Abir Hamdar

Abir Hamdar is Professor and Deputy Head of School (People & Workplace Culture) at Durham University's School of Modern Languages and Cultures. Her research examines modern Middle Eastern literatures, film, and cultures with focus on health, illness, disability, and religion. She leads the AHRC-funded "Performing Arab Cancer" project—a medical humanities initiative using creative arts to document Arab women's cancer experiences through ethnodramas, films, and installations.

Her monograph The Female Suffering Body pioneered studies of illness in Arabic literature. Current work explores cancer narratives in Arab visual culture and representations of corpses in Iraqi diasporic art. Recognized for international impact, her cancer research was shortlisted for the 2020 AHRC/Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities Award.

She supervises PhD students on topics including Middle Eastern visual culture and medical humanities.