About NVIC
The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo is an academic centre providing services for scholars and students from the supporting universities.
The main focus of our activities has always been on the fields of Arabic & Islamic studies, Egyptology, Archaeology and Papyrology. Since 2012, the Institute has been widening its scope, and has defined three additional focus themes. These additional focus themes are:
1. Cairo: the Urban Challenge
Cairo is one of the largest cities on earth, with a very long history. The 20 million inhabitants, the pollution, city migration, unemployment, infrastructure, traffic problems, housing issues and the omnipresent historical heritage, make Cairo a very interesting subject for city-planners, urban designers, sociologists, geographers, architects and experts in the fields of development studies, urban studies, mobility, NGOs, public administration, environmental studies, heritage management, tourism, etc.
2. Politics, Law and Society in Egypt
Egypt is one of the most important countries in the Middle East on the political and cultural levels. Since the 2011 revolution, the country has enjoyed a growing interest of experts in the fields of political studies, democratization, civil society, public administration, the political and social role of Islamic groups, international law, NGOs, human rights, women’s rights, globalization, etc.
3. Art & Culture
Art and culture are study areas in their own rights. In addition to studying the art and culture of Egypt, the Institute has its role in disseminating Dutch and Flemish culture and promoting Dutch-Flemish-Egyptian cultural cooperation and cross-fertilization.
The staff members of the institute, as well as its temporary research fellows, undertake research on behalf of the supporting universities. The NVIC occasionally organises colloquia on topics related to its expertise.
The NVIC also offers academic courses in the archaeology of Egypt and in Arabic studies within the framework of study programmes at the Dutch and Flemish universities. These courses focus on practical knowledge and academic experience in Egypt and they thus add a significant aspect to either field of study at our participating universities. The Institute may assist in the supervision of theses, papers and other individual study programmes undertaken in Egypt.
In 2017 the institute started teaching BA courses in Middle East Studies. These ME semesters include content courses on current topics in the Middle East/Egypt (15 ECT) as well as Arabic language acquisition courses (Standard Arabic and Egyptian colloquial) (15 ECT). In addition, the NVIC organises courses on demand in the fields of the language, culture and society of Egypt and the Middle East academic and non-academic target groups, such as governmental institutions and private companies.
Finally, the Institute helps to disseminate Dutch and Flemish culture and promotes Dutch- and Flemish-Egyptian cultural co-operation, working closely together with the competent institutions in the Netherlands and Flanders and their respective embassies, for instance by offering Dutch language courses.