Meredith Brand ’06 is a rhetoric and composition senior instructor, an archaeologist and an Egyptology alumna who is currently a co-director director of the Wadi el-Hudi Expedition: an archaeological dig and survey documenting the remains of amethyst mines and traces of life in Egypt’s Eastern Desert since 2014.

Bridging Archaeology and Academic Writing

As a rhetoric and composition faculty member, Brand breaks down the work that goes on before you even step into the desert. 

“I talk to the students a lot about the importance of being able to put your research into writing and communicate it to different audiences because just sitting in a lab and conducting research is very limiting,” Brand said. “People need to understand what’s going on and why it's important.”

Analyzing data, evaluating an artifact and writing grant proposals are all forms of persuasive academic writing needed in an archaeological excavation. Making these questions relevant to the public is another equally valued skill in archaeology. As a science communicator, Brand has made frequent contributions to National Geographic, Discovery Channel, BBC and HISTORY TV network.

“It's been fantastic to be able to have this wide-ranging skill in communication, writing and research, and to share it with students,” said Brand. “When I’m writing articles, I show them, ‘This is what peer review looks like.’ I share the feedback and comments so they get to see that I'm writing and people are commenting on my work, just like I comment on theirs.”

Unearthing the Stories of Ancient Workers

The Wadi el-Hudi Expedition has uncovered details about the lives of regular working people mining amethyst in the Middle Kingdom: who they were, what they ate and how their work may have been structured.

“I think we’re often obsessed with kings and queens and the elite figures of history, but I want to understand what regular Egyptians’ lives were like. Their lives were meaningful, but they’re lost to history unless someone excavates their towns, houses and garbage – uncovering their stories,” said Brand, who received her master’s and PhD in Egyptian archaeology from the University of Toronto.

Wadi el-Hudi is an area located around 35 kilometers southeast of Aswan containing archaeological sites ranging from the Paleolithic to Islamic periods. Known for its amethyst mines dating back to the Middle Kingdom between c. 2055 - 1650 BCE, the area is well-preserved. It features the remains of housing and administrative buildings used by officials at the mine, amethyst refinement sites and inscriptions carved into rocks depicting images of cattle, ibexes, soldiers and more. 

The team uses satellite imagery to first identify areas to inspect on the ground, then meticulously record, map, photograph and collect artifacts before starting to excavate. “We have a strong sense of responsibility to make sure everything in that little pocket of the Eastern Desert is well recorded because you never know what can happen to it,” said Brand, who is co-author of the forthcoming scholarly volume, Survey of Wadi el-Hudi, Volume 1. 

“I think we’re often obsessed with kings and queens and the elite figures of history, but I want to understand what regular Egyptians’ lives were like."

One of the central questions for the Wadi el-Hudi expedition is understanding the power relationships behind gemstone mining in Egypt. “We have written records of people being sent to work in the desert and mines as a sort of punishment. Yet we haven’t excavated anything in Wadi el-Hudi that would indicate to us that people there were some kind of prisoners,” Brand said.

Evidence shows that the workers in these amethyst mines were well supplied and relatively well taken care of. For example, excavations revealed that miners did not live in separate barracks, with some living in rooms opening onto courtyards, Brand explained. There was access to high-protein foods, suggesting a more equitable living situation. Teams would mine in short expeditions, but the work was still difficult and back-breaking in the hot desert mines.

“It fits in with our larger understanding of the way that labor was organized in ancient Egypt, the way the people worked and lived. They were well fed and well supplied, but they were still doing this work for the state. They weren’t out there mining for their own profit.”

To answer questions about the rights of workers in a society a few millennia ago, archaeologists turn to historical context clues— geography, nearby sites and pottery. 

Pottery is Brand’s speciality. As a durable material, she explained, pottery is a gold mine of information for archaeologists. Its longevity allows archaeologists to learn what people ate and date archaeological sites. By determining the type of clay used to make pottery, archaeologists can also trace where ancient pottery traveled to understand trade and the economy of Egypt’s Eastern Desert. At Wadi el-Hudi, pottery has provided further evidence of the material culture of nomad communities in Egypt’s desert. 

“If you study plastic and shipping containers, you could learn so much about our modern society — where things are manufactured, where they go and what people use. A lot of the economy could be revealed through them, and that’s what I do. That’s what pottery was in ancient Egypt. It was used for everything,” Brand said.

