Reconstructing Archaeology Education in Post-Conflict Sudan: Challenges, Resilience, and Institutional Renewal

The 2023 conflict in Sudan has caused unprecedented damage to the nation's cultural heritage and its academic infrastructure, worsening long-standing structural vulnerabilities within the archaeological sector. This study examines the crisis's impact on archaeology education and heritage management, using a mixed-methods approach that combines a systematic literature review with surveys of departmental heads and students from Sudanese universities. The findings reveal a landscape of profound disruption – marked by the displacement of scholars, loss of institutional memory, and destruction of physical facilities – yet also one of remarkable professional resilience. Faculty and students show sustained commitment to the discipline, turning to digital platforms and advocating for modernized, interdisciplinary curricula despite severe funding and resource shortages. Drawing on comparative global and regional frameworks from post-conflict and resource-limited contexts (such as Iraq, Syria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia), the article proposes a strategic framework for institutional renewal. This roadmap emphasizes a shift away from foreign dependency towards regional South-South collaborations, the decolonization of archaeological pedagogy through the integration of Indigenous knowledge, and the prioritization of digital sovereignty. By linking academic training with community-oriented stewardship and emergency heritage management, the study argues that the reconstruction of Sudanese archaeology can serve as a vital catalyst for social cohesion and national identity restoration in the post-conflict era.