Legacy of Palestinian-American Journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh Lives on at AUC Through New Named Award
The Shireen Abu Aqleh Award, a new award for high-achieving Palestinian students, debuted at AUC’s Spring 2022 undergraduate commencement ceremony last week. The award honors the memory of its namesake, an award-winning Palestinian-American journalist renowned for decades of reporting in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
AUC Recognizes Outstanding Grads, Faculty at Spring Commencement
Sixteen graduates and three faculty members were awarded at AUC's Spring 2022 commencement ceremonies in late June. The awards recognized a number of academic and service-related achievements by recipients, from earning the highest grade point average across different disciplines to furthering women's empowerment and demonstrating excellence in teaching.
'We Used to Dance Around the Pyramids at Night': Eve Troutt Powell Reflects on Time at AUC, in Cairo
Eve Troutt Powell (CASA '84, '89, '05), the Christopher M. Browne Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered the keynote speech at AUC’s undergraduate commencement ceremony on June 22.
Al Ghurair STEM Scholar Aspires to Break New Ground in Biochemistry, Disease Prevention
The death of Salma Abou Elhassan grandmother greatly affected her decision to attend AUC. Diagnosed with breast cancer, the physicians at the time deemed Abou Elhassan's grandmother a “hopeless case” and decided not to take any further actions on the matter. Appalled by the reality of the limitations of medicine, this experience propelled Abou Elhassan to realize what she wanted to do in her career.
Ahmad Khan Appointed Visiting Professor at Columbia Ahead of Publishing Monograph on Sunnism
Ahmad Khan, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, was awarded the Arcapita Visiting Professor at Columbia University, Spring 2022, hosted by the Middle East Institute and the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia, where he currently teaches Islamic Thought in an Age of Print.
The Great Design of History
Some of the more than 600 visuals featured in A History of Arab Graphic Design: the anatomy of a horse in crimson and azure, labeled in elegant Arabic calligraphy and preserved on paper for six centuries; tiles in shades of cerulean, turquoise and ultramarine adorning the half-moon entryway of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan, Iran; an illustrated mermaid hugging a bouquet of paintbrushes on the first-ever Alexandria Biennale poster.
Akher Kalam
Unlike green or ecological design, sustainable design is a broader paradigm that encompasses the social, environmental, economic and cultural dimensions. A good definition of sustainable design combines the meanings of both design and sustainability. Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman define design as a process for identifying and creating the “what can be” and “what should be” of a situation, where the designer would explore how to better a situation. John Ehrenfeld defines sustainability as the condition where the environment, people and other beings can flourish.
Innovation for Impact
Hessa fe Qessa (A Lesson in a Story) – Salma Elbarbary ’22 With Egypt’s illiteracy rate reaching 27% in 2020, Hessa fe Qessa is an educational app that teaches illiterate individuals how to read, employing an interactive story that discusses relevant social issues. The app includes an audio guide, exercises and an information bank. Gowa El Hadota (Inside the Tale) – Salma Elbarbary ’22
Cop-tivating a City
When Issa Shahin (YAB ’94, ’96*) first came to study abroad at AUC in 1994, he was eager to finally spend time in the city that colored his father’s stories. “He would tell me about sneaking his sisters and brothers into the movies, how lively Cairo is and how everybody looked out for each other,” Shahin said.
Enter the CAVE
Hesham Ismail ’04, ’07 wanted to document an afternoon riding electric scooters with his wife in downtown Los Angeles, California, but he couldn’t take his hands off the handlebars to reach for his phone. Instead, he said, “Hey Facebook, take a video!” and the Ray-Ban sunglasses he was wearing began to record.
Finding the Superpower Within
While working as an intern at Alexandria University hospital, Sara Nasr, a graduate student at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (I-GHHE), witnessed constant misfortunes. However, the young physician-in-training found herself particularly touched by the stories of children suffering from hemophilia. “Not only were they burdened with their sickness, but they also had to deal with the way the community views them,” Nasr explained.
‘Mostakbal’ of Urbanism
On a windy afternoon in February, AUC students from the Urban Design and Landscape Architecture course, taught by Momen El-Husseiny, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, piled out of a bus and onto the sandy grounds of Mostakbal (Future) City — one of Cairo’s up-and-coming satellite cities located in the desert about 55 kilometers east of Tahrir Square.
Creativity with Compassion
By integrating design thinking into the curriculum, AUC is teaching students to approach complicated problems with a sense of empathy, creativity and resilience, explained Hoda Mostafa, professor of practice and director of the University’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT).
When Language Becomes Art
Can humans communicate through a single unified language? Yes, according to Haytham Nawar, associate professor and chair of the Department of the Arts, who is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop a universal pictographic language that could bridge divides and enhance cross-cultural understanding. Why pictographic?
Metaverse: Pervasive or Invasive?
Here are some of the technologies AUC students have contributed to in just the last several years: a self-navigating wheelchair, applications that route traffic more intelligently and a smart mirror capable of determining a person’s vitals.