Since beginning the project, the Wadi el-Hudi team has identified more than 45 new sites. The excavation still has more questions to answer about the role of labor in ancient Egypt as more artifacts are uncovered. As Brand says, “Archaeology takes as much time as you can get.”

From the classroom to the streets of Cairo, students studying Arabic at Georgetown University in Qatar immersed themselves in Egypt’s language, culture and society during a visit to AUC last week. The experience combined Arabic-language learning and engagement with AUC faculty alongside opportunities to explore the country’s political, economic, historical and cultural landscape.

The program, coordinated by AUC’s International Programs and Services Office, focused on engaging students with academics at AUC by attending classes, connecting with faculty, participating in on-campus events to experience student life firsthand, and exploring Cairo through tours and excursions around the city.

“It’s a total immersion into Egyptian culture from all sorts of perspectives,” said GU-Q student Jannat Almazbel. “We’re talking about history and academia through AUC, street life — even interactions at cafés and restaurants. We are able to see Egypt – Misr – from all sides,” she said. 

“It’s a packed schedule, but that’s what makes it fun. In the same day, you can experience both the newer and the older: explore the Nile and then go into the desert,” said GU-Q student Dinassyl Smadil. 

For students, experiencing AUC was a significant highlight of their trip. 

“On our first day here, we had a tour around the campus,” said Faris McDowall-Rose, a GU-Q international history student. “I thought it was amazing … to see all this greenery. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a campus this nice.” 

Georgetown-Qatar student Mamie McCreary was fascinated by the blend of Egyptian and American systems present at AUC. “I wanted to see how an American curriculum but with a majority of Arab or Egyptian students worked,” McCreary said.

The students met with President Ahmad Dallal, went on a Nile cruise and toured Saqqara, the Giza Plateau, the Grand Egyptian Museum, and Coptic and Islamic Cairo. They attended several courses by AUC faculty, tailored to their visit, including topics of Egyptian history, journalism and political economy. 

With the conclusion of their visit, the Georgetown-Qatar students reflected on their experiences throughout the week, citing the many exciting opportunities they underwent.

“I found the lecture we had on Egyptian history to be really interesting. Egypt is so much more than just ancient Egypt. It’s Greek and Roman Egypt, Persian Egypt, Islamic Egypt, Coptic Egypt – I found that to be really interesting. Growing up in the British curriculum, Egypt is kind of just shown through the Pharaonic lens. So that breadth of learning was really interesting to me,” said Macdowell-Rose. 

Echoing the same sentiment, Almazbel said, “It’s a beautiful and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’m incredibly grateful for. I learned a lot about Egypt and the rich history of Egypt. I know that I don’t know enough, and I want to keep learning.” 

AUC hosted From Tomb to Text: Talks on Coptic History, a one-day international conference on Coptic archaeology that brought together leading scholars from Egypt, Europe and the United States to showcase the latest research in Coptic art history, heritage, textiles, settlement archaeology and archaeobotany. The conference was supported by the Gratus Foundation by Mary and Bishoy Azmy, founded by AUC Trustee Bishoy Emad Azmy ’02 and Mary Habib ’05.

“Coptic studies is an essential part of Egypt’s rich history and part of the tapestry that shapes the country’s great civilization,” said AUC President Ahmad Dallal. “Since its founding, AUC has served as an important entry point for people from outside the region to study and research Egypt’s history. In addition to our world-renowned Egyptology program, Coptic studies captures a rich layer of Egyptian cultural heritage. This conference creates the space for both academic and public audiences to preserve and advance the study of Coptic heritage. We are especially grateful to Trustee Bishoy Azmy and Mrs. Mary Habib, and their Gratus Foundation, whose support reflects a shared commitment to preserving and advancing the study of Coptic heritage.”

“Coptic studies is an essential part of Egypt’s rich history and part of the tapestry that shapes the country’s great civilization."

For Habib,the gift reflects a broader commitment to supporting Coptic studies at AUC. “Our vision is for AUC to remain a leading hub for Coptic studies, a place where scholars from around the world can conduct research in the field,” Habib noted. “As Egyptians, we bring a deep insight into this era, its culture and its place within Egypt’s broader timeline. That is why we want AUC to lead this effort, serving as a global center for researchers seeking to explore our rich heritage.”

