Staff profile

I moved to Durham’s Geography in September 2024 after researching and teaching in Universities of Warwick, RHUL, Sussex (UK) and Cairo (Egypt). Within the discipline of geography, my work sits across urban, cultural and political geography and the geohumanities. However, I am an interdisciplinary scholar with training in politics and Middle East studies as well as geography.

I am interested in the affective and material lives of cities of the global majority. I write on issues of memory, archiving, and infrastructure. My doctoral research included investigating the archives of national Egyptian architects who were designing plans for post-colonial/post-independence Cairo. My post-doctoral research focused on the aesthetics and poetics used to represent and depict Arab cities after 2011, neighbourhood storytelling and memory in Coventry, and Space and Memory work in Egypt. My most recent project was funded by the British Academy (postdoctoral fellowship) and investigated instances when cities stand still; such as in curfews and lockdowns. Conceptually, I develop notions of geopoetics, elemental geographies (specifically, dust, cement, concrete and mud), and affective and infrastructural glitches. I am firmly guided by a post/de-colonial framework in my research and political commitments, and I am inspired by decolonial and feminist approaches in teaching and research. 

I am one of the editorial team for the Palgrave book series on Elemental Thinking, and I welcome inquiries for book project that fit the series. I am also one of the editorial team of Arab Urbanism, a bi-lingual open access platform that publishes on urban questions in the Arab World. As of 2025, I am a council member and trustee of the British Society of Middle East Studies (BRISMES). I am one of the co-founders of the RGS-IBG research group of Geographies of Middle East and North Africa, and I currently serve as the research group’s treasurer.

I welcome inquiries about PhD supervision on any of the themes of interest indicated above.

I also welcome inquiries about MRes supervision on two projects: The first with Dr Léonie Newhouse on “the aftermaths of Revolutions in the Countries of the Nile Valley”, and the second with Dr Sam Nowak on “The Politics of Urban Infrastructure in the Majority World”. For further information about MRes applications and projects see here.

• Cities
• Middle East and North Africa
• Postcolonial geographies
• Affect
• Geopoetics
• Built environment and infrastructure
• Elemental geographies

Authored book

• Spon End: A Local Guide
  
  Nieuwenhuis, M., Nassar, A., & Leach, C. (2019). Spon End: A Local Guide. Independent Publishing Network.

Book review

• The home as an index of colonial harm: On Michele Lancione’s for a liberatory politics of home
  
  Nassar, A. (2026). The home as an index of colonial harm: On Michele Lancione’s for a liberatory politics of home. Dialogues in Human Geography. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206261438834
• The time beneath the concrete: Palestine between camp and colony by Nasser Abourahme, Durham and London, Duke University Press, 2025, 231 pp., ISBN: 9781478031444 (paperback)
  
  Nassar, A. (2025). The time beneath the concrete: Palestine between camp and colony by Nasser Abourahme, Durham and London, Duke University Press, 2025, 231 pp., ISBN: 9781478031444 (paperback). Space and Polity. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2025.2566049
• Yahia Shawkat 2020: Egypt's Housing Crisis: The Shaping of Urban Space. Cairo/New York: The American University in Cairo Press
  
  Nassar, A. (2021). Yahia Shawkat 2020: Egypt’s Housing Crisis: The Shaping of Urban Space. Cairo/New York: The American University in Cairo Press. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 45(3), 579-580. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13022
• Social Housing in the Middle East: Architecture, Urban Development, and Transnational Modernity. Kivanc Kilinç and Mohammad Gharipour, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2019). Pp. 330. $85.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780253039842
  
  Nassar, A. (2020). Social Housing in the Middle East: Architecture, Urban Development, and Transnational Modernity. Kivanc Kilinç and Mohammad Gharipour, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2019). Pp. 330. $85.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780253039842. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 52(3), 603-604. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020743820000537
• Endurance in the city victorious (Book review forum: Improvised Lives: Rhythms of Endurance in an Urban South)
  
  Nassar, A. (2020). Endurance in the city victorious (Book review forum: Improvised Lives: Rhythms of Endurance in an Urban South). Dialogues in Human Geography, 10(1), 78-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820619895888
• Egyptian Revolutions : Conflict, Repetition and Identification by Amal Treacher Kabesh
  
  Nassar, A. (2018). Egyptian Revolutions : Conflict, Repetition and Identification by Amal Treacher Kabesh. Emotion, Space and Society, 29, 71-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2018.07.007
• Amale Andraos, Nora Akawi and Caitlin Blanchfield (eds.) 2016: The Arab City: Architecture and Representation. New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, Columbia University Press
  
