
Following a string of military defeats at the end of the eighteenth century, Ottoman leaders realized that their classical traditions and institutions could not compete with Russia and the European states' technological and economic superiority.One of a series of nineteenth-century reform initiatives was the creation of a European-style university called darülfünun. From the Arabic words dar, meaning "house," and fünun, meaning "sciences," the darülfünun would incorporate the western sciences into deeply entrenched academic traditions and institutions in an effort to bridge the gap with Europe. The completely new institution, distinct from the existing pre-modern medreses, was modeled after the French educational system and created an infrastructure for national universities in Turkey and some of the Arab-speaking provinces. It also influenced the establishment of universities in Iran and Afghanistan.Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu's study sheds new light on an important and pioneering experiment in East-West relations, tracking the multifaceted transformation at work in Istanbul during the transition from classical to modern modes of scientific education. Out of this intellectual ferment, a new Ottoman Turkish scientific language developed, the terminology of which served as a convenient vehicle for expressing and teaching modern science throughout the Empire.
This work investigates the origins and development of the darülfünun, the first modern university established in the Ottoman Empire, as a response to the geopolitical and technological challenges of the nineteenth century. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, a scholar of Ottoman science and history, utilizes archival records and institutional history to document the transition from traditional medrese education to a European-modeled scientific curriculum. The book argues that this institution served as a critical bridge for integrating Western scientific methodologies into the Ottoman intellectual framework.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as a foundational text for understanding the modernization of higher education in the Middle East. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the author's meticulous use of primary source documentation to support his historical claims.
Page Count:
312
Publication Date:
2019-07-18
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190051558
ISBN-13:
9780190051556
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