Organized by AUC’s Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology on the historic Tahrir Square Campus, the conference included a distinguished lineup of international experts, including AUC Professor Emerita Fayza Haikal and Coptic Studies Chair Mennat-Allah El Dorry '05, alongside international scholars Cäcilia Fluck of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ina Eichner of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Agnieszka E. Szymańska of the University of Richmond, Robert Mahler of the University of Warsaw, Ahmed Nakshara of Ain Shams University, and Dina Bakhoum of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. They addressed a wide range of critical topics in Coptic history, including visual culture, textiles, food and language evolution, funerary archaeology, heritage conservation, daily life, and recent archaeological discoveries in Late Antique Egypt. 

“Our vision is for AUC to remain a leading hub for Coptic studies, a place where scholars from around the world can conduct research in the field,”

“Coptic studies is an integral part of the fabric of Egyptian history, and AUC already reflects this through its Coptic studies minor, Coptology master’s track and Core Curriculum courses,” said El Dorry, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology and chair of Coptic Studies at AUC. “This conference brings together local and international experts to explore Coptic research through art history and archaeology, while raising awareness of AUC’s work and opening new opportunities for collaboration and future research.”

Coptic studies at AUC extends well beyond the conference. The University offers a minor in Coptic studies and a Master of Arts in Egyptology and Coptology, with an interdisciplinary curriculum that examines the Coptic period through history, political science, religion, literature and art history. Studying in Egypt also gives students direct access to the monuments, archaeological sites and artifacts that are central to the study of the Coptic period.

“This conference brings together local and international experts to explore Coptic research through art history and archaeology, while raising awareness of AUC’s work and opening new opportunities for collaboration and future research.”

In addition, AUC Libraries, particularly the Rare Books and Special Collections Library, provide essential academic backing for Coptic studies at the University. The library's key Coptic holdings include the Ramses Wissa Wassef digital collection, which highlights Coptic art, and the landmark Iryan Moftah and Ragheb Moftah collections, which document Coptic language, music and liturgical traditions. 

Photo caption: Maurice A. Pomerantz, professor and dean of the School of Humaniites and Social Sciences, and Mennat-Allah El Dorry '05, assistant professor of Egyptology and chair of Coptic studies, with the panelists

What does it take to tell the story of a life?

Over two months, Nina Ellis, assistant professor of English and comparative literature, traveled to 17 towns, three countries and two continents to write Looking for Lucia, the first biography of itinerant American short story writer, Lucia Berlin.

In an era where AI can summarize a life in seconds, her research expedition across the Americas is the culmination of a decade-long journey to write a biography. Her research unearthed new stories about Berlin, changing how future readers will understand the author’s work. 

“I feel like I know her better than I know my husband,” Ellis joked. “I've known her longer too. I met him in 2019, and I met her in 2017 — and he's cool with that.”

Looking for Lucia chronicles the life of Lucia Berlin, who posthumously gained prestige for her 2015 short story collection, A Manual for Cleaning Women. Commonly known as a working class writer, Berlin has a true story that spanned social classes and continents — once living as a girl in Chile’s high society, before dropping out of college to marry a sculptor in New Mexico.

The biography traces both Berlin’s life across the Americas and Ellis’s research trip through Berlin’s homes decades later, weaving in interviews with Berlin’s children, friends, neighbors and students from every stop along the way.

"I feel like I know her better than I know my husband. I've known her longer too."

“I was doing things like tracking down newspaper articles about marriages and obituaries, and then literally using the phone book,” Ellis said.

The journey began far north at Berlin’s birthplace of Juneau, Alaska, where Ellis tracked down Berlin’s first address. After that, she caught a flight down to investigate Berlin’s home in El Paso, Texas, and crossed the border into Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. 

Soon after, Ellis flew south to Santiago, Chile, where she drove up and down the country’s spine on a hunt for the rural estate where Berlin set her novella, Andando.

Biographers frequently travel for research, but to go this far and against geographical sense “is a bit mad,” as Ellis said. “And I was excited by that because it felt kind of like performance art.” 

After discovering A Manual for Cleaning Women at a San Francisco bookstore in 2017, Ellis wrote her Master’s thesis for University College London about Berlin.

"I was doing things like tracking down newspaper articles about marriages and obituaries, and then literally using the phone book."

Though Berlin was a prolific author, publishing 76 short stories in her lifetime, she had few critics during her day. Facing a lack of secondary sources for her thesis, Ellis researched the people who read at Berlin’s memorial service and emailed them interview requests, even mailing a hand-written letter to one of Berlin’s oldest friends. The thesis earned her a PhD scholarship to write a critical biography of Berlin at Cambridge University and evolved into a book deal.

