Monday, September 12, 3pm, OSU Research Commons [18th Avenue Library, third floor], 175 W. 18th Ave.

In June 2013, Gezi Park became the staging ground for the most serious challenge to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s decade-long rule in Turkey. When police brutally cleared the Istanbul park, five young men lost their lives, becoming official “martyrs” of the Gezi movement.

Christiane Gruber, associate professor of Islamic art at University of Michigan, will examine the symbolic framings and functions of martyrs in a pluralistic society shaped by the desire to preserve a secular representative democracy in the face of increasing authoritarianism.

Gruber will explore the rhetorical strategies and visual output of the Gezi Movement in slogans, chants, graffiti, digital art, Twitter posts, posters, banners, stickers, processions, sit-ins, and performances.

Co-sponsored by the OSU Middle Eastern Studies Center and the OSU Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Registration: https://mershoncenter.osu.edu/component/eventbooking/christiane-gruber.html