Hosted by Istanbul Kent University and organized in collaboration with the Center for Application and Research of Urban Studies (Kent-AR), the School of Foreign Languages, and Tömerkent, the first event of the International Urban Symposium Series took place on April 19, 2025, at the university’s Taksim Campus under the theme “City and Literature.”

Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s conceptualization of the city as a text in One-Way Street, the symposium set out to explore how urban experiences, memory, space, and identity are represented in literary narratives. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, the event invited participants to reflect on the sensorial, historical, and political dimensions of literature’s relationship with the city.

The program began with a keynote speech by Dr. Zeynep Zengin from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. The closing address was delivered by renowned Turkish author Latife Tekin, whose presence added depth to the day’s discussions. The symposium was also honored by the attendance of Lale Müldür, one of Turkey’s most distinguished contemporary poets, as a guest of the event.

Throughout the day, scholars from diverse disciplines engaged in discussions on urban representations in literature, spatial politics, memory, gendered space, the flâneur, peripheral geographies, and posthuman urban imaginaries. A complex intellectual map was drawn through critical readings of how cities appear—and disappear—across literary texts, through sounds, bodies, and conflicting memories.

Istanbul Kent University faculty also contributed to the academic program. From the Kent-AR team, Dr. G. Pelin Olcay and Dr. Özlem Özcan presented their paper titled “The City as a Sensorial Space: The Atmosphere of Galata in Late 19th and Early 20th Century Travelogues.” Kent-AR expert Sinem Yıldız delivered a presentation entitled “The Discourse of “Eastern Hospitality” in Western Travel Writings within the Context of Orientalism and the Political Economy of Tourism” focusing on cultural and political dimensions of urban representation.

The symposium was conducted in both Turkish and English, and was held in a hybrid format to accommodate international participants. Selected papers from the symposium will be published in a forthcoming volume.

The event concluded with remarks by Prof. Dr. A. Tuğrul Biren, Vice Rector of Istanbul Kent University. This intellectually rich and multi-layered academic gathering provided a critical platform for rethinking urban studies through the lens of literature—bridging national and international perspectives. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all participants and contributors who made this symposium a truly generative space for interdisciplinary thought.