Rethinking architectural education post-disaster: an analytical framework for curricular transformation after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

Türkiye experienced devastating impacts following the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, which revealed the urgent need to strengthen the connection between disaster risk management and education policies. Despite the country’s vulnerability to earthquakes, the inclusion of disaster and earthquake related courses in higher education particularly within architecture and interior architecture programs remains insufficient. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the presence and evolution of disaster and earthquake-focused courses in Turkish public and foundation universities between 2022 and 2025. A qualitative multiple case study design was employed, incorporating document analysis and content evaluation through frequency and percentage distributions. The findings indicate a significant quantitative increase in disaster-related education. While only 35 universities offered such courses in 2022, this number increased to 97 by 2025. The total number of related courses expanded from 40 to 140. However, the majority of these courses were elective (88–90%) and theoretical (88–95%), with limited compulsory or practice-oriented components. The study demonstrates an escalating institutional acknowledgement of disaster awareness within architectural education; nonetheless, it underscores the necessity for more practice‑based and compulsory curricular structures to achieve sustainable integration and to more accurately align architectural education with the disaster risk reduction competencies expected in professional practice.