Egypt's First Experimental Psychology Laboratory

Photos courtesy of the University ArchivesWhen AUC was still a dream, Wendell Cleland, assistant to AUC's founding president, Charles Watson, played a pivotal role in the early vision of the University. Setting out to Cairo to study Arabic and see how viable establishing a university would be, he left the United States in 1917, during World War I. Cleland crossed the Pacific, traveling up the West Coast to Canada, then to Japan, China and India, before passing through the Suez Canal to Port Said."But the day we arrived at Port Said, the United States declared war on Germany. ... We had a communication from the Board of Trustees over here and Dr. Watson that they had decided that if a war was going on there that involved Egypt and the threat of the Germans, that there wasn't much opportunity to promote the growth of a new university in Egypt."After the war, AUC began operations in 1919. Cleland notes that there were many graduates of secondary schools or the Egyptian University who were interested in taking classes at AUC."I was appointed to organize, according to the demand of the local community, classes for those who wanted to study certain subjects. And that eventually resulted in the 'Qism Khidma 'Aama,' the extension division of the University, where adults could come along and take courses and eventually get degrees and build up their own esprit de corps and improve their jobs." AUC's School of Continuing Education (SCE) was established in 1924 as the Division of Extension, with Cleland serving as director until 1947.Wendell ClelandLocal ConnectionsIn the beginning, the school's primary aim was to engage and serve the Egyptian public through lectures, film screenings and outreach programs.For Cleland, connecting the local community with AUC's foreigners and boosting the school's reputation was of major importance. He describes how the public lectures that began with the Division of Extension were a crucial factor in achieving this goal."... We did a good deal of publicity and got speakers speaking in Arabic, including Taha Hussein ... and Al Azhar students would come down in great bulks to take these lectures. ... That built a kind of spirit of goodwill between the foreigners, the Americans, and the local people."Hanna Rizk, who served as Wendell Cleland's assistant director starting in 1925 and later took over as head of the division before going on to become the first Egyptian vice president of AUC, reflects on the unique freedom afforded to the program's lecturers in one of his reports:"It is worthy of note that we never place any restrictions on what our lecturers may say and occasionally they may have been surprised when I have told them so. It is also remarkable that the freedom of our platform has never yet been abused by any lecturer."Hanna RizkRizk's emphasis on the freedom of expression within the division was also reflected in his encouragement of more small-scale and ongoing conversations at AUC about current events. The American University in Cairo: 1919-1987 by Lawrence R. Murphy (AUC Press, 1987) highlights the fact that, "In addition to large lectures, Rizk arranged smaller forums where questions of critical importance to Egypt could be discussed by a more select audience."The school also screened films at Ewart Memorial Hall and beyond. Ghali Amin, an AUC graduate who worked for the division, noted in his oral history interview that the school began having weekly cinema shows after his first year in order to raise money. This began in 1934 "when families didn't go to public cinema, nor girls alone."A season ticket cost 25 piasters for one seat in the hall and 30 for the balcony. The films were typically historical, social, scientific or based on literature. King of Kings, a 1927 film that depicts the last weeks of Jesus's life before crucifixion, was shown to a Christian-only audience 20 to 30 times per year around Easter."Once Cecil B. Dellille [the film's director] was in Cairo before Easter time. They took him around Ewart Hall to show him the poor Christian families who had come to see the film." Rizk added in a 1947 report: "The King of Kings film is not exhibited in Egypt in any place other than in Ewart Memorial Hall."It was during this time that Umm Kulthum, the Palestine Orchestra and other major artists performed at Ewart Hall. "AUC was selected because of its good acoustics for recording," Amin said. Despite tumultuous times in Cairo and beyond, attendance remained consistent. Even during World War II, when there were air raids during shows and people would leave the theater into a blackout, "Programs [were] as popular as usual; films came as usual."Health and WelfareIn the early days of the University, Egypt's rapid population growth prompted the Division of Extension to send its students to visit villages outside of Cairo. Their goal was to assess the challenges faced by the residents and explore ways to help. Cleland recalls the efforts in his oral history interview:"... It was rather amazing the degree to which the local villagers accepted this kind of aid. We didn't ask them for anything; we offered just to help them."One of the school's most successful public health campaigns, launched during this period, was the "Save the Eyes" initiative -- whose name was chosen by Rizk and approved linguistically by Taha Hussein. