Alanus University is a state-approved private University of Arts and Social Sciences comprised of six departments. The Department of Education is responsible for scientific and artistic training and research, and for providing professional qualifications in teaching, curative education and early childhood education. An interdisciplinary General Studies course is also offered, as well as other courses in artistic and educational fields, geared toward professional practice in schools, kindergartens, curative education, and other pedagogical areas. A central concern of these courses is the promotion of dialogue between Waldorf education and the various streams of modern education, both inside and outside of universities. The Department of Education has held the right to award PhD degrees in Education since 2010.

The Department is composed of six institutes on two campuses (Alfter and Mannheim), each with its own area of responsibility:

Alfter:

Institute of Education and Empirical Social Research

Institute of School Pedagogy and Teacher Training

Institute of Curative Education and Social Therapy

Institute of Early Childhood Education

Institute of Philosophy and Aesthetics

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Mannheim:

Institute of Waldorf Education, Inclusion and Intercultural Communication 

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