In Search of Modernity and Rationality: The Evolution of Turkish Military Academy Curricula in a Historical Perspective

摘要

The aim of this article is to analyze the educational programs of the Turkish Military Academy both in the Ottoman era and the Republican time with special emphasis on the sociology courses. This analysis is important in the sense that the Military Academy is always perceived as a pioneering institution of the modernization process in Turkey. As a result of assessing the development process of the Academy curricula it could be safely stated that the aim of changes and designs has always been to promote rationality and to follow up with the recent improvements in military academies of other countries. Explanation is also offered why a sociology course has not been a permanent feature of the curriculum at the Academy.