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of eye hygiene and prevent blindness, a pressing concern in Egypt's rural regions. By distributing leaflets, screening educational films and hosting local events, the campaign helped to address a critical health issue while demonstrating the division's ability to engage directly with the public.Submissions for the "Save the Eyes" poster competitionThe school also opened a Child Welfare Clinic in Cairo's Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood in late 1925. During its first six months of operation, the center served 1,294 people, giving 5,056 treatments, mostly to women and children, and operating a small girls-only school, according to minutes from a 1926 Board of Trustees meeting.The report describes the clinic's location and services:"The American tourist who occasionally visits this center first gets a ride through narrow, thickly populated streets, where an automobile has to creep and a few drops of rain make mud for two weeks. Just behind the famous tomb-mosque of Lady Zeinab, granddaughter of the Prophet, and near three other mosques, he descends from his car ... Up narrow stone steps he goes to the second story and there he is ushered into a bright, clean reception room from which he can watch events."A visit to the clinic cost two and a half piasters; however, no one was turned away for inability to pay. Patients could also enjoy demonstrations on childcare, nutritional counseling, advice on cheap materials for creating cradles and bathtubs at home, and religious lessons.SCE's Child Welfare Clinic in Sayeda Zeinab, CairoEvolving with EgyptThroughout the years, SCE's curriculum has always been set based on the needs of the public. According to Osman Farrag, director of the Division of Public Service from 1966 to 1973 and professor emeritus of psychology, the school offered free courses in psychology, family planning and care for children with disabilities.Osman FarragHe describes in an oral history interview how many of the division's courses came to be during his tenure, and specifically how one conversation he would never forget launched one of SCE's most successful programs."A student [who] was studying English came to me and said, 'I am a chemical engineer and I am working in a textile factory. ... Suddenly after ten years I have been promoted and became the president of the company. I have 150,000 workers ... I am lost. ... I haven't had any experience in management or administration."The student told Farrag that there were many like him -- teachers who became headmasters and doctors who were promoted to heads of hospitals. All of them had the same problem: they didn't know how to lead. "We started to offer this [business and public relations] program which flourished and is one of the most important areas of study at AUC now," Farrag said.Similar stories led to the development of other tailored courses. Farrag describes special programs that upskilled government employees inEgypt's ministries, such as a massive training program for agricultural workers under President Gamal Abdel Nasser's land reclamation program, and specialized English courses for diplomats, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and legislators. Under Farrag, the school also offered decoration engineering for movie producers and theaters, playwriting and secretarial studies, which was one of the most sought-after courses, he recalls."I had at that time a big problem facing the huge number of applicants who [wanted] to attend this course. To the extent that the police sometimes interfered in order to solve our problem because the pressure was tremendous. Why? Because in banks a good secretary can get starting from 3,000 pounds a month to 15,000 pounds a month. The AUC graduates in other departments cannot get this [much], so we used to receive applications from AUC graduates themselves. ... We used to accept about 200 every semester."A Spirit of ServiceTo understand the SCE's commitment to community and service, one need only look at its administrators. Mohamed El Rashidi, who worked in the Division of Public Service and its successor, the Center for Adult and Continuing Education, from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, embodied this ethos, as his dedication often extended beyond his official role at AUC. He describes in his oral history interview that he was also in charge of civil defense, where he trained staff members in crisis management and first aid:"Once, we had a fire at [Ewart Hall]. My people, my people whom I trained, put [out] the fire before the [firemen] came ... In '67, I helped all the Americans [evacuate during the war] ... I took them to Alexandria, put them on a bus to a hotel, and spent the night. And brought them from Alexandria, to Malta or Cyprus or some place. And I was the only Egyptian with them."Rashidi's example of selfless service reflects the broader legacy of the Division of Extension and its successor programs, which, from their inception, aimed to bridge gaps -- whether through education, cultural exchange or social services. From addressing public health issues to creating new opportunities, SCE's enduring legacy of connection and care continues today.As Rashidi put it, "CACE is [the] backbone of education in Egypt. ... Anywhere you go, you find our graduates, CACE graduates, holding very good jobs. ... Whether they are police officers, drivers, ministers, under secretaries of state -- they are everywhere, like nerves in a body." 

