about the organisers
Ruaa Yagkhmour:
Funded by the ESRC DTP and Cambridge Trust scholarships, Ruaa is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Architecture. An awardee of both the Chevening and Cambridge Trust scholarships, she holds an MSc in Engineering Project Management from the University of Leeds and an MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies from the University of Cambridge. Before obtaining her master’s degrees, Ruaa was selected as one of the top 100 students in the MENA region with entrepreneurial skills and joined the Leadership and Management program at Indiana University, USA. Professionally, Ruaa has over 8 years of experience in urban planning and project management in Palestine, working with private companies, international organisations and NGOs.
Nicholas Frayne:
Nicholas is a PhD in Architecture candidate and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he studies how the architectural remnants of political violence impact extra-legal conceptions and negotiations of justice in sub-Saharan Africa. Building on degrees in architecture from the University of Waterloo, and experience at architecture firms in North America, Nicholas’ research on justice, memory and architecture has been notably published in the Memory Studies, The Journal of Architecture and Architecture and Culture. He has also served as co-editor in chief of the 33rd issue of Scroope: the Cambridge Architecture Journal. His current research combines phenomenology and postcolonial theory to understand and place the dynamics of African sites of political violence into wider debates on the formative roles that architecture might play in justice. As such, he is concerned with the relationships between architectural materiality, justice, and the politics of time.
Irit Katz:
Irit is associate professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at the Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ's College. Her work focuses on built environments shaped in extreme conditions, including spaces of displacement, conflict, and environmental changes, in historic and contemporary contexts, with an emphasis on settler colonial settings in Palestine-Israel and beyond. Her research incorporates spatial ethnography, participatory methods, and a strong engagement with cultural and political theories. Irit’s research has won numerous recognitions, including the Mellon/SAH Author Award, the RIBA President’s Award for Research, and the Leverhulme Research Fellowship. Her latest publications include The Common Camp: Architecture of Power and Resistance in Israel-Palestine (University of Minnesota Press, 2022).
https://siite.cargo.site/