:: FY2003 Field Station Annual Report
Egypt
  (1) Overview:
          In FY2003, the infrastructure of the Field Station where faculty members and graduate students conducted their fieldwork, was improved, and joint research was carried out in partnership with the local counterpart, the Centre for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science of Cairo University. Discussions were also held on tie-up and cooperation with Turkish universities with a view toward the development of wide-area research in West Asia.

  
  (2) Cairo Field Station:
          In February to March, at the end of FY2002, KOSUGI Yasushi, head of the Cairo Field Station, visited Cairo and made improvements to the apartment that has been rented since January 2002 as the base for the Cairo Field Station, along with YOKOTA Takayuki (enrolled in FY2000), a graduate student doing research on the site. The apartment was fully furnished, and they installed a satellite TV set, a computer with a variety of digital Japanese dictionaries and various basic dictionaries and reference literature in Arabic, etc., so as to improve the infrastructure for research activities. With regard to satellite television, some programs were recorded to be used as language training material in Japan in preparation for on-site research.

      The field base was used by YOKOTA Takayuki and ARAI Kazuhiro (enrolled in FY2001), dispatched with funding from the 21st Century COE Program, KAMIKIHARA Rie (enrolled in FY2002), with non-COE funding, and two faculty members who visited for on-site education (TONAGA Yasushi and KOSUGI Yasushi). Thus, the FS was well utilized in FY2003, and it can be said that the original objectives were achieved.
 
   
  (3) Dispatch of Graduate Students:
          Using funds from the Program, YOKOTA Takayuki and ARAI Kazuhiro were dispatched from the summer of 2003 to the spring of 2004. YOKOTA made vigorous research on grassroots Islamic revival movements, centered around activities of groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Wasat Party, and ARAI studied several Sufi orders (tariqas). KAMIKIHARA, sent through non-21COE funding, utilized the Field Station as she conducted on-site research on the social meaning of religious rituals.
  
   
  (4) Dispatch of Faculty Members and On-Site Education:
           From June to July 2003, KOSUGI made a trip to Cairo through a different project. He carried out maintenance on the Field Station and was able to hold an international workshop entitled "Moderate Factions in the Islamic World: Philosophy and Domestic and International Agenda," with full cooperation from the local counterpart, the Centre for Asian Studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. The outcome of this workshop is planned to be carried in Studies on the Islamic World, which is scheduled to be published in autumn 2004.

      From December 2003 to January 2004, TONAGA made a trip to the Field Station to conduct on-site research on the relationship between the theory of tariqa (Sufi orders) and its religious practices. He also provided on-site education to the two graduate students. In concrete terms, this consisted of providing training on interviewing research targets (informants) and a mini-study meetings on the Egyptian dialect of Arabic and classical Arabic literature.
  
   
  (5) Future Plans:
          The Cairo Field Station, although small in size, made significant achievements in FY2002 and FY2003. The results of the on-site research by the two graduate students will soon be publicly presented. Since West Asia covers a wide area, it is not possible to concentrate on the single country of Egypt. Rather, our aim is to maintain and expand the FS to be a West Asia FS, which will cover the Arabic, Turkish and Iranian world as a whole. To this end, plans are underway to develop the activities of the FS into Syria in the Arab world as well as in Turkey in FY2004.

      During his trip in FY2003, TONAGA had meetings with faculty from Ankara University and Marmara University to discuss cooperation in research and education, and on opening a field station in Turkey. New developments are being planned in accordance with this plan in FY 2004.

  
   
  (6) International Exchanges:
          The tie-up and cooperation with Cairo University in Egypt have brought substantial results. In FY2002, an agreement was made to sign an MOU. However, the actual conclusion has been postponed until now, in the hope of using the signing ceremony to publicize the relationship. FromOctober 2003 toFebruary 2004, Dr. Mohammed Al-Sayed Selim of Cairo University, head of the local counterpart, stayed in Kyotoand KOSUGI held discussions with him on various joint projects.

      In Egypt, practical cooperation is also being made with The American University in Cairo.

      One faculty member each from The American University in Cairo and University of Marmara were invited to the international workshop in Tokyo hosted by the Japan Association for Middle East Studies in March 2004. This workshop achieved great success; it can be said that the construction of partnerships with both universities are on track.

      In Turkey, TONAGA is playing a central role in promoting cooperation with universities such as Ankara University, Marmara University, Uludag University and Chanakkale University. Consultations are being held with Ankara and Marmara universities toward the establishment of a field station in that country.

  
       
>>Field Station Interim Report:Oct., FY2003
>>Report of Faculty Members:FY2003
>>Report of Students:FY2003
Reports of Field Stations in FY 2003

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