Dalal Musaed Alsayer

Dr. Dalal Musaed Alsayer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at Kuwait University, within the College of Architecture. Additionally, she serves as an Academic Visitor at St Antony's College, University of Oxford for the academic year 2022-23. Her research focuses on the intersection of architecture, environment, and development in 20th-century Arabia, with a particular emphasis on Pan-Arab Modernism and U.S. influence in the region.

Dr. Alsayer holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Kuwait University, followed by postgraduate studies at Columbia University and Harvard University. She completed her MSc and PhD in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where her dissertation explored the role of the United States in shaping modern Arabia through architecture and development projects (1949-1961).

Her research interests include:

• Architecture history and theory in the Middle East
• Environmental imaginaries and landscape design in arid regions
• Pan-Arab Modernism and its architectural expressions
• U.S. diplomatic and development projects in the Arabian Peninsula during the Cold War
• Urban development and sustainability in historical contexts

Recent scholarly contributions include analyses of environmental narratives in Saudi Arabian deserts, U.S. Cold War-era pavilions, and the evolution of Pan-Arab architectural practices. She is co-author of Pan-Arab Modernism 1968–2008 (2021) and co-founder of Current: Collective for Architecture History and Environment.

Professional affiliations include her academic visitorship at Oxford and editorial work with Current. Her website can be found at www.dmalsayer.com.

She co-founded Current: Collective for Architecture History and Environment, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on architectural history and environmental issues in the Middle East.