By Devon MurrayPost-truth" has gone from buzzword to full-blown force in reshaping politics, media and public trust. Gabriele Cosentino, assistant professor in AUC's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, explores how this phenomenon has been reshaping our understanding of truth and its influence on society over the past decade.Through extensive research, Cosentino has found that the post-truth era is related to a broad decline of trust in institutions, including media and political bodies. "As trust in these entities has eroded, it has become harder for them to present information that a majority of people will believe and rely on," he says.This loss of trust has created a new landscape where emotion and belief often trump fact, allowing misinformation to take hold and influence public opinion. "In the age of the internet, social media has allowed misinformation to spread faster and wider than ever before, disrupting traditional forms of political communication and leading to serious consequences," Cosentino adds.The bulk of Cosentino's research on post-truth has culminated in two books -- Social Media and the Post-Truth World Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) and The Infodemic. Geopolitics, Disinformation, and the Covid-19 Pandemic (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). The first draws on case studies from around the world to demonstrate post-truth as a global phenomenon, and the second examines how the pandemic played out in the era of misinformation.Gabriele Cosentino, photo by Mohamed BadawyA New EraCosentino's interest in post-truth began during U.S. President Donald Trump's political ascension in 2016, which reminded him of Silvio Berlusconi, an Italian media tycoon-turned-politician and the topic of Cosentino's PhD dissertation at New York University. "A lot of people drew parallels between Trump and Berlusconi, so I wrote a book in 2017 that tried to make sense of Trump and link his success to the precedent set by Berlusconi. And then as I was writing this book, the whole topic of post-truth exploded."With populist movements gaining ground in Western democracies and emerging powers like China challenging the world order, the era of global U.S. hegemony is coming to an end, Cosentino says. "What we are seeing now is a shift in global power dynamics and the unraveling of the U.S.-led liberal democratic model. A new geopolitical era is coming to life, and its contours are still blurry."Cosentino argues that the shift goes beyond politics and economy, extending into ideology. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, misinformation fueled distrust in vaccines and mask mandates, which he explores in his book, The Infodemic. He describes COVID-19 as the first public health crisis of the post-truth era, marked by an intense battle of information between experts and the public across media platforms.Finally, the post-truth condition is characterized by emotions and beliefs taking precedence over facts and rationale. This can especially be seen in politics, where campaigns employ fear-based rhetoric to sway voters on issues like immigration, security and public health, creating divisions based on irrational fears rather than informed debate. "Traditional truths and established narratives are no longer universally accepted," he says. "In fact, they are being actively contested on multiple fronts."The Emotional Economy"Post-truth" was chosen by Oxford Dictionaries as its 2016 Word of the Year, a decision prompted by two political events that year that had shocked the world: the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency and the Brexit referendum. "Both events were, in a way, symptoms of the post-truth crisis because they were marked by an overwhelming amount of false information -- both unintentional (what we refer to as 'misinformation') and intentional (what we call 'disinformation')," Cosentino says.While misinformation and disinformation have always been present in politics and media, Cosentino emphasizes that social media platforms and the large tech companies behind them have greatly exacerbated the post-truth crisis. "People are growing more accustomed to getting their news through social media instead of traditional media companies," he says. "This shift has sparked a power struggle between tech giants and traditional media, both vying for attention and legitimacy.""It's not that society has moved past truth, but rather that truth has become irrelevant."Social media platforms thrive on emotional, rather than rational, engagement. "That's where the business model draws much of its power," Cosentino explains. "Watching a self-proclaimed citizen journalist report news while walking down the street feels much more authentic than, say, reading a polished piece from The New York Times, which has likely undergone rigorous research. Unfortunately, a lot of these self-styled