JMI’s India Arab Culture Centre organizes special lecture on “Understanding Culture”

New Delhi, September 18, 2026

India Arab Cultural Centre (IACC), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) today organized a special lecture on“Understanding Culture” and a felicitation program in the Conference Hall of IACC.Prof. A. K. Ramakrishnan, former Chairperson of Centre for West Asian Studies, JNU delivered the lecture on ‘Understanding Culture’. Dr. Md. Aftab Ahmad, Director of the Centre felicitated Prof. M. H. Ilias, MG University, Keralam and former Director of IACC, JMI for his academic contribution to IACC during his services at Jamia. Dr. Abdulla NC moderated the event.

During his lecture, Prof. A. K. Ramakrishnan explicated that understanding culture provides a framework for examining societies critically and comparatively. It encourages them to explore how historical experiences, social institutions, beliefs, and artistic expressions influence human behavior and collective identity. Prof. Ramakrishnan opined that the history of India-Arab interaction demonstrates the importance of culture as a connecting force between societies. Commercial contacts across the Indian Ocean were accompanied by exchanges involving language, literature, religion, architecture, science, education, food, and artistic traditions, he added.

Prof. M. H Ilias through his interaction with students highlighted the evaluation of visual culture particularly in the context of Islamic society. He examined how images, objects, spaces, symbols, and visual practices influence the way people perceive and understand society. Modern and contemporary societies have expanded the meaning of visual culture through photography, cinema, television, graphic design, architecture, advertising, social media, and digital art, Prof. Ilias said. Contemporary artists negotiate questions of identity, modernity, heritage, migration, gender, globalization, conflict, and cultural memory, he added.

Dr. Ahsan Raza who delivered the formal vote of thanks expressed gratitude to the speaker and the guests for attending the event. He also thanked the audiences including faculty members of various centers and departments and research scholars and students for being present on this special occasion.