program, to be taught in the 4th year for 2 (two) hours per week. In the 1955–1956 academic year program, a course called “Methods of Education and Teaching” was included for 4th-year students, to be taught for 1 hour per week.
Initially, the Pedagogy course was assigned to the Department of Religious Psychology on the grounds that there were no faculty members trained in this field, and the department was renamed the Department of Religious Psychology and Pedagogy. In the 1960s, the course was transferred to the Department of Systematic Philosophy. Later, it was reincorporated into the Department of Religious Psychology. Until the 1960s, two scientific studies related to the field of pedagogy were conducted within the Faculty of Theology. One of these was Turhan Yörükan's 1954 doctoral thesis entitled The Role of Culture in Personality Education. The other was the book The Main Issues of the Science of Education, written by Bedii Ziya Egemen and published in 1957. Scientific studies directly related to the field of Religious Education began with Beyza Bilgin, a faculty member at Ankara University's Faculty of Theology.
Bilgin, who began working as an assistant at the Department of Pedagogy in the 1965-66 academic year, conducted the first academic study on Religious Education in Turkey with his doctoral thesis titled “Love as the Foundation of Education in Islam” (1971). Bilgin's 1979 Associate Professor thesis, titled “Religious Education in Turkey and Religious Classes in High Schools,” can be considered the second academic work in the field.
The introduction of optional teacher training courses starting in 1973-74 gave momentum to studies in the field of religious education. These developments highlighted the need for academic structuring in the field of Religious Education. Indeed, a commission established within the Faculty of Theology at Ankara University to evaluate this issue prepared a report on the subject and recommended to the Faculty Council that an independent Department of Religious Education be established. The relevant report concluded that it would be appropriate to make the Pedagogy course an independent chair, to assign the management of teacher training courses to this chair, and to name it the Chair of Religious Education. This proposal, accepted by the Ankara University Faculty of Theology Council, was also approved by the Ankara University Senate, and on May 13, 1980, the “Department of Religious Education” was established within the Ankara University Faculty of Theology. In 1982, with the new regulations in higher education, the term “Department” began to be used instead of “Chair.”
Since 1989, the recognition of Divinity Faculties as teacher training institutions has led to progress in related studies and organizational development.
In 1991, the Higher Education Council established a commission comprising deans of Divinity Faculties and one representative from each faculty to review academic divisions and teaching programs in Divinity Faculties. Based on this commission's recommendation, the “Department of Educational Sciences” was renamed the “Department of Religious Education.” Since then, the Department of Religious Education has continued to develop within faculties of theology.
The Department of Religious Education offers courses related to Religious Education, such as “Religious Education, Introduction to Educational Sciences, Educational Psychology, Educational Sociology, Teaching Principles and Methods, Measurement and Evaluation, Special Teaching Methods, History of Turkish Education, Guidance, and Research Techniques.”
Academic Staff
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuncay KARATEKE (Department Head)
Asst. Prof. Dr. Veysel Karani ALTUN
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