Bridge of Two Easts: Sufi Culture Education Program

Project Name

THE BRIDGE OF THE TWO EASTS: SUFI CULTURE TRAINING PROGRAM

Organization Supporting the Project

Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities

Project Coordinator

Üsküdar University, Institute of Sufi Studies, Istanbul, Turkey

Project Partners

Kyoto University, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto, Japan

Kerim Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey

Summary

The aim of the project is to develop cultural and academic cooperation between the research institutions of the two countries by bringing together their existing academic and research capacities. The project will enhance academic and cultural cooperation between Japan and Turkey through the bridge of Sufi space opportunities.

Sufism, with its doctrinal, cultural and ethical dimensions in social life, reveals a comprehensive interest in Turkey’s historical and cultural structure. In order to develop this understanding, researchers need to be able to access, read and evaluate primary sources on the spot. The works written in Turkish are little known in academic circles outside Turkey. The cultural, doctrinal and moral side of Sufism has important manifestations on Turkish society.

Üsküdar University Institute of Sufi Studies will organize a training program on Sufi Culture for graduate students working on related subjects at Kyoto University. The six-week program includes 180 hours of theoretical courses. The program will involve 10 PhD students from Kyoto University and other universities in Japan working on related topics. Within the scope of the program, Ottoman Turkish and Paleography courses will be given, the accumulation of manuscripts in Turkey will be introduced, the topics and primary sources of Sufi thought and Islamic philosophy will be examined, especially the Ottoman period Turkish Sufi texts. With this project, young researchers participating in the Sufi Culture Training Program will have the opportunity to understand Sufi issues beyond an academic, literature-centered issue by getting to know this society and its culture more closely. Understanding the Sufi themes in popular culture, which will be the subject of field research, carries important clues in establishing cultural relations. Future studies may contribute to the inclusion of Sufism topics in the academic studies of Japanese researchers in the first place. Japan represents an important academic tradition. In the long run, the project is expected to have a positive impact on the social perspectives of the two countries and on the development of public diplomacy through the works of the young generation of researchers in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences. In addition, other studies by researchers in Turkey and Japan can contribute to the mutual orientation of their future capacities and interests.

PROJECT CALENDAR

Bridge of Two Easts: Sufi Culture Education Program
Opening Symposium
Turkey-Japan Meeting
Istanbul, Üsküdar University
October 22, 2016

Structuring Translation Studies of Sufi Works in Turkish and Japanese
Workshop/Search Conference
Istanbul, Üsküdar University
October 23, 2016

Sufi Culture Education Program
Istanbul, Üsküdar University
January 23-March 1, 2017
(Istanbul, Bursa and Konya Cultural Excursion Program)

Bridge of Two Easts: Sufi Culture Education Program Project
Closing Conference
Kyoto, Kyoto University
I. International Kenan Rifai Center for Sufi Studies Symposium
(Islamic and Sufi Studies in Academia: Rethinking Methodologies)
May 20-21, 2017

Finalization of the Project
September 19, 2017

The project plans to organize Japan Culture Day and Turkey Culture Day events in Istanbul and Kyoto with the support of the Consulate General of Japan in Istanbul and the Embassy of Turkey in Tokyo to enhance public diplomacy.

***Symposium Live broadcast is realized by Nefes Publishing House Inc.