“In Santiago, I met up with one of Lucia's best friends from school when she was a girl, who looked amazing, but must have been in her late 80s. She was telling me stories about things that happened during that period,” Ellis said.

After Chile, Ellis criss-crossed North America: New Mexico, New York City, Puerto Vallarta and Yelapa, Mexico. She followed a hand-drawn map created by one of Berlin’s sons along Yelapa’s coast, searching for the location of the house where the family lived decades ago, which is now a luxury resort. 

The final stops were the San Francisco Bay Area, down again to Mexico City and back up to Colorado, where Berlin is buried, and finishing in Santa Monica, where she died. After finishing her travels, writing and editing the biography took Ellis an additional two years. 

Writing a biography carries great responsibility, not just to the subject, but to the people who knew them who are still alive. Ellis often found herself reading through Berlin’s most intimate journals and emerging with hidden stories on the places and people Ellis would later meet.

“I’ve read all this stuff about her children as children — lessons, diaries, everything. And now, I know the children,” who are now in their 60s, Ellis said. 

Ellis has published short stories and drafted a novel before, but she cited the experience of writing 80,000-words for her PhD as what empowered her to write a 100,000-word biography. 

And this spring, she looked to imbue her creative writing students with the same confidence by teaching a class with one goal: write 60,000 words in a semester. 

Undergraduates in her capstone seminar on novel-writing hand wrote nearly 1,000 to 3,000 words twice a week for homework, in finger-cramping pursuit of a book draft. Ellis, who also wrote the 60,000 words by hand, said the experience helped students venture past their perfectionism and write.

“I really, really believe that the way to learn to write is by writing,” Ellis said. “It's so tempting to take classes, watch videos and learn the tips, but at the end of the day, you need to implement them. That's a journey you have to go on by yourself.”

You can read more about Lucia Berlin’s journey in Looking for Lucia, set to be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux on June 15, 2027.

Maurice Pomerantz is the new dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HUSS). He is no stranger to the University, having studied at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad@AUC in 1996 — a unique experience that triggered his lifelong engagement with Arabic literature and Middle Eastern studies.

“I loved learning languages,” Pomerantz said. “I had studied classics and religion as an undergraduate, and toward the end of my junior year, my professor said to me, ‘Someone like you should really learn Arabic and study the origins of Islam.’ I took a year of Arabic (which was a challenge) and then went off to Cairo to follow this advice. Being a student in Cairo and my year of study in CASA@AUC was transformational. I had studied the history of the region in the abstract, but coming to Cairo taught me about the importance of history and politics in people's lives, and it gave me a new perspective that I did not have before."

"The trick is getting faculty and students to a place where they can forget about all that exists and have a powerful conversation. That’s the way I look at the job of the dean: making sure those kinds of important educational moments happen as they should."

Pomerantz comes to AUC from New York University Abu Dhabi, where he most recently served as executive director of the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute and as a professor of literature and Arab crossroads studies. He joined NYU's Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in New York in 2008, then moved to NYU Abu Dhabi in 2013, where he took on a series of academic leadership roles over the following decade.

As dean of HUSS, Pomerantz aims to create a healthy learning community, where AUC students can experiment with new ideas and challenge themselves. “Teaching of all kinds is a personal act, and it’s best understood on that level,” he said. “Institutional structures matter deeply, courses, requirements etc., but the trick is getting faculty and students to a place where they can forget about all that exists and have a powerful conversation. That’s the way I look at the job of the dean: making sure those kinds of important educational moments happen as they should.”

"Being a student in Cairo and my year of study in CASA@AUC was transformational. I had studied the history of the region in the abstract, but coming to Cairo taught me about the importance of history and politics in people's lives, and it gave me a new perspective that I did not have before."

Pomerantz received his BA in classics and religion and an MA and PhD in Near Eastern languages and civilizations all from the University of Chicago.

He has also been a long-serving member of the editorial board of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Library of Arabic Literature, a landmark translation series for classical Arabic literature. His international recognitions include a Mellon Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and Fulbright faculty fellowships in Jordan and Lebanon. 

What’s something people don’t know about you?

I'm an avid musician and sang in musical ensembles throughout high school, college and graduate school. 

