Introduction from Susan Molyneux-Hodgson

The £2m DAME project, led by Adam Hanieh (IAIS) and in collaboration with Tsinghua University, comprises ‘creative and systematic work to increase the stock of knowledge’ through the digitisation of portions of major, largely unstudied and uncatalogued archives of documentation from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region that are held at the University of Exeter.

Using digital tools to collate, catalogue and analyse these collections will open up a series of new questions with regard to the modern history of the MENA region. The focus of the project goes beyond digitisation, exploring how digital technology and methods can both open up and respond to research questions. DAME research will be examined by a research group made up of PhD students, post-doctoral research assistants and other staff, overseen by a joint UK-China Chair. The research group intend to run a series of DAME Research Seminars and expect significant publications and other events arising from the project.