There is an urgent need for more fieldwork in Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt. Too much of reporting on these issues is either ideologically motivated or supported by insufficient data. Dutch sociologist Cornelis Hulsman, will provide examples from his work, including the conversion of Christians toIslam (1995-1996), the El-Koshh massacre (2000), the land conflict around the monastery of Abu Fana (2008), church building in Marinab (2011), the blasphemy case of Kafr Darwish (2015) and the efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood to come to power between 2011-2013.
Cornelis Hulsman first came to Egypt in 1976 which motivated him to study development sociology at Leiden University, The Netherlands. After seven years of performing leading functions in the Dutch emigration service, he went to Egypt in 1994 where he established Arab-West Report, the Center forIntercultural Dialogue and Translation (2005) and the Center for Arab-WestUnderstanding (2007). His focus has been on database building, supervising student interns, and recently, looking for a successor to his work in Egypt. Many previous interns and some staff have come from Georgetown University.