Cities on the Edge

Over the course of two days, Cities on the Edge will gather an international group of scholars working on a variety of aspects pertaining to the urban heritage of Egypt, Sudan and Palestine. This transnational focus of Egypt and its neighbors serves to acknowledge the deep historical entanglements of these regions from as far back as the neolithic period (a fundamental fact that traditional disciplinary and geopolitical boundaries have a tendency to occlude), as well as the related crises they face through serious threats to—and destruction of—their heritage, including the forced relocation of many archaeologists and cultural heritage professionals from Sudan, Palestine to Egypt.

Through five thematic round tables as well as a practicum field trip to the Khalifa area led by May Al-Ibrashy, collectively reflecting on the following questions: What are the specific threats to Egyptian, Sudanese and Palestinian urban heritage, and what are the roles of heritage scholars and practitioners in times of crisis? How can students and professionals in the fields of archaeology, architecture, art history, museum studies and cultural heritage contribute to salvaging the remains and (living and nonliving) archives of millennia-old cities that now face existential risks—if not annihilation—due to financial crises, climate collapse and mass violence? How can this work generate sustainable futures in Egypt and neighboring Sudan and Palestine? And how can transdisciplinary, transregional and transhistorical pedagogy and public-facing scholarship help sustain these processes of historical and cultural documentation, preservation and dissemination? 

Sponsored by
Western Washington University, UofT Archaeology Centre, UofT Institute of Islamic Studies, UofT School of Cities, The University of Southampton, The Honor Frost Foundation, The Cultural Protection Fund (British Council).

With the support of the Winder Fund.
For more information: aric@aucegypt.edu
 

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Arab and Islamic Civilization Department

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