How did you get into Middle Eastern music?

I always enjoyed the music of the region, but I didn't know a lot about it. Around six years ago, I took up the oud in an attempt to learn more, and now you'll find me practicing most evenings. 

What else do you do in your free time?

I'm a lifelong reader of novels. We are only given one life. Through fiction, we can explore the lives and perspectives of others. 

What’s your favorite memory from when you were a student?  

It was a moment when my adviser discovered something in me that I myself could not see at the time. When I returned to the University of Chicago after living in Egypt, I was determined to become a serious historian of the formative period of Islam. In one of my first graduate-level courses, we were exploring the early Islamic administration of Umayyad Egypt through bilingual Arabic and Greek papyri. It was very difficult, painstaking work, and all of the students struggled to make sense of these documents. Even the script was hard to read. In the midst of these long seminars, I asked a question about the nuance of an Arabic word, wondering if I missed something. My adviser’s eyes lit up, and she said somewhat severely, "Maurice, that’s a very literary question!” I remember thinking, “Oh no, I imagine she thinks I don’t have what it takes to be a good historian.”  

Several weeks later, she invited me to work on a translation of a complex text written by the great 10th-century polymath, Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī, that she was working on at the time.  She told me that this text was literary and she sensed I had a talent for words and imagery.  That invitation encouraged my talents and gave me the confidence to use them in research. And it was how I became a scholar of Arabic literature. 

Favorite movie genres

Mysteries. In another life, I would have been a detective chief inspector. 

Favorite book?

Recently, Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah. It's a classic postcolonial novel that becomes something else altogether. 

Favorite author

I’ll give you some things you might not guess at. George Eliot is my favorite classic English novelist. I love to read travel writing from the Middle East. If you've never read Evliya Celebi’s travels, you must. In Arabic, I’ve recently enjoyed reading more of Ibrahim al-Koni, and I will never think about desert landscapes in the same way again. 

Favorite food

If we are talking about preferences here, kunāfa is better than qatā’if. By the way, this is a question to which the Mamluk-era polymath al-Suyūṭī devoted a monograph: "An Elegant Debate Between Kunāfa and Qaṭāif" (Luṭf al-laṭā’if bayn al-kunāfa wa-l-qaṭā’if). Your question makes me think I should write a similar monograph on the difference between bamiya (okra) and molokhiyya. Not to give anything away, but my preference is for bamiya. 

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I think the times I've served as a mentor to others have been the work that has really meant the most to me in my life. That is the most important thing we do. 

Advice to AUC students 

Find a way to connect your studies to the world around you. Academic work is a great opportunity to reflect on the changes you want to make in yourself and the world around you. 

The Class of 2026 hosts many powerhouse students, including artist and UNICEF champion Lina Kamel, graduating with a degree in psychology and a minor in theatre. Kamel has spent her time at AUC blending her love for psychology and the arts, and channeling that passion into being a representative to the United Nations youth initiative in Egypt — Shabab Balad (main flagship program of Generation Unlimited in Egypt). 

Kamel has long loved the visual arts, creating sculptures and sharing them online. “Art has been a hobby since I was young, and during high school, I realized how powerful it could be when combined with psychology,” she shared. “I could use art to raise awareness of important topics, including mental health. AUC was the best place to mix the two disciplines. I only applied to AUC. I had a feeling that this was the place where I would thrive.” 

While at AUC, Kamel was involved heavily in the Psychology Association, where she organized events that advocated for mental health awareness — a topic she had been imbuing into her art and posting online. Her work eventually got her noticed by Generation Unlimited, a youth advocacy subset of the United Nations.

“I have my own platform where I create ‘visual representations’ and sculptures that convey meaningful messages to people, enabling me to communicate important subjects in a creative way that can be easily understood visually,” Kamel explained.  “My main aim is to help as many people as possible by portraying my ideas through art and by putting people's emotions that can't be seen or described on display through tangible artistic pieces to contribute to a real change in the community.”

While working with Generation Unlimited, Kamel developed sculptures that represented important topics that aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as climate change and mental health. When an Egypt specific branch of Generation Unlimited was announced, she was appointed as a champion, continuing to use her art and her platform to promote essential programs for youth. 

As a champion for Shabab Balad, Kamel works to promote and advocate the program’s work alongside other Egyptian youth who are prominent in their field, such as sports, art, business and advocacy. She turns her passion and platform into a source of guidance for Egyptian youth, directing them to Shabab Balad’s mission of learning and building their capacity for employment and livelihood.

