For the first time, AUC will be the main partner and host of RiseUp Summit, the one-stop-shop event connecting startups in the Middle East and Africa.

In its seventh edition, RiseUp will host the region's top entrepreneurs, startups, investors, creative masterminds and Fortune 500 companies in a three-day entrepreneurial marathon. For the first time, RiseUp summit will also feature Arabic content, where various speakers from the region will present their own journey of growth on stage in Arabic.

This year’s theme is designed to build on past years’ summit content, focusing on the journey of growth as well as drawing the line between the past, present and future. The three-day summit will include talks, panels and chats; in-depth workshops and bootcamps; networking sessions with hundreds of investors; talent matchmaking events; and exclusive satellite events.

“We see value in accommodating such a major event like RiseUp Summit in our centennial year, in which we are expecting more than 8,000 participants coming from 50 to 60 different countries as well as many prominent speakers,” said Alaa Adris, associate provost for research, innovation and creativity at AUC. “We see our collaboration with RiseUp more of a sustainable relationship because we can see them as part of our innovation hub, our commercialization of technology efforts, and many other areas of interest and future plans.”

Through the summit, startups will have the opportunity to assess their current situation, and determine how they can progress steadily but confidently from their core to their vision, through strategy, execution, tips, and tricks.

“Having organized the summit for the past seven years, we were able to identify the challenges faced by startups in the region, which allowed us to develop a complete model that they can follow when venturing through the entrepreneurship ecosystem,” explained AbdelHameed Sharara, chief executive officer and co-founder of RiseUp. “After dissecting growth, we found that there is no fixed manual on how to grow; it is a personal and unique journey for each entrepreneur. So what we can offer to people is diverse [with] unlimited resources and opportunities, along with a roadmap that guides them through this journey. Being committed to our own growth strategy, we decided to move to AUC's New Cairo campus, allowing us to grow further in all aspects.”

The speaker line-up will feature many international figures in various fields, including Brian Collins, chief creative officer at COLLINS; Gerardo Mazzeo, global innovation director at Nestlé; Karen Cheng, head of social at 9GAG; Marcel Muenster, founder, and director of the Gritti Fund and Raya Abirached, TV presenter.

"AUC Venture Lab has always been an early believer in RiseUp Summit. This year, we are excited to have RiseUp at AUC New Cairo campus for the first time, bringing thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem players from Egypt, MENA and beyond. We're pleased to have a strong presence through our startups and to contribute to the Summit's program," said Ayman Ismail '95, '97,  Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship; associate professor at School of Business and the founding director of the AUC Venture Lab. 

“We are exploring with RiseUp other collaboration opportunities like founding an academy for entrepreneurship, for instance, where students can come to learn and acquire basic skills for entrepreneurship. This is just the beginning,” affirmed Adris.

Click here to know how to get your tickets.

#AUCFutureMakers

Atta Gebril, associate professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics, and Mona Amer '98, associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychology,received the Elsevier 2019 Scopus Researcher Awards for the impact of their research in the fields of education and psychology, respectively, on Egyptian society. Gebril and Amer are the only two award recipients from AUC.

Alongside Elsevier Chairman, YS Chi, Ministers from the Egyptian Government, University Presidents, Directors from various institutional centers and top cited Egyptian scientists attended the awards ceremony, which highlighted the important milestones and research that have helped advance Egypt Vision 2030, the Egyptian government's sustainable development strategy. 

Read more about the award and their research. 

International scholars and Egyptologists from Egypt, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany and a host of other countries will be at AUC Tahrir Square from October 31 to November 2 for the Women in Ancient Egypt: Current Research and Historical Trends conference, the first-of-its-kind in Egypt and the Middle East. 

The largest gathering of scholars working on women in Ancient Egypt, the conference will discuss different topics related to ancient Egyptian women: law, portrayal in literature, cultic participation and access to power.  

Click here for the conference website. 

AUC theatre students were involved in over 20 different plays and workshops brought to Cairo from around the world as part of the 26th annual Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre. Students majoring and minoring in theatre volunteered their time to help translate, organize workshops and volunteer both behind the scenes and on stage at one of largest theatre festivals in the region. 

Senior Ali El Shourbagy's experience took an unexpected turn when he ended up performing in a supporting role in the American musical The Fantasticks, which was brought to Cairo from the U.S. through sponsorship by the U.S. Embassy. El Shourbagy was working as a volunteer backstage for the production when one of the main actors got sick during dress rehearsals. The director and cast recognized his talent and asked El Shourbagy to join the company in the role of Mortimer. He performed at the Cairo Opera House and then traveled to Alexandria to perform with the company and fellow theatre students Laila Ghoneim and Yara Adel Mohamed, who worked backstage on the production.

Other students were involved in workshops and masterclasses in addition to supporting the many other plays from Uganda, France, Switzerland, Saudia Arabia, Syria, Brazil, Portugal, Bulgaria, South Africa and Egypt. Students gained first-hand knowledge about touring productions, performance techniques and theatre traditions from around the world as they represented AUC.

