Critical Thinking Methods in the Built Environment

This Online workshop introduces participants to different approaches to the built environment in critical social sciences and humanities. The main objective is to give participants the tools to situate their own understanding of the built environment – shaped by different social and educational backgrounds – with wider parallel understandings in society. The workshop’s approach is based on experiential learning, rather than reading or design work, allowing participants to gain a grasp on basic critical thinking methods through walking, note-taking, photography, film, sound, and geotagging.

Instructor

Chihab El Khachab: Associate Professor in Visual Anthropology at the University of Oxford and a Governing Body Fellow of Wolfson College. Explores the intersections of social, visual, and media anthropology, focusing on Egyptian media production. Received his DPhil from the University of Oxford after completing his BA at the University of Ottawa. Served previously as a Junior Research Fellow in Anthropology at Christ Church, Oxford (2016 - 2020), and as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in Cambridge (2020 - 2021). Authored «Making Film in Egypt: How Labor, Technology and Mediation Shape the Industry» (American University in Cairo Press, 2021) and «Al-Fahhama» (Diwan Publishing, 2022), , and «Constructing the Achievement State: Cultural Administration in Postrevolutionary Egypt» (Cambridge University Press, 2026).