journalists are misinformation or propaganda peddlers."Moreover, social media platforms are designed to boost viral content that keeps users engaged, regardless of its veracity. This can have severe consequences, as illustrated by Cosentino in Social Media and the Post-Truth World Order. He presents the case of Myanmar, where Facebook spread false information and hate speech against the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, contributing to the 2017 genocide carried out by Myanmar's security forces."The interethnic problems in Myanmar predated the arrival of Facebook, of course, but its aggressive marketing and unsupervised popularization in a fragile democracy produced a quick exacerbation of political issues," he says.As these companies continue to resist regulation and more sensational content goes unchecked, Cosentino warns that there will continue to be major consequences. "Tech companies have amassed an excessive amount of power, and we are now seeing the impact," he says.Divide and ConquerCosentino reminds us that the impact of social media platforms hasn't always been negative: "Just a few years before 2016, these platforms were hailed as agents of democratization and liberation for societies led by authoritarian governments," he says. "However, after seeing that they could be used to upset the political order, authoritarian regimes studied them to see how they could be used for opposite ends -- to stifle dissent and suppress opposition."A prime example Cosentino gives of this shift is Russia, which has been found responsible for running countless disinformation campaigns around the world. "The Russians elevated this game to an art form, really," he says. "It caught everyone -- security agencies, politicians and citizens -- by surprise."Russia has employed disinformation campaigns to influence domestic politics in the United States and Europe, sow fear and hatred toward humanitarian organizations like the White Helmets in Syria and spread anti-Western sentiment in the Central African Republic."Using fake accounts, bots, memes, hashtags and viral content, we can see the weaponization of social media by using the same features that activists had used just a few years ago, but now to spread misinformation and propaganda, and ultimately divide society," Cosentino says.These campaigns are now also an established practice for governments in Turkey, Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Israel and China, among others, where they employ paid citizens, known as state-sponsored trolls, to push content online, Cosentino says. "Of course, they are also used by non-state actors, such as conservative ethno-nationalists or anti-vaxxer groups in the United States and Europe."The platforms that once promised democratization are now being weaponized to manipulate and divide society, particularly in politics. "For me, at the heart of post-truth lies a political crisis, especially in Western democracies," Cosentino says.Finding TruthIf the age of unquestioned truths is over, how can we know what to believe? Cosentino writes in the conclusion of Social Media and the Post-Truth World Order that we can no longer reach the truth, nor even get close. "Not because we lack information, but rather because of the sheer amount of conflicting, misleading and constantly changing information that we are exposed to," he writes. "Too much information has cluttered our ability to form a rational opinion and propagandists and demagogues know this all too well."Despite the efforts of some mainstream media outlets to strengthen their authority by adhering to rigorous journalistic standards, Cosentino argues that recent political events have put us back to square one. "Trump's 2024 victory shows how much impact false information had on the election cycle," he says. "It's not that society has moved past truth, but rather that truth has become irrelevant, as fictional narratives have supplanted evidence-based analysis in forming public opinion."However, Cosentino believes that the future is not all doom and gloom. "There are no easy solutions, but people can make an effort. In general, internet and social media users are becoming more digitally literate. I can see a growth in awareness in my classroom and online. Of course, tech platforms also need to do their part and be held accountable for their responsibility in allowing the spread of false information," he says.As the effects of the post-truth era continue to reveal themselves, Cosentino is committed to documenting them through his research. "The political problems resulting from this are very complex and may even take a generation to solve," he says. "As our trust in journalism and scientific inquiry declines, so does our support for democracy, its processes and its institutions. To protect democracy we need a more informed and responsible public opinion, and a better regulated information environment." 

