Transcending Disciplinary Barriers Through Strategic Research Themes
Presentation by Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem
Wednesday 29 January 2020, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Room: Coslett 117, ARU
Abstract
Cultural heritage is increasingly threatened by destruction, climate change, rampant commercialisation, and overexploitation by tourism, whilst heritage institutions are struggling due to lack of funding and limited vision towards their future proofing. With the increasing rate of destruction of cultural heritage sites during conflicts and disasters (natural and man-made); from Palmyra in Syria to Macintosh School of Art in Glasgow and Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the scope of heritage research has become ever broader and multidisciplinary. With heritage research becoming a driver for several organisations and funding agencies, national and international, new approaches and novel methods are in high demand. New partnerships emerge and international collaborations became the testbed for impact-driven agenda. Change in the research culture, collaborations and alliances at the University level was necessary. Professor Abdelmonem offered an account of building effective partnerships through the Global Heritage Research Theme at Nottingham Trent University that became a vehicle and catalyst for interdisciplinary research culture. He discusses examples and projects, where engaging researchers, technologies, and stakeholders opened new opportunities for research excellence and collective research power.
Biography
Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem is Chair in Architecture and the Founding Director of the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH) at Nottingham Trent University. Gamal is the University Lead of the Strategic Research Theme: Global Heritage- Science, Management & Development. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the 2014 recipient of the Jeffrey Cook Award of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE). Professor Abdelmonem research has informed the policy and practice of several governments and international organisations on aspects of architecture of home, heritage preservation, urban planning and design. Gamal has led numerous research projects funded by the European Research Council (FP7), The Government of Ireland, Japan Foundation, The British Academy, The Arts & Humanities Research Council (UK), and Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). His recent books include ‘Peripheries: Edge Conditions in Architecture’ (2012); The Architecture of Home in Cairo” (2015), “Architecture, Space and Memory of Resurrection in Northern Ireland” (2019)
Link
- Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem
University Lead, Global Heritage Research Theme
Nottingham Trent University