Shabab Balad itself works to give youth access to career opportunities and fill the gap between unemployed recent graduates and unfilled positions. Shabab Balad also provides an environment where youth can undergo career development, assess their talents and find their place in the professional world through innovative and digital creativity.

The Shabab Balad Academy officially launched in December 2025, providing a physical and digital online space for youth to receive career guidance and support. Kamel played a large part in promoting the opening. “It was a huge milestone for me,” she elaborated. “Leading up to it, there was a lot of preparation and meetings where they took our advice on the academy setup, operation of learning services, and ensuring the initiative was youth-led. I presented our work to senior government officials, UN leaders, ambassadors and international partners. Now people can go to a physical space to learn new skills.

As a fresh AUC graduate, Kamel now knows more than ever how important the resources Shabab Balad provides are for her and her peers. “I am now in the situation of being a fresh grad and applying for jobs. This phase of life is difficult because suddenly all the support I had is completely gone. Shabab Balad can be that support for youth, so they can transform learning to earning.” 

Kamel plans to continue serving as a UNICEF champion and promoting the important work of Generation Unlimited and Shabab Balad. Eventually, she wants to become a child psychologist so she can continue mixing her love for art and psychology in an impactful way. As another step forward in her journey as a psychologist, she was awarded the Psychology Department award, crowning her four years at AUC. 

“AUC’s liberal arts education showed me how it was possible to blend all these different disciplines,” she concluded. “I was given the space to be creative, and that allowed me to succeed in everything I do. I am grateful for the opportunity of being an AUCian, as it fueled my passion to continue the work I do, given the fact that it actively supports and values extracurricular involvement and the idea of following one’s dreams.”

CAIRO — A nonprofit founded by two American University in Cairo alumni has raised more than $5 million for Syrian refugees in Jordan, its founders said, as the organization marked 11 years of operation this March.

Lexi Shereshewsky and Demetri Blaisdell, who met as AUC study abroad students in 2008 and later married, launched what was then called The Syria Fund in 2013, formally registering it as a U.S. nonprofit in 2015. In 2020, they renamed it The Azraq Fund. The organization focuses its work on South Azraq, a town in northern Jordan.

The fund currently supports approximately 150 families and more than 350 students, according to its 2024 annual report, operating through a close partnership with Nachmyat Eastern Badia Cooperative, an Azraq-based charity.

The two founders said their time living in the region drove them to act. Shereshewsky studied in Cairo and lived in Damascus, where she witnessed the early days of the Arab Spring and the escalating crisis in Syria.

“By 2012, things were really bad, and many of my friends in Syria were affected,” she said.

Blaisdell said the experience left a lasting sense of obligation. “We felt like we owed a debt of gratitude to a country that had been so generous to us.”

What began as a modest goal of raising $25,000 quickly expanded. The fund ultimately raised $75,000 in its first four months. Over the following decade, as displacement became prolonged, the organization shifted from emergency relief toward long-term programming. 

Today, education accounts for roughly 80 percent of expenses, with emergency aid and administration each representing 10 percent.

“We came when people were arriving with nothing,” Shereshewsky said. “Over time the focus became how to keep students in school and help them build opportunities for the future.”

The UN estimates there are roughly 397,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, nearly half of them children. Syrian refugee students face significant financial pressures that often force them to leave school and enter the workforce to support their families. 

Ebtessam, a 21-year-old Syrian university student now in her third year, said the fund’s programs helped her continue her education after fleeing to Jordan.

“When we first arrived in Jordan, we were out of school for about a year because we kept moving from place to place,” she said. “The center helped us make up for what we missed and supported us to continue our education.”

She said a scholarship made university possible. “Without the Azraq Fund, we would not have been able to go to university.” 

The organization said it has also created 23 jobs in Azraq, many of them for young Jordanian women in an area where unemployment is high. Most positions are teaching, administrative and support roles within the center.

The AUC Alumni Office, which first connected with the fund in 2017, said it is working to rebuild and expand that relationship.

Chief Alumni Engagement Officer Raymonda Raif said the office aims to highlight alumni achievements worldwide and create opportunities for collaboration.

With the organization having crossed into its second decade, its founders say they are focused on long-term sustainability amid declining humanitarian funding and a slowly changing situation on the ground in Syria.

