Arabic & Islamic Studies

The Arabic and Islamic Studies unit at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo supports and conducts interdisciplinary research on an array of topics related to the Arabic language, Arab cultural studies, Islamic studies, and contemporary Egypt and the Middle East. In the past, it has supported research on Islamic law, history, Arabic linguistics, and cultural and sociological studies on contemporary Egypt and the wider Middle East. Dutch and Flemish universities and research centers have had a strong tradition of research in Arabic, Egypt, and Islam, and we are proud to serve and host scholars from these centers at our institute.

Ifdal Elsaket is our assistant-director for Arabic and Islamic Studies and Middle East Studies since 2016. She received her PhD in History and Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Sydney, Australia, in 2014 on the topic "Projecting Egypt: Cinema and the Making of Colonial Modernity, 1896–1952". She continues to work on histories of the cinema in Egypt, focusing on audiences, film fandom, the star system, and off-screen dynamics of film production and exhibition. Her work has appeared in the International Journal of Middle East Studies and Arab Studies Journal; a full list of Ifdal's publications is available here.

Recently she co-edited the volume Cinema in the Arab World: New Histories, New Approaches (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023) together with Philippe Meers (UAntwerp) and Daniel Biltereyst (UGent). She is currently completing her book manuscript on the social and cultural history of cinema and film fandom in Egypt, 1896–1952. For this research she was spotlighted at the New York Public Library.

Ifdal furthermore coordinates our student programmes in Arabic and Middle East Studies, teaches, and co-curates our public lecture series. She is currently also heading a project on silent film heritage in Egypt in collaboration with the EYE Film Museum in Amsterdam. Ifdal acts as the main contact person for Flemish researchers wishing to spend time in Egypt for research or would like logistical research support. 

As part of its research portfolio, NVIC hosts PhD, postdoctoral, and advanced researchers and academics from all around the world. Please get in touch and apply if you would like to be affiliated and join a lively research environment in Cairo. A list of our current and former affiliated scholars can be found on our website.

Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies Studies at our partner universities

The Netherlands

• Leiden University 
• Groningen 
• University of Amsterdam including the Amsterdam Centre for Middle East Studies
• Utrecht University 
• Nijmegen University 
• VU Amsterdam 

Flanders

• KU Leuven 
• Ghent University 
• Antwerp University