Lina El-Shamy

PhD Candidate
lina.el.shamy@mail.utoronto.ca

Campus

  • Downtown Toronto (St. George)

Fields of Study

  • Modern/Contemporary

Areas of Interest

  • Contemporary Egyptian visual/material culture 
  • Design history 
  • Politics of aesthetics (and vice versa) 
  • Visual anthropology & autoethnography 

Working Dissertation

Title

Salon Modhab: The Gilded Salons of Contemporary Egyptian Homes Dissertation

Supervisors

Elizabeth Harney

Biography

Lina El-Shamy is a graphic artist, anthropologist, and a mom-of-two. Her research concerns the paradoxes and complexities of everyday life in contemporary Egypt and its material culture. She previously studied graphic design (BDes) at Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), and then art history at the University of Toronto, where she is now completing her doctoral degree. Lina was born in Alexandria, Egypt, grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and immigrated to Canada at age 15, making her life a postmodern jumble of everything her heart desires.

Recent Awards

  • 2020-2022 Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) – Doctoral
  • 2019-2020 Ontario Graduate Scholarship 
  • 2016 Ontario Graduate Scholarship 
  • 2015 Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) – Master's

Education

BDes, Ontario College of Art & Design University, Graphic Design
MA, University of Toronto, Art History

Cohort

  • 2016-2017