Hiba Shbib is an integrated marketing communication junior, who wrote this article for the Media Writing class, taught by adjunct faculty member Adam Makary.

Photos courtesy of Lexi Shereshewsky.

Imagine having to flee your country in the middle of the night. What would you take with you? What would you leave behind? One thing you can never leave behind is your memories. Paradoxically, those memories are one of the hardest things to share: they leave no trace. 

Amira Ahmed (MA ’04), adjunct assistant professor and research fellow in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology and the Cynthia Nelson Institute of Gender and Women Studies, is working to change not only how we archive migrant memory, but also how we approach refugee research as a whole. Her research examines cultural heritage-making practices along migration routes from Africa to Europe, focusing on the political agency and relationalities of migrants, refugees and their advocates. The project is called Traces of Mobility, Violence and Solidarity: Reconceptualizing Cultural Heritage Through the Lens of Migration and is multi-site collaborative research represented by AUC, Milan University in Italy, London Gold-Smith University, and Jendouba University in Tunisia.

“Traces of Mobility allows us to re-conceptualize cultural heritage from a migration perspective,” Ahmed shared. “We work with migrants and refugees to trace and document their memories, as well as the mobility and violence they might encounter during this journey. We document the solidarity they show in their displacement.”

Documenting a Shifting Heritage

The Traces program compares and analyzes the migrant experience in all stages, hosted across a multitude of countries. Egypt serves as an especially important location, as it can be both a sending, transit and receiving country for migrants. “We feel that migration is a journey,” Ahmed affirmed. “It needs to be studied in all locations and multiple locales.”

Ahmed’s own history as a migrant informs her approach to migration studies. She was born in Egypt to a Sudanese family, which has given her an important personal perspective. “As a part of the migrant community in Egypt, I already had a transnational network,” she explained. “So when I started to do interviews and focus groups, I was approached by members of the community asking us to organize events for them such as exhibitions, concerts and seminars. This started a shift in how we approached the research to be more open to the community around us and to have a participatory message. We’re giving migrants ownership and leadership over how they are expressing their own heritage.”

"We’re giving migrants ownership and leadership over how they are expressing their own heritage.”

The project is unique not only in its multi-loci infrastructure but also in its approach to heritage and memory making. For these researchers, heritage is dynamic and developing, unique to each individual and influenced by each place they have lived. It rethinks heritage through the lens of human mobility, while putting experiences of human rights violations at the center of analysis. Traces seeks to document these unique experiences through heritage archiving and mapping, as well as preserve heritage memory through cultural community-making.

“We tend to think about heritage as something that happened in the past, static, but this is actually not the case,” Ahmed explained. “Heritage is something that we have always been practicing and performing, and we continue to do it. Migration heritage is unlike the standard heritage of a region: It’s been changed through the experience of migration.”

The research seeks to place the participants front and center in the development of the Traces project.  They have ownership over how they express (the re-making) of their own heritage through a process called collaborative methodologies. 

“Collaborative methodologies are important in  migration studies,” Ahmed stated. “Research participants are not just here to share knowledge; they are an integral part of the study and should lead the development and course of the research. When it comes to migrants, it's especially crucial that knowledge building is on the grounds of equal engagement. Through these methodologies, we’re able to offer a space and strengthen the community through this project.”

Community Impact

The refugee communities have truly become the center of Traces, in both the events the project hosts and organizes as well as how migrants and refugees approach their own archive, which will be digitized for wider access. “The lives of refugees are a process that must be archived,” shared Angelina Daniel Seeka, one of the project collaborators. “Despite all the hardships they have been going through, refugees started rebuilding their lives from scratch. They started creating their own environment, their own groups — in hopes of finding a new place and forgetting what they have been through. This all must be documented.”

Seeka has been working with Ahmed to help document the stories of migrants and refugees both inside and outside of Egypt. Through the process of archiving, they’ve also developed a support network. “Within minutes, we are able to find out anything happening to refugees through social media and WhatsApp groups, allowing us to reach them and enabling them to contact us about any of our initiatives,” she shared.

Due to the way the project has developed through collaborative methodologies, a large range of events fall under the umbrella of Traces: music performances, community events and academic conferences. The French Centre for Economic, Legal and Social Studies in Sudan (CEDEJ Khartoum) conference, hosted in November 2025, invited Ahmed’s AUC class, Mobilities: Gender and Migration, to attend and learn about migrant scholarship. Students expressed a deep connection to the work being done and a more thorough understanding through hearing migrants directly share their experiences. 