The Attachment Lab has garnered significant recognition both from within AUC and across other universities due to its unique capacity to conduct research within an Arab context and enable culturally inclusive understandings of relationship dynamics. “The lab aims to be a hub for research related to attachment studies, including romantic and family connections, attachment to God, parent-child dynamics, perinatal psychology, as well as interpersonal acceptance and rejection,” said Zaki. “What makes it unique is that it contributes to the significant gap in literature by representing our culture and exploring research findings in this context.” “It is pivotal to address the imbalance in attachment studies by examining and collecting prevalent data within the Egyptian context to add to the literature. Further understanding the role of cultural norms and family dynamics is of utmost importance when it comes to understanding attachment patterns in different parts of the world.” So why is region-specific research important? As Zaki explains, attachment patterns are not the same internationally. Culture plays a huge role in mother-child relationships, including the prevalence and manifestations of attachment styles as well as parenting norms. However, research on attachment systems has previously been dominated by studies centered exclusively on Western cultures. “Having conducted a pilot study on the Strange Situation Procedure in the past semesters, I secured a grant from AUC for a more elaborate study using this methodology, which then led to launching the Attachment Lab.“It is pivotal to address the imbalance in attachment studies by examining and collecting prevalent data within the Egyptian context to add to the literature,” Zaki says. “Further understanding the role of cultural norms and family dynamics is of utmost importance when it comes to understanding attachment patterns in different parts of the world.” Zaki’s current primary focus is on studying mother-child dynamics to explore their relationship and attachment interactions through an observational protocol called the Strange Situation Procedure while investigating the concept of ‘intergenerational transmission of attachment.’ This is particularly important as no reliable study on this methodology has been published before in Egypt or anywhere in the Arab world. “Having conducted a pilot study on the Strange Situation Procedure in the past semesters, I secured a grant from AUC for a more elaborate study using this methodology, which then led to launching the Attachment Lab. This study involved observing 60 mother-child dyads who came to the lab,” Zaki says. The lab also gives students from AUC and beyond the opportunity to get involved in exciting new developments related to attachment theory and gain hands-on experience to equip them for their postgraduate careers.“It was through this life-changing opportunity that I discovered my passion for attachment theory, which I now plan to pursue further and hopefully specialize in throughout my career. I have also been given the opportunity of co-authoring a paper that is now published in a highly-ranked, peer-reviewed journal.”“Students enrolled in my Advanced Lifespan Development graduate course get to experience firsthand being part of a research team. They attend observations with me, and I train them on how to code what they observe. As for my undergraduate students, I take them for a tour in the lab and explain what kind of research is conducted there,” Zaki says. She also trains students (both undergraduates and graduates) to be part of her research team, which adds significantly to their knowledge of attachment theory and developmental psychology.The chance to get involved in research at the Attachment Lab has a positive impact on the students involved and is highly sought by students interested in research. “I started working with Dr. Zaki two and a half years ago on the pilot attachment study that was the groundwork for the Attachment Lab,” said Maya Shehata, an undergraduate psychology student and member of the research team, “It was through this life-changing opportunity that I discovered my passion for attachment theory, which I now plan to pursue further and hopefully specialize in throughout my career. I have also been given the opportunity of co-authoring a paper that is now published in a highly-ranked, peer-reviewed journal.”The lab is now one of Shehata’s favorite places on campus. ‘Working here has led to a lot of personal and academic development for me, which I can primarily attribute to Dr. Zaki’s style of mentorship. She has created an ideal environment for learning and growth,” she stated.  

Whether an expression of self, reclamation of identity or purely aesthetic, Ramy Aly, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Egyptology, looks to contemporary Egyptian hair culture to give insight into how race functions on a social level in Egypt.Soon after Aly came to Egypt in 2013, he had his hair loc’d. Locs, an African hair style that involves coiling, braiding, interlocking and palm-rolling hair to create larger strands that merge together over time, have a long history across Africa and particularly in Ancient Egypt. However, as a contemporary Egyptian, Aly’s relationship with loc’d hair was not straightforward. His soon-to-be loctician in London Mellissa Blake wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. “‘You’re quite Caucasian, but what’s going on with your hair?’ Her surprise brought my attention to the notion that hair care is raced, very explicitly.”To read the full article, click here.