​​Prof. Dr. Hani Hayajneh

Short Profile

Specializing in Near Eastern Cultures and Languages, Hani Hayajneh is a professor at the faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. He gained his PhD degree in 1998 from the Faculty of Cultural and Historical Studies at the Free University of Berlin (Germany). He has published a number of research papers, books, articles and reviews on safeguarding cultural heritage and the cultural history of the Levant and Arabia.

Hayajneh is a member of several professional committees, boards, councils, and national and international commissions, including the Jordanian National Committee for developing Scientific research in the “Archaeology and Tourism” sectors, the Special Committee of the Scientific Research Support Fund for Social and Humanity Sciences of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Board of Trustees of the Jordan Applied University College of Hospitality and Tourism Education, and the Prime Minster of Jordan’s Higher National Committee of Heritage. He is a member of international associations in the Arab World and Europe as well.

He served as Director of the Princess Basma Bin Talal Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan, and initiated and held Jordan’s UNESCO Chair of Heritage and Sustainable Tourism. He has also represented Jordan on cultural heritage issues in several international venues, notably the Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2011, he acted as a reviewer within the UNESCO Subsidiary Body, which is responsible for evaluating the nomination files submitted by the States Parties of the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for inscription into the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage elements. He has also been involved in national initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.

He is one of the accredited UNESCO international team of Facilitators for the 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, served as a Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology, Tourism and Hotel Management at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology (Yarmouk University), and acted as a scientific consultant, referee, and reviewer for national and international journals in the field of Near Eastern cultures and languages.

He held guest lectures and participated in conferences in several occasions on the international and national levels. In 2004/05, he was a visiting professor (as a Fulbright Fellow) in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University and other international academic institutions, including the Collège de France, Sorbonne University, both in Paris, Free University of Berlin, Philipps University in Marburg, Stockholm University and Copenhagen University. He maintains excellent international and regional contacts with specialists in cultural heritage and cultural history of the Middle East. In 2011/12,  the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation granted him a Scholarship for Experienced Scholars to conduct research at the Centre of Middle and Near Eastern Studies of the Philipps University – Marburg- Germany.​