  Nassar, A. (2017). Amale Andraos, Nora Akawi and Caitlin Blanchfield (eds.) 2016: The Arab City: Architecture and Representation. New York: Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, Columbia University Press. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 41(2), 376-378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12478

Chapter in book

• Attuning to Dust
  
  Nassar, A. (in press). Attuning to Dust. In L. Skof & M. Gorska (Eds.), Handbook of Critical Respiratory Studies: Breath and Air in Humanities and Social Sciences. Springer Nature.
• Flyovers
  
  Nassar, A. (in press). Flyovers. In P. Adey, W. Lin, & K. Barry (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Mobilities. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Creative Political Geography
  
  Nassar, A. (2026). Creative Political Geography. In S. Calkin & C. Freeman (Eds.), De Gruyter Handbook of Feminist Political Geography (pp. 537-548). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111289274-044
• Cairo Up! Infrastructures of Security and Desire
  
  Nassar, A. (2024). Cairo Up! Infrastructures of Security and Desire. In Cairo Securitized Reconceiving Urban Justice and Social Resilience (pp. 233-246). American University in Cairo Press.
• The half-mile-walk: dust, holes, frictions, and reconciliation
  
  Nassar, A., & Puwar, N. (n.d.). The half-mile-walk: dust, holes, frictions, and reconciliation. In A. Gerritsen, S. Biswas, P. Virdee, & A. Nassar (Eds.), Global Coventry: Migration, Diaspora and Place-Making [Contracted by publisher]. Bloomsbury.
• Coventry: Migration, Memory and the Making of a Global City
  
  Nassar, A., Gerristen, A., Biswas, S., & Virdee, P. (n.d.). Coventry: Migration, Memory and the Making of a Global City. In A. Gerritsen, S. Biswas, P. Virdee, & A. Nassar (Eds.), Global Coventry: Migration, Diaspora and Place-Making [Contracted by publisher]. Bloomsbury.

Edited book

• Global Coventry: Migration, Diaspora and Place-Making
  
  Gerritsen, A., Biswas, S., Virdee, P., & Nassar, A. (Eds.). (n.d.). Global Coventry: Migration, Diaspora and Place-Making [Contracted by publisher]. Bloomsbury.

Journal Article

• Egypt's geographical tradition: The post-independence moment and shifting regional imaginations
  
  Nassar, A. (2025). Egypt’s geographical tradition: The post-independence moment and shifting regional imaginations. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 50(4), Article e70032. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.70032
• To be called forth by a speck of dust
  
  Nassar, A. (2025). To be called forth by a speck of dust. Dialogues in Human Geography, 15(2), 206-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206241240202
• “Giving up the Idea of Home”: Ambivalent Geographies, Geopoetics, and Resisting Capture in the Cities of the Middle East
  
  Nassar, A. (2025). “Giving up the Idea of Home”: Ambivalent Geographies, Geopoetics, and Resisting Capture in the Cities of the Middle East. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(3), Article ksaf075. https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf075
• An open letter to the SJTG and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG): The War on Gaza, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and a Palestinian literary event
  
  Griffiths, M., Hughes, S., Mason, O., Nassar, A., & Currie, N. P. (2024). An open letter to the SJTG and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG): The War on Gaza, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and a Palestinian literary event. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 45(1), 6-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12527
• Objects, memories, and storytelling: experiments in narrating ideas of home
  
  Nassar, A., Madbouly, M., Ezzat, A., Abazeed, A., Abdelrahman Soliman, N., Agha, M., El Khachab, C., Elwakil, A., Mourad, L., & Taha, M. (2023). Objects, memories, and storytelling: experiments in narrating ideas of home. City, 27(5-6), 1030-1051. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2023.2254166
• Decentring whiteness in engaging Muslim geographies
  
  Nassar, A. (2023). Decentring whiteness in engaging Muslim geographies. Dialogues in Human Geography, 13(3), 359-362. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206231178802
• Kites, billboards and bridges: Reading the city’s curfew through the glitch
  
  Nassar, A. (2023). Kites, billboards and bridges: Reading the city’s curfew through the glitch. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 41(4), 726-744. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758231196414
• Encountering Berlant part two: Cruel and other optimisms
  
  Anderson, B., Awal, A., Cockayne, D., Greenhough, B., Linz, J., Mazumdar, A., Nassar, A., Pettit, H., Roe, E. J., Ruez, D., Salas Landa, M., Secor, A., & Williams, A. (2023). Encountering Berlant part two: Cruel and other optimisms. The Geographical Journal, 189(1), 143-160. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12493
• Review forum War and the city : urban geopolitics in Lebanon
  
