Tarsus American College Explores “Yaşar Kemal Geography”
This year’s Yaşar Kemal Geography Field Trip, a traditional event organized by TAC’s Turkish Language and Literature Department with prep classes, took place on June 2nd, 2018. Accompanied by the teachers of the Turkish Language and Literature Departent, the students visited the Hemite (Gökçedam) village located in Kadirli district of Osmaniye, where the literary master Yaşar Kemal, whose works they read in their Turkish classes, was born, raised and first started writing. The first stop in Hemite was the Yaşar Kemal Culture House. Here, students explored Yasar Kemal's works along with first editions of his books and learned about sections of his life. They were also exposed to selected quotes from his works and saw the Memed, My Hawk Sculpture in the garden of Culture House. Later, they visited the house where he was born and spent his childhood, as well as the other places which inspired his stories. The students then climbed up Hemite Castle and enjoyed the panoramic landscape of the village. During the visit to the castle, students exchanged their views about Yaşar Kemal. The team of students played drama-based games about the stories of Yaşar Kemal under the guidance of their teachers. The next stop after Hemite Village was Kadirli’s City Museum where the local life of Kadirli and the cultural characteristics of the region were observed. The students had a first hand opportunity to watch the art of carpet weaving. At the end of the trip, the students were happy to see the places where Yasar Kemal was born and raised, which can be traced back in this stories as his literary inspiration.