Our first ever Visiting Fellow, Professor Hamdy Hassan was in Australia from 18 July until 18 August 2015. Based in Melbourne at Deakin University (the host institution), Professor Hassan also visited Sydney and Canberra. He is a tenured Professor of Political Science at Cairo University and is currently based at the Institute for Islamic World Studies at Zayed University in Dubai, UAE.

Professor Hassan was in considerable demand during his travels giving lectures and seminars, attending roundtables with various departments and holding interviews with national newspapers and broadcasters. Following his interview with the ABC, the reporter commented that it was valuable having Professor Hassan, an established Arab academic, to feed into the local discourse on contentious issues.

In Canberra, the Egyptian Ambassador Dr Hassan El-Laithy hosted a lunch in honour of Professor Hassan. The Middle East Branch at DFAT also hosted a roundtable for Professor Hassan where he provided a unique perspective on relations between Australia and Egypt, the Gulf and Africa.

Photo Description In the picture above, from left CAAR Manager Richard Merzian, CAAR Visiting Fellow Professor Hassan and the head of the Middle East Branch at DFAT, Greg Ralph.