Academic Interests
Affect - Antiquities - Archives - Cinema Studies - Governance - Ideology - Memory - mid-century Egypt - Pharaonism - Political Economy - Postcolonial Studies.
I am a PhD researcher in the department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. I am also a grassroots archivist and multimodal art practitioner, having curated and participated in archival and artistic exhibitions using different media. I have been a volunteer curator for temporary exhibitions at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo since 2019.
My PhD Project, titled, "Ideologies in Stone: Antiquities and The (Re)Production of The Egyptian Nation-State" explores themes of governance, postcolonial identity, nation-state building, and ideological legacies through the lens of Egyptian Antiquities. By exploring the intersection of cultural heritage, legislative shifts, institutional policy, cinematic representations, and ideological governance, I seek to understand how antiquities were instrumentalised as both economic resource and political symbol in the aftermath of British suzerainty in mid-century Egypt.
Background
BA in Media and Language Studies - Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport (2017).
MA in Sociocultural Anthropology - The American University in Cairo (2022). Thesis: "Navigating the Cairene Table: Food and Family between What Is Ideal a" by Iman Afify (aucegypt.edu)
Awards/Fellowships
- The MuseumsLab Fellowship. Awarded by the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD). (2023).
- Emerging Scholar Award. Awarded by Literary Landscapes: Forms of Knowledge in the Humanities. (2023).
New Generation Fellowship. Awarded by the Arab Council for Social Sciences. (2020-2023).
Teaching Appointments
- Teaching Fellow - Cairo Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences. (Summer 2022).
- Teaching Assistant - The American University in Cairo (Fall 2019 - Spring 2022).
Teaching Assistant - The British University in Egypt. (Fall 2017/Spring 2018).
Professional Appointments
- Research Assistant - Cairo Papers in Social Sciences at the American University in Cairo. (2022 - 2024).
- Researcher and Curator - Sard Center for History and Social Research (Shubra's Archive). (2021 - 2025).
- Archival Assistant - Rare Books and Special Collections Library at The American University in Cairo. (2020-2022).
- Curator (Volunteer) - The Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (2019 - Present).