Aims of the Project

• To promote high calibre academic exchange between the LSE and the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS) at Cairo University, the oldest and biggest faculty of its kind in an Arab public university.
• To encourage dialogue and exchange of ideas between academics and PhD students from the two institutions on key problems and opportunities raised by the Arab Spring, and their implications both for existing academic debates and for policy-making.
• To encourage and support academic excellence especially among PhD students at the Department of Political Science and EuroMed PhD programme at FEPS.
• To provide LSE and FEPS academics with opportunities for exploring the potential for further collaboration.
• To introduce LSE PhD students to the academic environment of a key Arab university, and FEPS students to European and British academia.

This project forms part of the Academic Collaboration with Arab Universities Programme, funded by the Emirates Foundation.

Activities

Pre-departure event in Cairo
This event provided the opportunity to officially present the project, to deliver one or two practical workshops directed at FEPS PhD students (for instance in the standards for submitting articles to peer-reviewed journals, presentation techniques, etc.) and to hold informal interviews with FEPS applicants for the graduate conference.

Graduate conference held at LSE
The first graduate conference was aimed at discussing the causes and immediate implication of the Egyptian revolution from a political science and economic / political economy perspective.

Graduate conference held at FEPS
The second graduate conference focused on the broader historical and political context and future prospects of the Arab Spring and of the Egyptian revolution.

Outcomes and Impact

• Developed close working relations between LSE and FEPS, creating the conditions for extending this collaboration to other projects
• Strengthened the academic profile of both LSE and FEPS PhD students with publications, conference papers and skill development
• Contributed to the broader debate on the Arab Spring and the Egyptian transition, especially through the conferences and the project website

Research Team

Marco Pinfari | Principal Investigator

Marco is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the American University in Cairo.

Ola El Khawaja | Co-Principal Investigator

Ola is Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University (FEPS).

Jasmine Gani | LSE Co-Principal Investigator

Jasmine is Lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews.