Genevieve Hathaway, ArchaeoAdventures’ Founder and Director, is available to speak at conferences, panels, workshops, webinars and radio programs.
To hire Genevieve contact her at [email protected] to bring her to your conference, panel, organization or onto your program.
Topics:
- Smart and Savvy Travel Skills for the Woman Traveler in the Middle East and North Africa
- Mountains, Medinas and Mosques: Exploring Exotic Morocco’s Diverse Landscape and Colorful Culture
- Turkey: Crossroads of East and West
- Egypt, Travels Beyond the Great Pyramid: Discover the Best of Egypt
- Empowering Women: Importance of Employing Women Tourism Professionals in Developing Nations
- Women Rising: The Rise of the Woman Entrepreneur in the Middle East
- War on Walls: Egypt’s Arab Spring Street Art, An Alternative Form of Media
- Gear for Gals in Pakistan and Beyond: Gender Equality in Developing Nations Through Women Mountaineers
Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Beyond: Smart and Savvy Travel Skills for the Woman Traveler in the Middle East and North Africa
Whether an experienced traveler or just starting out Genevieve’s lecture on smart and savvy women’s travel in the Middle East and North Africa is packed with valuable information to help you plan your next trip to the region. The Middle East and North Africa (also termed the MENA region) is a dynamic region with a rich history, interesting modern culture, tasty cuisine and friendly locals. It is a wonderful region for women to travel. Armed with some good information, the Middle East and North Africa can be a great region for solo women travelers. In addition to providing travel tips, this presentation also discusses highlights from the MENA regions most beautiful and interesting destinations. [Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Iraq, Afghanistan — given the safety issues in these countries, they are not currently discussed in this lecture.] Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Mountains, Medinas and Mosques: Exploring Exotic Morocco’s Diverse Landscape and Colorful Culture
Morocco is a country as much defined and shaped by its people as by its geography. A rich mix of ancient history, dramatic landscapes, vibrant colors, and a thriving modern culture of Berber, Arab and French heritage. Ancient medinas and towering mosques dominate city skylines. The mighty Sahara desert, white-capped rugged peaks of the High Atlas Mountains and turquoise waters of the Mediterranean provide breathtaking views. Even its costal cosmopolitan cities exude an air of the exotic and mystical as the call to prayer echoes off glass and steel of modern skyscrapers. Join Genevieve Hathaway, Director of ArchaeoAdventures Tours, on a visually stunning journey through exciting and exotic Morocco. Genevieve will share what this fascinating county has to offer travelers. Explore the enchanting and color-coordinated Imperial cities of Morocco (Fez, Marrakech, Casablanca and Chefchaouen), navigate the ancient caravan routes over the High Atlas Mountains on the ‘Road of a Thousand Kasbahs’, learn about the fierce and proud Berber culture, get off the beaten path with the Bedouin, take a memorable camel trek through the towering dunes of the Sahara desert, and gain tips on connecting with Morocco’s friendly locals. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Turkey: Crossroads of East and West
Located where east meets west, Turkey is a modern, secular nation with a rich history, stunning natural beauty, diverse landscapes, impressive Ottoman-era mosques, famous ancient sites, and a vibrant culture that thrives in both countryside hamlets and modern cities. Turkey’s different geographic regions are wildly diverse, yet each packed with stunning scenery, important historical sites and friendly locals. Built on the divide where the Asian and European continents meet, Turkey’s capital city of Istanbul, dates back to the golden age of ancient Greece. Today, Istanbul balances staying true to its history and tradition, while growing as a modern city. Divided by the Bosphorus, the river is the locals’ lifeblood – along with Turkish coffee, sesame bread rolls, Turkish Delight and beautifully restored Ottoman bathhouses. Along the breathtaking Aegean coastline travelers enjoy white sandy beaches, secluded coves, turquoise waters, quaint sea towns, and well-preserved Greco-Roman cities, including Ephesus, Troy, Pergamon and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Termed the Turkish Rivera, the Turquoise coast has wonderfully preserved old cities with cobbled laneways, Roman period harbors and forested mountains that drop straight into the Mediterranean. The Central Anatolia and Cappadocia region of Turkey is known for its excellent hiking trails, underground cities, and early monastic cave churches. With its otherworldly, moon-like topography of honeycombed free-standing rock structures and fields of conical-shaped granite pillars, Cappadocia is an unforgettable location. Turkey’s Black Sea coast and eastern regions take travelers off the beaten path to misty mountains, picturesque Ottoman period villages, mountain monasteries and palaces, tasty local cuisine, and the famous ghost city of ancient Ani. Join Genevieve Hathaway, Director of ArchaeoAdventures Tours, on a visually exquisite adventure through the very best this fascinating country has to offer travelers. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Egypt, Travels Beyond the Great Pyramid: Discover the Best of Egypt
The Pharaohs, ancient temples and monuments, and legendary tombs of Egypt still draw us in millennia after this ancient civilization. Whether visiting the legendary Pyramids of Giza or diving in the Red Sea or marveling a Tutankhamun’s treasures or mosque-hopping in Islamic Cairo or a pilgrimage to important religious sites – Egypt has an adventure or two for every traveler. Egypt is often known for the Great Pyramid and King Tut, but has much more to offer travelers. In this presentation, Genevieve discuss what this fascinating and history-rich country has to offer travelers — both the well-known highlights and the more off the beaten path experiences and sights. As a professional photographer, her presentation is accompanied by stunning images from a decade and a half of working, living, and photographing Egypt. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Empowering Women: Importance of Employing Women Tourism Professionals in Developing Nations
