Prof. Arzu Öztürkmen Elected as a Fellow of the American Folklore Society

The History Department of Boğaziçi University is pleased to announce that our colleague and faculty member, Prof. Arzu Öztürkmen has been elected as a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. A selected part of her nomination letter read at the ceremony held on 07 November 2024, in Albuquerque is as follows:

Dear Fellows of the American Folklore Society,

Please accept our nomination for Prof. Arzu Öztürkmen to join the International Fellows of the American Folklore Society. Prof Öztürkmen is known in Türkiye for her leadership in introducing oral history to her university and the country more broadly. As a young scholar, she represented Asian interests in the informal group that subsequently formed the International Oral History Association. Combining folklore studies with oral history, she introduced folklore into Ottoman history studies through her teaching and mentoring of students, as well as the editing of two impactful volumes on celebration, entertainment, and performance in the Ottoman and Eastern Mediterranean worlds. Prof. Öztürkmen’s contributions to AFS include attending meetings, presenting papers, and organizing panels. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of American Folklore and contributed to the self-study and transformations initiated by the current editorial team. She has organized panels for Turkish scholars to come to AFS. She developed the Pertev Naili Boratav Lecture Series in Folklore and Oral History that brings U.S. folklorists to lecture at Boğaziçi University.

Her initiatives have led to research opportunities, publications, and collaborations.

Her impact across scholarship, leadership, and teaching is exactly what we recognize and honor through the AFS Fellows Program.