As scholars and activists continued cross reading sessions for the upcoming book, “Revolution as a Process – The Case of the Egyptian Uprising”, they also received supplementary lectures and participated in cultural activities.
The first evening, Wednesday, November 27th, 2013, participants enjoyed an informal dinner in Beit al Harawy coffeehouse (ahwa) in Islamic Cairo before a guided tour of historic mosques in Islamic Cairo. On the second evening of the conference, participants gathered for a group dinner with a view of the Giza Pyramids and a traditional oud music performance. On the third day, Friday, November 29th, 2013, they enjoyed an “open space” session via sailboat (felucca) on the Nile River. On the third day, Saturday, the participants paid a visit with a tour guide to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.
The group also received visiting lectures from Mohamed Elmasry, American University in Cairo Professor of Media and Sara Salem, PhD researcher at Institute of Social Studies in the Netherlands. Elmasry gave a lecture on Muslim Brotherhood media discourse saying that, “there is a discursive construction of the Brotherhood, portraying it as a group that is ‘incompetent’, that it is attempting to monopolize power to a group that is criminal, terrorist, and disloyal.” Elmasry’s research includes evaluating the factualness of media discourse. Salem presented an overview of feminism in Egypt and some common misconceptions in addition to challenges. Both lectures included a question and answer session.
On the last day of the conference, participants wraped up their cross reading sessions, provided feedback, and prepared to return to their home countries to work on updated drafts of their chapters.