“I feel satisfied because this project made a difference in so many people's lives, including our students from AUC,” Ahmed stated. “I have a good number of graduate and undergraduate students who are engaged in the project, and some of them who graduated are employed by the project.”

Traces has engaged heavily with AUC and wider migrant communities, bringing them together through unique and collaborative events. Dr. Kamal Yousif, a Sudanese migrant who has been in Cairo for three years, has brought his musical talents to AUC for Traces events. “The archival idea was to follow refugees and record their everyday life,” he shared. “The project traces the cultural heritage of refugees as they leave their homes, arrive in Egypt and build new lives there.

“As policymakers and scholars, we need to regard migrants and refugees as a resource not as a burden."

And it’s not only Sudanese refugees; there are South Sudanese, Yemeni refugees, Palestinian, Eritrean, Syrian and a lot more. Some organize their own cultural events, while at other times different nationalities collaborate and work together.”

“The collaborations are very vibrant,” Ahmed confirmed. “I really appreciate the space AUC has given us: beautiful, magnificent, historically valuable sites that we use during the project, especially the Main Campus in AUC Tahrir Square, have been home for us during the last three and a half years. Without a space like AUC, without the generosity of our staff, colleagues and administration, I don't think we would have been able to implement Traces in the way we did.”

The project’s publications and the digital archive created by Traces serves as an accessible testament to the power of refugee heritage sharing. It is the first step in what Ahmed hopes will be a wider transition in cultural understandings of migrants.

“As policymakers and scholars, we need to regard migrants and refugees as a resource not as a burden,” Ahmed concluded. “I would appreciate migration and refugee laws that enable migrants to work legally and contribute by paying taxes, just like citizens. I would also like their culture, human rights and ability to contribute to be fully recognized. I believe this is essential not only for their dignity and well-being, but also for the development of the host country they live in.”

For the first time, AUC will host a three-week public arts festival, Artozium, at the New Cairo campus. Packed with a myriad of events, Artozium brings free concerts and plays, film screenings, art workshops and exhibitions from June 10 to July 1. Interested attendees can register for these events and view the full Artozium schedule here.

Cairo’s historic art scene is centered downtown, and with more people moving to New Cairo, Artozium hopes to make AUC’s campus a hub for an emerging art scene east of the Nile, explained Wael El Mahallawy, music professor, chair of the Department of the Arts and general manager of Artozium.

“Artozium covers not only New Cairo but also the New Capital and Al Shorouk,” El Mahallawy said. “There are very few theaters, exhibition venues or galleries in this area, so the festival should attract a lot of people since they would have to travel downtown to watch these activities.”
 

Artozium features collaborations with cornerstones of Cairo’s art scene, including a screening of film shorts shown at the renowned Zawya Cinema, a performance by the Cairo Arab Choir, screenings from the Manassat Film Festival, performances by both the Reda Folklore Dance Troupe and the all-women Egyptian drum band Tablet El-Sett.

Attendees can also experiment and enhance their creative talents through art workshops on ceramics, filmmaking and puppetry, taught by AUC faculty and professionals in the field.

The festival’s name is a portmanteau of the words “art” and “symposium,” with the letter “z’” emphasizing the festival’s focus on developing Gen Z artists and creatives. 

“Our target is mainly Gen-Z, plus all the different ages,” said El Mahallawy. “We merged the five programs in our department — graphic design, visual art, film, music and theatre — into one big project.”

The festival will also feature an interactive standup comedy show by actor Tarek El Ebiary ’12 and a rousing percussion performance by the drummer Mostafa Abbas. Additionally, Artozium will display the exhibition, A Title Resembling an Unstable Image Exhibition. Curated by artist Ahmed Shawky Hassan, the installation showcases the work of emerging artists in  various mediums who explore cities as a constantly reshaping living structure.

The event will also celebrate the artists found within our AUC community. The exhibition Mashrou’ 26 showcases the creativity of the University’s 12th and largest graduating class in graphic design. Alumni will perform in the plays Gat Salima and El Masyada, with Hekaya Bel Maqloub featuring current undergraduate students and the Theatre Association will perform a showing of Neseet El Cheque. Student organizations Musicana and AUC’s Folklore Troupe will also conduct performances.