For a closer look, Istanbul will host an international symposium Dec. 9-10 in memory of Edward Said (1935-2003), a Palestinian-born intellectual.

Istanbul city officials are organizing the symposium to make a contribution to the world of Turkish thought.

This symposium will be the largest-ever meeting to host both foreign and Turkish academics who work on Orientalism. The program hopes participants will discuss ways to challenge Orientalist views.

Panel discussions will begin with a speech from Professor Serif Mardin on the Turkish perception of Orientalism and will then be covered in five different sessions.

Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak from Columbia University will host a conference on current perceptions of Orientalism and the way they relate to discussions of the West and the East.

Some of topics include:

'In Memory of Edward Said: To Walk on the Border of Orientalism'

'Where is the Orient? Who is an Orientalist?'

'Orientalism as an Historical Experience and Adventure: Travelers, Explorers, Pilgrimages and Colonists.'

'Confrontations: Relations among Civilizations' and 'Orientalist Arts: Western Images on Imagined East.'

Intended as a visual contribution to the discussions, an exhibition will be staged to introduce orientalist arts and engravings.
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