Shreen Amin (ITP 2016) in the USA!

In this post, Shreen Amin, Director of the Children’s Museum of Egyptian Museum (Egypt, ITP 2016), shares her recent experience in the US with the ITP family…

In April 2019 I travelled to Virginia a state in the South-Eastern and Mid-Atlantic region of the United States to present my paper at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt.  The meeting was held from April 12 – 14 in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C, at the Westin Alexandria.

The topic of my paper was Addressing the Challenges of Heritage Education in the Main Museums of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, and I had the privilege to join one of the largest gatherings of Egyptologists and enthusiasts in the world. This event provided a unique opportunity for scholars, ARCE members and the general public to hear directly from those working in the field and to network with each other.

I was also lucky to be nominated by the State Department to spend one week, from 15 to 23 April 2019, on the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange programme which they fully fund.  These are short-term visits to the United States for current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields to enable them to experience the country first-hand, cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts and explore the museums in New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

I was also invited to attend a very important meeting, with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (@ManhattanDA) to view the gilded coffin of Nedjemankh which, after being looted in the Arab Spring of 2011, found its way into The Metropolitan Museum and is now being returned to Egypt.

During this amazing trip I had the pleasure to meet Hesham Hussein (Egypt, ITP 2009) who was on the same programme funded by the State Department.  I think this reflects the incredible progress of the ITP family.

Shreen