Kağan Arık has investigated pre-Islamic elements in the culture of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and Turkey, and has published on the culture of the Kazakhs in China, the oral literature of the Kyrgyz, and on traditional healing among various Turkic peoples. He also has a background as an anthropologist (socio-cultural, linguistic, medical) of Central Asia and has studied the region since 1987. Arık is the Ayaslı Instructional Professor in Modern Turkish and Turkic languages, and coordinator for the Modern Turkish and Turkic language program in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the College at the University of Chicago.