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This is an abridged version of our longer conversation with Prof. Ayfer Karakaya-Stump. Ayfer Karakaya-Stump is a professor of history at the College of William & Mary. She received her PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History from Harvard University in 2008. Her academic expertise focuses on the social and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, with particular emphasis on heterodox Islamic movements, the Kizilbash/Alevi-Bektashi communities, and the Ottoman-Safavid borderlands. She also conducts research on women and gender in Islamic societies. His two important works comprehensively address the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of the Alevi identity, while they are important sources that shed light on our understanding of the dynamics of the Kızılbaş and Alevi communities: (Written in English) The Kizilbash/Alevis in Ottoman Anatolia: Sufism, Politics, and Community https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/... Written in Turkish: Vefailik, Bektashilik, Kızılbaşlık: Rethinking Alevi Sources, History, and Historiography https://bilgiyay.com/kitap/vefailik-b... While they comprehensively address the historical, social, and cultural dimensions of the Alevi identity, they are important sources that shed light on our understanding of the dynamics of the Kızılbaş and Alevi communities. Instagram: @aleviarchive 00:00 - 01:06 How did your research on Alevi history begin? 01:06 - 03:57 Fuat Köprülü's work 03:37 - 07:05 Documents of Alevi Ocaklari 07:05 - 08:37 Bektashi and Kizilbash formation 08:37 - 10:37 Central Asian connection 10:37 - 11:52 Is Vefailik Alevism? 11:52 - 19:30 When did Alevism emerge? 19:30 - 20:27 Rum Abdals 20:27 - 24:04 Divinity in esoteric tradition 24:04 - 25:37 Turkish, Kurdish and Zaza identity