On 22 May 2026, the University of Oxford hosted a landmark international symposium dedicated to Alevi-Bektashi history, culture, heritage, and contemporary experiences. Held at Wolfson College and convened by Dr Yeliz Teber, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the symposium, Kizilbash/Alevism-Bektashism Symposium: New Corpora, Databases, and Digital Tools in Ottoman and Contemporary Contexts, brought together leading and emerging scholars from the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, and Turkey. As the first event of its kind to focus specifically on digital approaches to Alevi-Bektashi studies, the event provided a valuable platform for showcasing new research and highlighting the growing interest in Alevi-Bektashi studies in one of the world’s most prestigious universities. It demonstrated how new technologies are creating unprecedented opportunities to preserve, document, and share Alevi-Bektashi history, culture, and collective memory with future generations.
Across nine presentations, scholars showcased emerging research projects that are transforming our understanding of Alevi-Bektashi communities from the Ottoman period to the present day. Mark Soileau presented a recent study of more than one hundred manuscripts of the hagiography of Hacı Bektaş, revealing new insights into the transmission of one of the most important texts in Alevi-Bektashi tradition. Yeliz Teber introduced the first systematic study of the Hacı Bektaş shrine collection, documenting a rich but largely unexplored corpus of paintings, books, and objects. Gökçen B. Dinç presented an ambitious digital humanities project examining the vocabulary of what she terms ‘Islam in Turkish,’ highlighting the central role of Alevi-Bektashi traditions in shaping religious life in Anatolia and recovering voices that have often been overlooked in mainstream narratives of Islam.
Questions of memory, heritage, and cultural preservation featured prominently throughout the symposium. Kumru Berfin Emre and Bedriye Poyraz offered new perspectives on the 1937-38 Dersim Massacre, combining survivor testimonies, visual archives, and the mapping of massacre sites to help preserve and better understand a painful chapter in Alevi-Bektashi history. Sinibaldo de Rosa demonstrated how movement notation and digital technologies can be used to document and safeguard the Alevi semah tradition, creating new possibilities for preserving embodied forms of cultural knowledge. These presentations showed how digital tools are helping communities and researchers alike to recover histories, memories, and intangible practices that have long been vulnerable to loss.
The symposium concluded with a panel focusing on the Alevi-Bektashi Digital Archive (ABDA), an ambitious initiative dedicated to preserving endangered Alevi-Bektashi heritage. Ayfer Karakaya-Stump introduced the project and its efforts to create a publicly accessible repository of manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, and audiovisual materials. Yasemin Karakuş demonstrated how newly digitised manuscript collections in this corpus are revealing previously unknown texts, forgotten poets, and new dimensions of Alevi literary culture. Özkan Karabulut presented research using digital analysis and mapping techniques to trace the circulation of Alevi cönk manuscripts, offering fresh insights into the development of Alevi religious and literary traditions. Together, the panel illustrated the great potential of digital humanities to preserve and protect Alevi-Bektashi cultural heritage.
Owing to exceptionally strong interest in the event, both within and beyond Oxford, the number of registered participants was increased, creating a lively environment for scholarly exchange between speakers and audience members. Discussions throughout the day highlighted the importance of ensuring that Alevi-Bektashi history, literature, sacred traditions, and collective memory are preserved and made accessible for future generations. By providing a prestigious platform for research and scholarly dialogue, the symposium contributed to the growing visibility of Alevi-Bektashi studies and highlighted the importance of preserving and documenting Alevi-Bektashi cultural heritage and historical memory.
The symposium was made possible through the generous support of Oxford’s Khalili Research Centre and Wolfson College, as well as the Past & Present Society. Their support enabled an event that celebrated the richness of Alevi-Bektashi culture, strengthened international scholarly collaboration, and advanced research on Alevi-Bektashi history and contemporary experiences.
