Tarek Swelim is an art historian, academic guide and lecturer who has been traversing Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa for the past 30 years. His academic degrees (Ph.D Harvard 1994, MA American University in Cairo (AUC) 1986, BA Helwan 1979) have not limited him to the classroom and he has led hundreds of tours for distinguished universities, institutions and museums on topics including Ancient Egypt, Roman architecture, Islamic art and architecture and the history of the Middle East as well as the Islamic world. He served as assistant professor at AUC (1990–98) and assistant director to the 17th-century house/museum restoration project of Bayt al-Suhaymi, Cairo. He has published widely and is frequently invited to speak at international conferences and to the press. He served as architectural consultant on a documentary film on Islam by Smithsonian World in 1987. He regularly leads walking tours through Islamic Cairo with the American Research Centre in Egypt.
