Ramy Aly, assistant professor and anthropology unit head, has co-edited the newly released Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Diasporas. The volume offers a fresh look at Middle Eastern diasporas, with chapters on matters as diverse as aging Turks in Sweden to Arabs in Toronto’s electronic music scene.

The book moves away from the area studies approach and methodological nationalism and instead approaches diasporic experiences along a set of terrains and experiences like making and remaking homes, livelihood and mobilities, expressions of diaspora in art and culture, how diasporic sensibilities are experienced and the notion of being plurilocal.

“Typically, readings on diaspora are all too often about ‘scary Middle Easterners’ going to other countries and causing problems because they aren’t able to adapt. This is a narrow understanding of the scale and the extent of the flow of people to and from the Middle East,” he said.

“The aim is to offer a set of readings on diaspora that foster more understanding and more nuance,” Aly explained. “When you read about Middle Easterners in Canada, for instance, you’re going to read about them through music — so you stop thinking of them as religious subjects or problems for the welfare state and instead begin to consider other aspects of their existence.”

An accumulation of three years of work, the book comprises 32 chapters by 31 contributors who identify as anthropologists, political scientists, art history academics and ethnomusicologists, among others. Aly himself is the co-author of the book’s introductory chapter, “Coming to and coming from the Middle East: The unfolding of diaspora,” with his co-editor and co-author Dalia Abdelhady, associate professor of sociology at Lund University (Sweden). 

Interacting with a variety of disciplines across the book’s chapters during the editing process, Aly described his experience navigating the challenges of transdisciplinary scholarship as an “exercise in academic tolerance.”

“During the writing process, it was challenging and interesting to push ourselves to be a bit more accepting of the fact that there are many different ways of looking at the world, but at the same time, maintain this need for interrogation and critique,” he recalled.

Born in London to Egyptian parents, growing up as part of a diaspora led Aly to complete his PhD on the subject and write his first book, Becoming Arab in London: Performativity and the Undoing of Identity. “Having moved to Egypt and shifted my research focus, I felt that this part of my academic life was drifting away, and then Dalia reached out,” he said, describing the book as a “lifeline” that pulled him back into the diaspora arena. “It means a lot to me, personally and professionally.”

Aly joined AUC’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Egyptology in 2013. His teaching covers a wide variety of subjects, including youth cultures, death and immorality, and the economy. 

“I feel very privileged to teach at AUC,” he said. “There is a sense of discovery and change as well as an edginess to contemporary anthropological knowledge that is particularly impactful amongst the students here. Personally, I have come of age as an academic at AUC.”

Having grounded himself at the University and in Egypt, Aly is now engaged in two main research projects. The first is a book about the hair cultures of young Egyptians and what these mean for our understanding of race, gender and class in Egypt. The second project focuses on ethical self-making through narratives of the 2011 revolution.

The Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Diasporas is dedicated to Aly’s daughter and Abdelhady’s son, both of whom are diasporic children. Aly has donated a copy of the book to the AUC Library with hopes that it will be useful to students and educators alike.

From the arts to sciences — and the special places where they meet in between — AUC is offering two restructured majors and four new minors this fall. 

Multimedia Communication and Journalism

Formerly offering the separate majors of a Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Journalism (MMJ) and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Arts (CMA), AUC’s Department of Journalism and Multimedia Communication is now offering a combined Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Communication and Journalism (MMCJ).

“We decided to absorb some elements of the CMA discipline into MMJ, forming MMCJ, thereby increasing the credit hours from 48 to 72,” said Firas Al-Atraqchi, professor of practice in AUC’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and program director.

Students who declare MMCJ will have the option of choosing one of two specializations — communication or journalism. They will also have the choice of one of two capstone pursuits in tandem with their specialization.

Bachelor of Architecture

Similarly, the Department of Architecture is now offering a Bachelor of Architecture in lieu of the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering. The new program is a candidate for accreditation with the National Architectural Accrediting Board — an endorsement that will open even more opportunities for program graduates.