  Carpi, E., Fawaz, M., Fregonese, S., Ingram, A., Nassar, A., & Mason, O. (2023). Review forum War and the city : urban geopolitics in Lebanon. Political Geography, 100, Article 102777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2022.102777
• Fragment(s) of Memor(ies): The Enduring Question of Space and Storytelling
  
  Madbouly, M., & Nassar, A. (2021). Fragment(s) of Memor(ies): The Enduring Question of Space and Storytelling. Égypte/Monde/Arabe, 23, 13-26. https://doi.org/10.4000/ema.14734
• Geopoetics: Storytelling against mastery
  
  Nassar, A. (2021). Geopoetics: Storytelling against mastery. Dialogues in Human Geography, 11(1), 27-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620986397
• Geopoetics as Disruptive Aesthetics: Vignettes from Cairo
  
  Nassar, A. (2021). Geopoetics as Disruptive Aesthetics: Vignettes from Cairo. GeoHumanities, 7(2), 455-463. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2021.1913436
• To stand by the ruins of a revolutionary city
  
  Nassar, A. (2020). To stand by the ruins of a revolutionary city. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 52(3), 510-515. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020743820000689
• Feeling (y)our way in the dark: An interview with Jenny Perlin
  
  Perlin, J., Nieuwenhuis, M., & Nassar, A. (2019). Feeling (y)our way in the dark: An interview with Jenny Perlin. Emotion, Space and Society, 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2019.100596
• Staging the State: Commemoration, Urban Space and the National Symbolic Order in 1970s Cairo
  
  Nassar, A. (2019). Staging the State: Commemoration, Urban Space and the National Symbolic Order in 1970s Cairo. Middle East Critique, 28(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/19436149.2019.1633747
• Where the dust settles: fieldwork, subjectivity and materiality in Cairo
  
  Nassar, A. (2018). Where the dust settles: fieldwork, subjectivity and materiality in Cairo. Contemporary Social Science, 13(3-4), 412-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418521
• Dust: perfect circularity
  
  Nieuwenhuis, M., & Nassar, A. (2018). Dust: perfect circularity. Cultural Geographies, 25(3), 501-507. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474017747252
• ‘Being’ in Al-Azhar Park: Public Spaces in Cairo
  
  Nassar, A. (2013). ‘Being’ in Al-Azhar Park: Public Spaces in Cairo. The Open Urban Studies Journal, 6(1), 65-74. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874942901306010065

Newspaper/Magazine Article

• Unmaking Route 10
  
  Ezzat, A., Nassar, A., & Albahar, I. (2025, May 23). Unmaking Route 10. Arabpop Rivista Di Arti E Letterature Arabe Contemporanee, no. 8 cose(Primavera 2025), 60-78.

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Dust, desert and storytelling: Thinking with the grain of geography
  
  Nassar, A. (2024, December 12). Dust, desert and storytelling: Thinking with the grain of geography. Reading Decoloniality [Blog post].
• Palestine: Spaces and Politics Introductory Curriculum
  
  Qaddumi, D., Abusaada, N., Al-Shihabi, M., Azzouz, A., Henni, S., Judeh, L., Marei, F., Nassar, A., & Jabary Salamanca, O. (2024). Palestine: Spaces and Politics Introductory Curriculum [Teaching resource]. Arab Urbanism.
• Graphite geography
  
  Nassar, A. (2024, October 2 – 2024, December 15). Graphite geography [Printed exhibition book "Etymologies of Foam and Dust"]. Drawing Room.
• Cement
  
  Nassar, A. (2023, November 1). Cement [I-PEEL]. I-PEEL.
• Foreword: Attending to Infrastructure, Thinking from within the Blackout
  
  Jabary Salamanca, O., & Nassar, A. (2023, June 1). Foreword: Attending to Infrastructure, Thinking from within the Blackout [Arab Urbanism]. Arab Urbanism.
• Essential Readings on Cities and Materiality: The Making and Unmaking of Urban Space in the Middle East and North Africa
  
  Nassar, A. (2022). Essential Readings on Cities and Materiality: The Making and Unmaking of Urban Space in the Middle East and North Africa [Teaching resource]. www.Jadaliyya.com. and Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI).
• A GEOPOETICS OF DUST
  
  Nassar, A. (2022, October 1). A GEOPOETICS OF DUST [Website]. Disembodied Territories.