Visuals and Other Sources - ARTH 375 / AMES 390 - Cities in the Modern Middle East - Research Guides at Swem Library, William & Mary

Visuals (Maps & Images)

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
The Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection is an extensive map collection owned by the Perry–Castañeda Library at The University of Texas at Austin. Many of the maps in the collection have been scanned and are available online, and most of these maps are public domain.
Historic Cities: Maps & Documents
A joint project of the Historic Cities Center of the Department of Geography, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the National Library. The site contain maps, literature, documents, books and other relevant material concerning the past, present and future of historic cities and to facilitate the location of similar content on the web. The site includes hundreds of high quality city maps which were scanned, and brief documented histories of some of the most important cities.
Library of Congress: Cities and Towns Digital Collection
This category includes maps that depict individual buildings to panoramic views of large urban areas. These maps record the evolution of cities illustrating the development and nature of economic activities, educational and religious facilities, parks, street patterns and widths, and transportation systems.
Mideast Image
A private collection of original photos, post cards, historical documents and art objects from the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Egypt
Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA)
TIMEA provides online access to texts, maps, and images documenting travel to the Middle East (primarily Egypt) between the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These materials range from travel guides, travel narratives, and museum catalogs to stereocards, advertisements and postcards.
Archnet
Archnet is a library devoted to the built environment of all societies in which Muslims are or have been a significant cultural influence. Archnet also strives to represent the diversity of those societies including secular and sacred structures of different faiths, resources on rural and urban planning, and relationships of influence with cultures that preceded or coexist with Islamic cultures.
Flickr Commons
A unique collection of historical photography shared with the Flickr community by 114 cultural institutions around the world.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to everyone.
Artstor
Digital images from around the world (including photography, architecture, decorative arts, graphic design, painting, and sculpture) in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. Coverage: all time periods. To download or save images create a free user account with your W&M email.

Online Sources

For contemporary projects, you may use internet sources to brainstorm or find additional sources. Try, for example:

Jadaliyya
Jadaliyya is an independent ezine produced by the Arab Studies Institute. Jadaliyya provides a unique source of insight and critical analysis that combines local knowledge, scholarship, and advocacy with an eye to audiences in the United States, the Middle East, and beyond.
Planetizen - Middle East
Planetizen is a fiercely independent platform that creates, curates, and amplifies stories and resources to inform planning and people passionate about planning. Planning is the professional practice and academic study of the future of built and natural environments—from the smallest towns to the largest cities and everything in between.
Reclaim Istanbul: Urban transformations, spaces of hope
Reclaim Istanbul is an urban blog dedicated to urban transformations of Istanbul, founded in 2011 by Yaşar Adnan Adanalı, Istanbul based urbanist, researcher and lecturer.
Cairobserver
Cairobserver is an online platform that acts as a focal point of architectural and urban discourse in Egypt. The blog provides a space for writings by specialists and non-specialists, students and teachers, city residents and visitors, architects and concerned citizens. The aim is to stimulate public debate and conversation about the architecture, urbanism and cultural heritage of Cairo, other Egyptian cities and beyond.
Cairo From Below
Cairo From Below is a collaborative initiative comprised of youth located in Egypt, the United States, Pakistan and other countries. Their mission is to encourage inclusive, responsible and transparent urban planning in Cairo. They hope that Cairenes, activists, students, planners and academics contribute ideas on how to make the planning of Cairo more inclusive, equitable, and environmentally-conscious as well as aid in the formulation of a new Cairo 2050 vision–one which represents the economic, social and political interests of all of Cairo’s residents in a fair manner.
Dubaization: reflections on architecture and urbanism, inspired by Dubai
Reflections on Middle Eastern Urbanism, using the assumed adjective of "dubaization" a term which Yasser Elsheshtawy introduced in 2004 to depict the influence of Dubai on the urban discourse. That influence continues, positively and negatively. Posts aim at critically assessing this phenomena.

Theses and Dissertations

Proquest may have dissertations and theses related to your topic. Dissertations (like books and monographs) have extensive bibliographies that you could use for your own research:

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
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ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text. More than 70,000 new full-text dissertations and theses are added to the database each year through dissertations publishing partnerships with 700 leading academic institutions worldwide, and collaborative retrospective digitization of dissertations.