Ahmet Kerim Gültekin, Westminster University, England. 16.01.-24.02.2023

I am a research associate at the Institute of Social- and Cultural Anthropology, Free University of Berlin. I am an anthropologist working on a transnational ethno-religious community -the case of Kurdish Alevis- in Berlin.

Since having my PhD, I have engaged in scholarly activities regarding “Alevism Studies”, an extending subject in international academic circles. I was an assistant professor at a state university in Turkey, working on (officially non-recognised) ethnic and religious minorities of Turkey -especially the case of Alevis- until I got dismissed from my position due to signing a petition, criticising the human rights crimes of the Turkish government in Kurdish towns during 2015-16. After ending up in Germany five years ago as a refugee scholar, on the one hand, I continued working on my loose-ended projects from Turkey; on the other hand, I started to revise my academic focus to be able to adapt to the European academic environment and to sustain my academic life.

With the Erasmus+ program, I had the chance to get in close touch, work with and learn from a group of experienced scholars at The Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD)— Westminster University (London, UK). CSD has distinctive features from other academic institutions in ensuring academic research reaches beyond academia. Resources, support and training are provided to scholars (and guest academics) to maximise such impact.

Thus, learning from CDU’s Alevi studies was a serious opportunity to think with new perspectives on my studies in Germany. Since adapting to European academic circles and sustaining academic life, especially in Germany, require a qualified ability able to write projects and run such processes effectively with also non-academic partners, Dr Celia Jenkins (Principal Lecturer in Sociology) and Dr Umit Cetin (Senior Lecturer) at CSD, provided an excellent environment to learn from.

Erasmus+ „Staff Mobility for Training“ program gave me a robust chance to develop my academic networks and had me get in touch with colleagues who have the expertise. Thus, I Learned how to build research projects specifically focusing on the Alevis in the European diaspora. This program helped me to collect new data for possible further projects and provide new ideas by which I can sustain my threatened academic career.

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