Rector Akman Attends “From Anatolia to Yemen: Memory, Lament and Cultural Heritage” Event
Rector Akman Attends “From Anatolia to Yemen: Memory, Lament and Cultural Heritage” Event
Our Rector, Prof. Dr. Zekeriya Akman, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Hülya Akman, attended the event titled “From Anatolia to Yemen: Memory, Lament and Cultural Heritage,” held at KİTAM and jointly organized by our University's Middle East Studies Application and Research Center (KODAM) and the Middle East Studies Society.
The event explored Yemen's place in Anatolia's collective memory through traditional laments and folk songs. Prof. Dr. Neslihan Bozaslan, a faculty member at Gaziantep University, delivered a presentation examining the traces Yemen has left in the cultural memory of Anatolian society. She discussed how experiences of separation, longing for home, and loss are reflected in oral traditions, highlighting the role of laments in preserving collective memory and transmitting cultural heritage across generations.
As part of the program, Lecturer Fatma Gamze Apraş and students from our University's Conservatory performed traditional folk songs associated with Yemen.
Rector Akman emphasized that laments and folk songs are significant elements of cultural heritage that carry societies' historical experiences and collective memories into the present. He also highlighted the importance of examining this heritage through academic research and preserving it for future generations.
