Browsing through the major news outlets, you would face with the bizarre picture of the fact that in many parts of the world, civil society suffers because of conflicts, corruption and lack of pace. It is an inevitable relativity to recognize the crucial role of education in contributing to building…

This is a question social scientists have been trying to answer earnestly for over a decade, yet no one definition or approach seems to satisfy. Even social scientists cannot agree on what to call it, and one can find various articles referring to it as the Gülen Movement, the Hizmet Movement, The Gülen…

Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter due to the inability to afford them. This condition is also referred as the absolute poverty. According to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people in the developing world live on absolute…

Aristotle defines human beings as rational animals, emphasizing reason as a characteristic of human nature. Two thousand years later Descartes rejected the traditional notion of humans as “rational animals,” suggesting instead that they are nothing more than “thinking things”1. Today both seem to be challenged further, especially when we consider…

Abstract Character education has been woven into the fabric of the curriculum of Gulen- inspired schools worldwide. Through character education programs, students develop performance habits and intellectual qualities that enable them to perform at their highest potential not only while in school, but also in their personal and professional lives. This paper seeks…

One of today’s most vibrant discussions happens to be on religion (Islam in particular) and democracy. As a powerful dynamic shaping individual’s and society’s lives, religion has always been treated with caution at the very least in modern democracies. Some argued that Islam could never be at peace with democracy due to its…

Mustafa Akyol, an important figure in Turkey’s intellectual fabric, wrote on the Gulen Movement and the fear mongering that’s going on around it. Akyol emphasizes on the disinformation that plagued the Turkish society for so long and how the Gulen Movement’s acts should be read in today’s context. The protocols of the learned…