Women in the Middle East and North Africa have been hardest hit by the downturn in economies since the Arab Spring, especially in the tourism sector. Across the Middle East and North Africa, countries lack laws to protect women’s employment and ensure that women are equal wage earners. As economies struggled, women were the ones marginalized in the workforce. Genevieve saw this need and understood how tourism companies and travelers could help – providing tourism jobs for the women professionals in the region. She began her tour company, ArchaeoAdventures, as a way to put these women tourism professionals to work. Genevieve also advocates for women’s employment protection throughout the region. Tourism professionals and travelers can make a difference through the travel choices we make, the companies and people we work with, and where we spend our money. As companies practicing responsible and sustainable tourism we have a responsibility to do our part to intentionally employ women, advocate for women being a larger part of the tourism sector, and hire women at fair market rates. Tourism professionals have tremendous potential to affect the places we work in and empower the women who live and work there. We can be leaders in employing local women, rather than waiting around for governments to make laws protecting women in the workforce. In this presentation, Genevieve discusses the challenges local women face, cultural considerations when employing local women, the importance of tourism companies employing local women, the direct impact women’s employment has on local communities, and how tourism companies can prosper and offer better products for their clients through hiring more local women throughout operational positions, not just as guides. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Women Rising: The Rise of the Woman Entrepreneur in the Middle East
War on Walls: Egypt’s Arab Spring Street Art, An Alternative Form of Media
This presentation focuses on Egypt’s Arab Spring street art movement — the role it played in the famous uprising and the impact this art movement has had on the Egyptian people. It is based on Genevieve’s project to study and document, through photographs, Egypt’s Arab Spring street art. The intense social and political unrest of the Arab Spring prompted street artists to voice their points of view through art on walls near Tahrir Square in Cairo and across Egypt. Street art was a defining feature of the Egyptian revolution: raising awareness of political and economic issues, pressuring the regime and governing bodies for change, injecting dark humor into turbulent times, and providing a visual memory of important events and individuals. The street artists’ work featured revolutionary slogans, criticisms of the government, portraits of government figures, tributes to martyrs, comments on social issues, and depictions of key revolutionary events. The emerging street art movement was a creative expression of the Egyptian people’s frustration and desire for freedom, as well as a way to physically reclaim space in Cairo as belonging to the people rather than the government. This presentation discusses important examples of this extraordinary art movement. This talk aims to convey not only the craft of these artists, but also the messages that inspired the street artists to express the soul and dreams of the Egyptian peoples’ revolution. These murals tell the story of Egypt’s Arab Spring through some of the most beautiful, expressive and iconic wall images ever created. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Gear for Gals in Pakistan and Beyond: Gender Equality in Developing Nations Through Women Mountaineers
Gear for Gals in Pakistan was a philanthropy project founded by Genevieve in 2011 to bring much needed women’s climbing gear to the Pakistan Youth Outreach, an organization in norther Pakistan that aimed to help bring gender equality to Pakistan through training women as mountaineers. The Gear for Gals in Pakistan project helped the Pakistan Youth Outreach (PYO) organization impact young Pakistani women‘s lives by empowering them through the skills and confidence these women learn mountaineering. The co-director of PYO, Samina Baig, in June 2013 became the first Pakistani woman (and youngest Pakistani at 22 years old) to summit Mt. Everest. In this lecture, Genevieve discusses how the Pakistan Youth Outreach and other younger female adventurers are changing the role of women in Pakistan and bringing about gender equality by involving women in adventure sports. Available in half hour and one hour formats.
Upcoming Presentations and Lectures:
Past Presentations and Lectures:
“Exploring Exotic Morocco.” The Savvy Traveler Store. Edmonds, WA. 16 January, 2016. 1 pm.
“War on Walls: The impact and incorporation of ancient Egyptian iconography in the Arab Spring street art.” The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). University of Washington, Seattle, WA. 3 December, 2015.
Lead Lecturer. Led workshops on personal development, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Personal Development and Leadership off-site. Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain. March 6-15, 2015.
“War on Walls: Egypt’s Arab Spring Street Art Exhibition,” Saint Marks Cathedral’s Gallery; Exhibition Opening Gala; Seattle, WA. January 2015.
“Tips and Tricks for Traveling in the Middle East During the Arab Spring Era,” Experimental College, University of Washington; Seattle, Washington. April 2014.
“War on Walls: Egypt’s Arab Spring street art movement,” Oregon State University; Corvallis, Oregon. March 2014.
[Video of Brown University Arab Spring Panel]
“Traveling Smart in the Middle East During the Arab Spring Era;” Kirkland Public Library; Kirkland, WA. February 2013.
“Radio Disney Interview: Gear for Gals in Pakistan, Travel in the Middle East, Lifestyle Design;” Radio Disney; Seattle, WA. November 2011.
Video Clips
“Egypt’s Arab Spring street art, an alternative form of media,” Social Media and Political Change in Latin America and the Middle East Conference; Brown University