“Architecture is at a crossroads between human/cultural values and the technical capabilities of construction,” the catalog description reads. “Moreover, digital technology is rapidly growing, changing our ways of communication, expression, perception, thought and interaction.”

Students majoring in architecture will choose from the following three tracks: Human and Environmental Studies, Tectonics and Computational Design or Architecture and Urban Heritage Design.

Bioinformatics Minor

Paving the way into the future, AUC has launched the first bioinformatics academic degree in Egypt. Ahmed Moustafa, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, explained that recent developments in DNA sequencing technologies have resulted in an enormous amount of genetic data.

“To be able to process, analyze and interpret these data, a need for researchers with combined expertise in biological and computational sciences arose — resulting in the birth of the interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics,” Moustafa said. 

Many organizations in Egypt have begun adopting genomics-based approaches across a number of fields, including medicine, agriculture, energy and food. Students who study under this program will be well-equipped to meet the growing demand for bioinformaticians.

“The minor will prepare students to apply data analytics in genomic sciences,” he explained. “Moreover, the students will gain practical skills and experience that allows them to answer questions such as which genetic mutation and/or microbe is associated with a certain disease, which coronavirus variant is dominant in a specific area at a certain point in time or what genetic modification can be applied to improve the production of a certain crop.”

Game Design Minor

Also created as a response to changing job market demands, the  new minor in Game Design is overseen by Ahmad Saqfalhait, associate professor of practice and associate chair of the Department of Arts. A collaboration between the Graphic Design Program and the Department of Computer Sciences and Engineering, the program is a response to an industry that has surpassed “three of the biggest entertainment-related industries: music, film and sports, combined,” Saqfalhait said.

He added: “In addition to its economical value, game applications have expanded and evolved to cover various needs, from educational and social to medical and psychological — all playing on our need to have fun and engage.”

With the region lacking representation in this field, according to Saqfalhait, training students in this field will allow them to harness gaming to share their own narratives.

The multidisciplinary minor is open to all AUC students. After finishing the minor, some students will have the opportunity to intern at local game development studios or join an AUC team working on self-initiated game projects in collaboration with external organizations.

Visual Arts Minor

For those wishing to unlock their artistic side, the Department of the Arts is now offering a Visual Arts Minor. Also open to all students, the program will touch on art foundations, painting, ceramics, photography and animation, among others, allowing students to create works of art with a variety of tools.

“Students joining from scientific disciplines, for example, will be able to produce their science-based projects as creative art productions,” said Shady Elnoshokaty, visual arts program director and associate professor of practice in the Department of the Arts. “This is the contemporary concept of arts and art education today.”

Those minoring in Visual Arts can pursue careers as painters, sculptures or illustrators, as well as find work in art galleries and cultural institutions. Moreover, others can find their way as fashion designers, creative directors in cinema, art decorators or exhibition designers.

Islamic History Minor

Finally, the Islamic History minor is the result of a comprehensive rework of a previous minor in Classical/Medieval Middle East History. 

“The courses in this program will prepare students to consider the Islamic past with more nuance and with a variety of analytical skills,” said Amina Elbendary, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, stressing the program’s importance for anyone interested in the Middle East and Islam today.

She continued: “In order to understand the two, we need to develop more sophisticated ideas about how Islam came to be the way it is,” she said. “This minor is a program that helps students develop the skills necessary to do that." 

Revised to include a broader selection of courses that span multiple levels, “the idea is that a student could begin with an introductory course, such as Survey of Arab History, in their freshman or sophomore year and then proceed to take more intermediate and advanced-level courses," Elbendary explained. 

Students who choose this path will gain a firm foundation in the evolution of Islamic history across time. The course examines history through the prisms of politics, society, and culture while emphasizing current scholarship in each of those three fields.

Explore all of AUC’s course offerings here.