Dr Yasmina El Chami
BArch, AA MPhil, PhD Cantab
School of Architecture and Landscape
Lecturer in Architectural Humanities
School Decolonial Lead
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
91直播
S10 2TN
- Profile
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I am an architect and architectural historian and I joined the University of 91直播 as a Lecturer in Architectural Humanities in 2022. I completed my PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2022, funded by the Cambridge International Scholarship (2017鈥20), a Scouloudi Junior Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research in London (2020鈥21) and a Funds for Women Graduates Doctoral Completion Grant (2020鈥21). Prior to my PhD I was a practicing architect in Lebanon and part-time faculty at several architectural schools.
My work examines the intersections of colonial and imperial histories with the production of the built environment, focusing in particular on informal/covert imperial actors and processes in the long nineteenth and early twentieth century. This includes my research on the architectural history of informal imperialism in the Ottoman Middle East (PhD), and the geopolitics of American campus-building in the post-WWI Eastern Mediterranean (current project). I am particularly interested in the socio-political and economic processes that undergird the conception and production of the built environment, and I adopt an expanded understanding of architectural history that integrates insights from political/IR history, environmental history, and postcolonial/development studies.
My research has been supported by several competitive fellowships and awards, including the Graham Foundation Research and Development Grant supporting my current project (2023), the Presbyterian Historical Society鈥檚 Annual Research Fellowship (2020), and the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain鈥檚 Hawksmoor Essay Medal (2020).
At 91直播 I have led several undergraduate humanities modules that I have redeveloped to align with the School's broader decolonial agenda, which I also lead. I am also module leader for MArch Dissertations, and I contribute to humanities teaching across the School. In 2022-23 I led a Faculty of Social Sciences Education Project Grant (拢7,500) aiming to establish a decolonial architecture network across UK Schools of Architecture, which culminated in a 2-day workshop in July 2023. This year I am leading the decolonial pedagogical strategies within the School, including implementation of decolonial learning outcomes across all modules, and several staff-facing talks and activities.
- Qualifications
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- PhD in Architecture, University of Cambridge, 2022
- MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design, Architectural Association London, 2013
- BArch in Architecture, American University of Beirut, 2010
- Research interests
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My work is at the intersection of Architectural and Urban History/Theory and Postcolonial Studies, and I am particularly interested in the socio-political and economic processes that undergird the conception and production of the built environment, especially in colonial/postcolonial settings.
I am currently at work on two book projects. The first is a book project based on my dissertation, titled 鈥楥ollective Colonialism: Missionary Competition and the Project of the City in Ottoman Lebanon鈥. It examines the colonial nature and role of the two oldest and most important universities in Lebanon, the Syrian Protestant College (today, American University of Beirut) and the Universite虂 Saint-Joseph, as evidenced by their architectural and urban development. Contesting the view of missionaries as primarily religious, and therefore ambiguous, imperial actors, the project relies on archival research in over ten institutional and diplomatic archives in Lebanon, France, and the United States, as well as mapping and site analysis, to highlight the complex material, economic, and imperial networks underpinning the architecture and construction of their campuses. By demonstrating that architecture and political influence were mutually constitutive in this scenario, the book develops the innovative concept of 鈥榗ollective colonialism鈥 to describe the ways in which competition between marginal and 鈥榠nformal鈥 imperial actors embedded a divisive order in the modern foundations of the city. The project therefore reconsiders both the limits of architecture鈥檚 political agency and the nature of colonialism in Ottoman Lebanon. Parts of this project have been published or are forthcoming as articles in Architectural Theory Review, ABE Journal: Architecture Beyond Europe, and JSAH, the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.
My second project, titled 'Building 鈥淚nternational Goodwill鈥: American Campuses in the 鈥淣ear East,鈥 1919鈥1964', builds on the first project and delves deeper into the interplay between politics, education, and the racial-religious ideologies that underpinned American campus-building in post-WWI Lebanon, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece. Focusing on four American campuses built between 1919 and 1964, the research explores the role of architecture within America鈥檚 broader geopolitical ambitions for the 鈥楴ear East鈥, and questions how these campuses were designed to shape a new spatial and regional political imaginary, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. I am currently developing this project through a .
I am currently the special issue editor (with Sara Honarmand Ebrahimi) for issue 28:3 of and I am a general editor for Architectural Histories, the EAHN's journal.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- . Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 83(4), 481-504.
- . Architectural Theory Review, 25(1-2), 199-215.
- . ABE Journal(19).
Chapters
- The Place Beyond the Coast: A Spatio-Political History of Mount Lebanon鈥檚 Interior In Younes H (Ed.), The Place That Remains Recounting the Unbuilt Territory (pp. 176-183). Milano: Skira.
Book reviews
Theses / Dissertations
- Beirut, From City of Capital to Capital City: Reconstructing a Lebanese State Identity Within Neoliberal Economy.
Other
- Research group
- Grants
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Graham Foundation Individual Research Development Grant, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Chicago, USA ($7,500), 2023-24
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Faculty of Social Sciences Education Project Grant: 鈥楧ecolonial Architecture Network鈥, University of 91直播, UK (拢7,500), 2022-23
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Scott Opler Emerging Scholar Conference Grant, Society of Architectural Historians, USA, 2022-23
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Global Urban History Project Emerging Scholar Annual Fellowship, GHUP, 2022鈥23
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Institute of Historical Research Scouloudi Junior Research Fellowship, 2020-21
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Funds for Women Graduates Doctoral Grant, FfWG, UK, 2020-21
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Presbyterian Historical Society Annual Research Fellowship, Philadelphia, USA, 2019-20
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Graduate Research Funds Grants, multiple, Christ鈥檚 College, Cambridge, 2018鈥20
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Faculty Fieldwork Grants, multiple, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, 2018鈥19
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Cambridge International Scholarship, Cambridge Trust, University of Cambridge, 2017-20
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- Teaching activities
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- ARC103 - Humanities I
- ARC104 - Humanities 2
- ARC204 - Humanities 4
- ARC556/596 - MArch Dissertation
- ARC566/696- MArch Dissertation
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Editor, Architectural Histories, EAHN Journal, 2023-27
- MA Dissertation Prize Juror, SAHGB, 2022, 2023
- Emerging Scholar, Global Urban History Project, 2022-23