Nezar AlSayyad, chair, Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Nezar AlSayyad is a professor of architecture, planning, urban design and urban history, and is chair of UC Berkeley’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He is an expert on Egypt and the urban histories and traditions of the Arab world. He writes about culture, politics and the built environment. AlSayyad has authored and edited several books on housing, identity, tradition, urbanism, urban design, urban history, urban informality, tourism and the virtual world. He also has produced and directed two public television documentaries: “Virtual Cairo” and “At Home with Mother Earth.” His most recent book, "Cairo: Histories of a City," is forthcoming from Harvard University Press in April, 2011.