FARÈS K MOUSSA
Farès is an anthropologist & archaeologist with particular interests in the intersection of material culture studies, philosophy, history of thought and creative/religious practice. He currently provides freelance consultancy in cultural and intangible heritage impact mitigation and arts programming and directing; occasionally also giving talks & lecturing on tours. Farès has (co)written numerous academic articles, with several more in preparation and is working on his first book based on his thesis on the nature of human belief. He has served on various boards and public bodies. Please subscribe to receive information about upcoming talks, tours & publications.
UPCOMING TOURS & TALKS
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Tunisia boasts excellently preserved sites from the Roman & Byzantinian period, including some of the few surviving examples of Libyco-Punic architecture in the world, as well as probably the best Roman mosaic collections in the world. To the south, on the fringes of the Sahara desert, oases, and Amazigh ('Berber') villages beautifully perched in the mountains and cut into the rock are easily accessible (as are the various locations where films such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark and English Patient were filmed!).
What drives humans to be so culturally creative, yet so destructive? These workshops explore themes, ranging from the origins of culture and conciousness to iconoclasm & dsytopian hyper-realities. Drawing from philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, theology, History of Art & Thought, Farès employs an elenctic (or "Socratic") method in small groups (up to 12 people) to collectively explore, fathom & decipher some of the greatest paradoxes which also define humanity.
PUBLICATIONS
All sole and co-authored papers.
Click on the titles to read paper on-line.
In preparation (Moussa, F. K.) Robot Priests & Animist Atheists: the promethean imperative of ‘belief’ without faith in post-human social sciences & popular culture
In preparation (Moussa, F. K.) The Jinn in the Ruin: archaeological sites as locations of spirits & divination in ‘folk’ Islamic practice in North Africa
In preparation (Moussa, F. K.) Shiva Linga: Phallus or Fallacy? Scholarly & popular discourse on the ‘correct interpretation’ of the form (aniconic/phallic) of Shiva Linga
In preparation (Moussa, F. K.) Post-/Colonial and geo-political polemics on the interpretation of ‘sacrificial’ Carthaginian infant cemeteries
Jan 2018 (Guagnin, M. et al.) Rock art provides new evidence on the biogeography of kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), wild dromedary, aurochs (Bos primigenius) and African wild ass (Equus africanus) in the early and middle Holocene of north‐western Arabia. In: Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 45 (4). Wiley Press.
Nov 2017 (Guagnin, M. et al.) An illustrated prehistory of the Jubbah oasis: Reconstructing Holocene occupation patterns in north‐western Saudi Arabia from rock art and inscriptions. In: Arabian Archaeology & Epigraphy, Vol. 28 (2). Wiley Press.
Jul 2013 (Moussa, F. K.) Berber, Phoenicio-Punic, and Greek North Africa. In: Mitchell, P & Lane, P. The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology. Oxford University Press.
Jul 2013 (Leone, A. & Moussa, F. K.) Roman Africa and the Sahara. In: Mitchell, P & Lane, P. The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology. Oxford University Press.
Nov 2011 (Mattingly, D. et. al.) Desert Migrations Project XII: Excavations and Survey of the so-called Garamantian Royal Cemetery (GSC030−031). In: Libyan Studies, Vol. 42, Cambridge University Press.
Sep 2011 (Moussa, F. K.) Book Review of D.J. Mattingly, 2010, "The Archaeology of Fazzān: Volume 3, Excavations of C.M. Daniels". In: Journal of African Archaeology, Vol. 9 (2).
Nov 2010 (Mattingly, D. et. al.) Desert Migrations Project X: Survey and Landscape Conservation Issues around the Tāqallit headland. In: Libyan Studies, Vol. 41. Cambridge University Press.
Nov 2010 (Mattingly, D. et. al.) Desert Migrations Project IX: Summary Report on the Fourth Season of Excavations of the Burials and Identity team. In: Libyan Studies, Vol. 41. Cambridge University Press.
Nov 2009 (Barnett, T. & Moussa, F. K.) Desert Migrations Project VII: Style, symbolism and cultural identity in the Wadi al-Hayat: results of fieldwork in 2008 and 2009. In: Libyan Studies, Vol. 40. Cambridge University Press.
Nov 2007 (Moussa, F. K.) Book Review of Stone, D. L. & Stirling, L. M. (eds.). (2007). "Mortuary Landscapes of North Africa". Libyan Studies, Vol. 38. Cambridge University Press.
Jun 2004 (Brack, D. & James, C. et. al.) Wealth for the World: Policies on International Trade & Investment. Policy Paper No. 65. Liberal Democrats (UK).
Feb 2004 (Pannick, D. et. al.) Censorship and Freedom of Expression. Policy Paper No. 63. Liberal Democrats (UK).
CONFERENCES & TALKS
Recent & upcoming conferences, talks & installations
Click on the titles to visit the conference page
Dec 2025 (upcoming). Conference Session co-organiser (with Ciarán Walsh, Queen’s University Belfast): Mindless Archaeology: Material Culture and Cognition in a Physical World. Theoretical Archaeological Group Conference, University of York.
Dec 2025 (upcoming). Paper: There is no such thing as “Mind”. Overcoming seventeenth-century Enlightenment rational idealist conceptions of human cognition and the implications for understanding ‘symbolic’ material culture. Theoretical Archaeological Group Conference, University of York.
Dec 2025 (upcoming). Artistic Intervention: Stim (16mm film & 6.35mm reel to reel audio tape. Transferred to VHS magnetic tape for playback on CRT screens). Theoretical Archaeological Group Conference, University of York.
15 Dec 2024. (Moussa, F. K.)“It may be awesome …but you’d better not believe it!” Overcoming the denial of belief and emotional affectivity in archaeological thought. Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference (TAG), University of Bournemouth (Session S06: The Archaeology of Awe: Being Moved by Being in the World)
24 Jan 2024. (Moussa, F. K.) Everything we do is one heroic effort towards being more idle. Centre for Modern & Contemporary Writing; IDLENESS Research Day, University of Southampton
19 Dec 2023. (Moussa, F. K.)"New Animism": a 21st century Promethean fallacy? Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference (TAG), University of East Anglia (Session: Mountains have souls and some statues are gods: Living artefacts, climate justice, and new animism in archaeology)
18 Dec 2023. (Moussa, F. K. & Le Quesne)"Space Invaders": enabling the reclamation and continuity of non-linear time-space in development-led archaeology. Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference (TAG), University of East Anglia (Session: An Archaeology Committed to the Future: From the Social and Environmental Value of Archaeological Theory to the Decolonisation of Development-Led Archaeology.