Kennesaw State University
Hakki Gurkas is an associate professor of history at Kennesaw State University. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University. His research focuses on festive culture, secularization, folk Islam, and nation-formation in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Innovation in Religious Tradition: From the Blessed Birth to the Mevlid-i Nebi, 1989-2019
The innovations in the mawlid celebrations in Turkey within the past three decades contributed to ending the containment of the cultural signifiers of Islam in the private realm and constituted a step towards the construction of contemporary, civic expressions of religion that would bring broadly connected people together.
Sessions
Adapt and Innovate: The Faithful in Turkey