Tourism, Heritage and Cultural Change in the Middle East and North Africa

A conference announcement forwarded by Annette B. Fromm:

Traditions and Transformations: Tourism, Heritage and Cultural Change in the Middle East and North Africa Region

In April (4-7) 2009, the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change in partnership with the Council for British Research in the Levant (the CBRL is an overseas Institute of the British Academy) will hold a major international conference to explore the changing relationships between tourism, culture and heritage across the Middle East and North Africa Region. Delegates from across the Middle East and the North Africa Region, together with scholars from the rest of the world will assemble to discuss the critical relationships between tourism, heritage and culture.

The Conference is being hosted by the Greater Municipality of Amman in Jordan and will be held in the King Hussein Cultural Centre in the heart of the vibrant downtown area of Jordan's Capital City. We are delighted that the patron of the Conference will be Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya Bint Al Hassan.

The aims of this inter-disciplinary conference are: To critically explore the major issues facing the MENA region with regard to the development of tourism and its relationships with heritage and culture; To draw upon ideas, cases and best practice from international scholars and help develop new understandings and research capacities regarding the relationships between tourism, heritage and culture in the MENA Region and; To provide a major networking opportunity for international scholars, policy makers and professionals.

The conference will feature over 150 international academics, policy makers and practitioners and will feature keynote addresses from Dr Taleb Rifai, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, Professor Nezar Alsayyad, Director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at University California Berkeley, and Dr Seteney Shami, Programme Director of the Middle East and the North Africa region at the Social Science Research Council.

The conference seeks to promote dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and welcomes papers from all disciplines. Key themes of interest to the conference include:

* Histories, mobilities, and the symbolic / political economies of tourism;

* Tourism in the construction of places / spaces / nations;

* The role of archaeology in contemporary tourism;

* Structures / infrastructures of International tourism - building/architecture/ design for tourism & tourists;

* Tourism and the role of the museum;

* The conservation of heritage for tourism;

* The practices and performances of 'tradition';

* Tourist art and art for tourists;

* Intangible heritage and its role in tourism;

* Rural and urban tourism practices.

Members of the Conference Scientific Committee include: Dr Khaled Adham, (United Arab Emirates University), Dr Rami Daher (German Jordanian University), Professor Bill Finlayson (Council for British Research in the Levant), Dr Habib Saidi (University of Laval) and Dr Lina Tahan (Leeds Metropolitan University).

If you wish to submit a 300 word abstract as an electronic file (including title and full contact details) please do so no later than 17th October 2008 to ctcc@leedsmet.ac.uk

To participate in this conference or to learn more please contact: ctcc@leedsmet.ac.uk or visit www.tourism-culture.com or www.cbrl.org