Resident Scholar Program (RSP)
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Alexandria— In an attempt to revive the spirit of the Ancient Library of Alexandria that gathered the scholars of the world together, the Manuscript Center of the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina adopts the Resident Scholar Program which hosts the eminent heritage researchers and scholars of the world. To ensure that knowledge is shared and handed down from one generation to the next, researchers reside in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina for a period of time during which they meet, on daily basis, with the resident scholar, this time it is Professor Abdalla Youssef al-Ghoneim. During his stay, which lasts for more than two weeks, the resident scholar delivers a number of public lectures. The Manuscript Center, then, compiles them onto CDs that would be available for public at the cost price.
Professor Abdalla Youssef al-Ghoneim is one of the leading scholars in the geomorphology of the Arabian Peninsula and an eminent historian of medieval Arabic geographical thought. He obtained his PhD from Oxford University, and taught at the University of Kuwait for a period that extends over three decades. He held many distinguished academic and state positions: he was head of the Department of Geography at Kuwait University; dean of the University"s Faculty of Arts; editor-in-chief of the scholarly Journal of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies; director of the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts; Minister of Higher Education in the Kuwaiti cabinet (twice) and a member of many academic boards worldwide. Professor al-Ghoneim authored many books on his specialty.
The program is constituted of four lectures. The first lecture, on the 12 December, is entitled "Insights into Geographical Heritage". Since our geographical heritage has contributed to modern geographical thought, an objective assessment of Arab contribution to this field should be made. Old books that have been authenticated in the last two centuries must be re-evaluated to see whether they need to be re-published. Moreover, the critical studying of maps and geographical charts should be undertaken to correctly evaluate the Arab additions to this dynamic field of human lore.
The second lecture, on the 14 December, is entitled "Ahmed Ben Maged: The Pioneer Navigator of the Indian Ocean". He is one of the highly regarded Arab scientists in Oceanography. He wrote the first Arabic book on oceanography that reached us. His book was of immense help to navigators until navigation by sailing boats had gradually disappeared as a result of the use of petrol and the new technological advances. Although much has been said about him by Orientalists and Arab scholars, there is still much to be added.
The third lecture, "Earthquakes in the Arab Heritage," is on the 17th December and shows how the Arabs viewed the reasons for the earthquakes and to what extent they were influenced by those who preceded them. It also studies the actual earthquake incidents in Arab books. Such studies allow for more knowledge of the Arab lore in this field.
The fourth lecture is on the 20 December and is entitled "The Alternation between Land and Water in Classical Greek Geography and Medieval Arabic Geography". After many attempts made by Greek scholars at understanding the alternate phenomena of water inundations and recessions, during the pinnacle of Arab science, a number of Muslim scholars (al-Mas‘ūdī, al-Bīrūnī, Ibn Sīna, and many others) made substantial contributions to the study of these phenomena that led to further discoveries and theories as Alfred Wagner"s theory of Continental Drift and the latter theory of Plate Tectonics.
For more information go to www.manuscriptcenter.org