IMC Memories: Ahmed Hussein

Ahmed Hussein, Department of Archaeology, University of Khartoum, attended his first IMC in 2017, with support from an IMC Bursary. He spoke to us about his experience at Leeds.

"The IMC Bursary I received gave me significant help in covering the expenses of attending the IMC. I would not have been able to come without the bursary, as I would have not have been able to cover all expenses with my own resources.

The IMC has been of great interest, in the range of topics covered and the depth of the different topics being investigated. All the arguments have been really excellent. They made my first attendance at the IMC both stimulating academically and enjoyable socially. I met many scholars and researchers in Leeds; some of them are interested in the Red Sea, my area, and some are interested in Sudan, so it’s a very important conference for me.

Ahmed at the IMC in 2017.

Attending the IMC will help me professionally in getting to know the different themes currently being investigated in medieval studies, and the different theoretical and methodological approaches being applied. It will help me make professional links with international scholars, which will be of help in future research and providing ideas in teaching.

I’m a member of staff in the Department of Archaeology, and presenting some papers in conferences in the UK and Europe, as a delegate of a medieval conference in Leeds, will help me to teach on how to present papers. This is still really important.

The IMC will really help me to develop my ideas and my research on everything about the medieval Red Sea. That’s why I’m really happy to attend the IMC – and I’m really happy to be in Leeds, because it’s a fantastic city. It looks like a medieval city!

I’m really interested to come to the IMC again and meet scholars and researchers in medieval and other areas. I was talking with a professor about how to apply for the next one, and we’ll have to talk about new research in the Red Sea area and in Sudan. We talked about papers on cultural exchanges from the Nile to the Red Sea.

You have to know more about medieval history and archaeology than Europe. There is contact and relationships between medieval civilisations in Sudan and other countries in Europe and Asia, especially around material culture. We have to find out what these relationships were between these civilisations and communities.

I met many scholars from Africa, especially Ethiopia – we participated in sessions on the Red Sea and Ethiopia. Also some archaeologists from Europe will be in Sudan to find out more about the medieval castles and fortresses there. They are interested to come to Sudan, and that’s one of the most important things from Leeds. We are in touch with them via email to arrange it."