Academic Tours in Egypt

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AWF and Academic Tours in Egypt

[Please note that the following section is also available in Dutch.]
 
Arab West Foundation organises conferences, study visits and other activities with the aim of creating a greater awareness about the need for intercultural understanding, including contemporary Arab-West and Muslim-Christian relations. 
 
We can organize courses and trips on a variety of subjects including:
 
  • Christianity and ancient Christian traditions in a Muslim society such as the Egyptian Holy Family tradition
  • Early Christian church fathers
  • Islam in Egypt
  • Spiritual retreats to Egyptian monasteries
  • Dialogue and human rights in Egypt
  • In addition to any of the subjects mentioned in the Arab-West Report magazine (women, development, and so forth)
The purpose of these excursions are in line with the work of the electronic database Arab-West Report/Dialogue Accross Borders, the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT LLC), the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU) established by Cornelis and Sawsan Hulsman.
 
These organisations focus on intercultural dialogue, inter-religious understanding and conflict resolution and boast a huge large database and contact network in Egypt.
 
We can tailor conferences and study visits to your needs, be it a college, church, mosque, society, or any other institution or for your own personal research and interests. These trips will also help you to better understand Muslim-Christian relations in your own country or region.
Conferences and study visits can include:
 
  • Group visits
  • Individual visits
  • Research visits
  • Religious leaders
  • Journalistic visits
  • Business visits
  • Art visits
  • Youth visits
  • Internship placements for students
  • Summer school programs for educational institutes with a program of your choice
 
About the organizers
 
Programmes are organized by Cornelis who studied developmental sociology at Leiden University with a focus on Arab Christianity and Muslim-Christian relations. He first travelled to Egypt in 1976. In 1981-1982 he studied small farmers in Egypt and later contributed to several films about the country. In 1994 the Hulsman Family relocated to Egypt where he and his Egyptian wife investigated Muslim-Christian tensions, studied Egyptian Christian traditions and investigated locations in Egypt mentioned in the Bible. Hulsman co-authored ‘Be Thou There; the Holy Family’s Journey in Egypt’ published by the American University in Cairo. Sawsan Hulsman returned in 2010 to the Netherlands for the education of their children. Cornelis Hulsman retired in 2022 and is now also residing in the Netherlands.  
 
Cornelis previously served as:
  • Secretary-general of the Cairo Foreign Press Association 
  • Affiliate Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo 
  • Editor-in-Chief of Arab-West Report 
 
He contributed to hundreds of articles and reports and films in media in The Netherlands and beyond.
 
Sawsan Hulsman-Khalil was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and although she is a civil engineer, she is also head of the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (LLC). For over ten years she has also been the Egypt’s country coordinator for the Dutch youth organization World Servants.
 
Together they have four children of whom they are proud to have raised in a multicultural environment.
 
Cornelis and Sawsan’s work has been praised by, among others, luminaries such as the late Dutch prime minister, Andreas van Agt (1931-2024), former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord George Carey and HRH Prince Hassan bin-Talal from Jordan but also tens of professors, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, human rights and media individuals and organisations. Click for recommendation letters.
 
In April/May 2008 they organized a visit of prominent Dutch Muslim and Christian leaders to discuss Geert Wilder’s film ‘Fitna Egypt’, and meet with Egyptian religious leaders (Muslim and Christian), scholars, journalists and students. They also organized high profile visits for the Austrian Muslim-Christian dialogue group, the Hong Kong Christian Council, late Dutch Prime Minister Andreas van Agt, the Cairo Foreign Press Association, lots of media representatives, Christian groups, scholars, businessmen and others.