dr. K.M. (Kiki) Santing

Politics and religion, with a particular focus on Sunni politics and political opposition in Iraq and Egypt.  My current research project (2023-2024), funded by an NWO Open Competitie SGW XS grant, focuses on the reconstruction of the Iraqi city of Mosul from an Iraqi and a Dutch perspective. I focus on reconstruction projects in Mosul by conducting fieldwork and by studying secondary literature and policy reports. Specifically, I look at the political and religious context in which this takes place and the extent to which this complex context of international actors and (local) sectarian politics affects the efficiency and sustainability of the reconstruction efforts.  For my previous projects, I focused on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood under the rules of Sadat and Mubarak. My studies have always been primarily based on Arabic journals and newspapers, sources, which proved to be of great relevance for new insights into the movement’s mentality history in the build-up to the events of January 2011 and, in a broader sense, the development of Islamism and political Islam in Egypt and beyond.

 In August 2020 my book titled Imagining the Perfect Society in Muslim Brotherhood Journals was published by De Gruyter.

University of Groningen, Faculty of Arts:
- Programme Coordinator Middle Eastern Studies (September 2020-present, BA and MA)
- Chair of the Programme Committee of Middle Eastern Studies (2019-2022)
- Board member of YARN (Young Arts Network) (2018-2021) https://www.rug.nl/research/research-let/yarn/
- Contact person studying abroad (Egypt, Morocco, Israel)
- Member of the Admissions Board Middle Eastern Studies (present)
- Departmental Board Middle Eastern Studies (2010-2018)
External positions:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) (2011-present)
- Senior Member Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS)
- Senior Member of the German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation (DAVO)
- Expert Peace and Conflict Studies Network