Distinguished University Professor of Egyptology Salima Ikram's Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt (AUC Press, 2015) appears among Book Riot’s 100 Must-Read Books About Ancient History. It shows how death and burial and the afterlife were so important to the ancient Egyptians and digs into their beliefs, mummification and funeral procedures as well as the logic behind the construction and decoration of the tombs.

"I am absolutely delighted and thrilled that the book has made it to the 100 must-reads about ancient Egypt. The book serves as an introduction to ancient Egyptian ideas about death and the hereafter — something that concerned them deeply as they wished to extend their lives into a perfect and fun eternity."

With more than 150 new photographs, diagrams and maps describing the Nubian temples including Abu Simbel and how they were moved, Nigel Fletcher Jones, director of the AUC Press and Bookstores, sheds the light on ancient Egypt through the Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples, which came about through observing visitors at the famous site on Lake Nasser. 

"Guides are not allowed to enter either of the two temples. So, for example, when tourists go in to the Great Temple, after that first 'wow!' moment when they see the colossal statues of Rameses II, there is no way for them to know what it is important for them to see," noted Jones. "I have a PhD from Durham University in archeaological anthropology, so I was able to take my academic research on the temples and describe — in non-technical language — what is important from a historical perspective about the Great and Small Temples and Rameses II, and what the visitor shouldn't miss seeing at Abu Simbel."

Stay tuned for more AUC Press's releases coming your way including Jones' new book on ancient Egyptian jewelry. Visit the AUC Press website for their latest publications and offers. 

Thirteen of AUC’s master’s programs have topped the 2019 Eduniversal Rankings, with six being ranked the first in Africa and all among the top 200 worldwide.

No. 1 in Africa

• Executive Master of Business Administration
• Master of Arts in Economics
• Master of Business Administration (Operations Management)
• Master of Global Affairs
• Master of Science in Finance
• Master of Science in Sustainable Development (Green Technologies)

No. 2  in Africa

• Master of Business Administration
• Master of Public Administration
• Master of Laws (LLM) in International and Comparative Law 
• Master of Science in Computer Science
• Master of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering 

No. 3 in Africa 

• Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication 
• Master of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Engineering (Management of Technology) 

Each year, Eduniversal helps more than 4.2 million students all over the world in their search for the right graduate program.

Founded in 1994, Eduniversal uses three main criteria in its master’s rankings methodology: reputation of the program, salary of first employment post-graduation and a student satisfaction survey. Read here a full list and description of AUC's master's programs in the 2019 Eduniversal rankings. 

“I am very excited about this year’s results of rankings for a number of graduate programs at AUC, particularly about the number of AUC graduate programs ranked among the top three in Africa — increasing to 13 programs from 10 programs in the 2018 ranking. ,” said Adham Ramadan, dean of graduate studies at AUC. "These rankings reflect the quality of graduate studies at AUC and the success of our graduate programs in maintaining quality." #MakingAUCProud

Bernard O'Kane, professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, has released his latest book Mosques: The 100 Most Iconic Islamic Houses of Worship, where he went on a journey through different centuries and continents to explore 100 of the most iconic and beautifully made architectural designs that are also meant to be home to worshippers in Islam. 

"The book is unusual in the field of Islamic art and architecture for the breadth of its coverage. Mosques from four continents are illustrated, from North America to Europe, Africa and Asia," said Bernard O'Kane, professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations.

In the book, O'Kane looks at some of the most iconic mosques from Indonesia to Spain and identifies how they've become more than just places for prayer, but have also meant to represent great historical architectural and design achievements. 

Speaking of golden iconic designs, O'Kane was also keen to highlight many of the mosques that date back to the golden age.

"Although those from the Arab, Turkish and Iranian heartlands receive the greatest attention, this breadth enables the reader to gain a fuller understanding of the worldwide distribution of mosques.  In addition, more emphasis is placed than is usual on the 19th and 20th centuries, with 21 out of 100 from those centuries," added O'Kane.

 

Dalia Abbas '13, political science graduate, earned her Master's in Education (EdM) — Technology, Innovation, and Education — from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She received the Harvard Intellectual Contribution Award, which honors students "whose dedication to scholarship enhanced the academic life of the community and positively impacted their fellow students" at Harvard.

"When I found out I got selected for the Harvard Intellectual Contribution Award, I was mostly just really surprised and humbled. There are so many incredible individuals in my program, from those who have worked on Sesame Street to those who run their own companies in places like Pakistan, to those that have taken their educational ventures on shows like Shark Tank. I'm grateful for my experience as an undergraduate at The American University in Cairo in that I think it really helped me distinguish myself and my interests and use that experience to make an impact in the intellectual community here at Harvard."

Read Harvard's full interview with Abbas here.

AUC's Department of Political Science held its first summer school for the training of junior faculty from universities across Egypt. The candidates were mentored by some of the most accomplished scholars in the field including AUC Trustees Nathan Brown (CASA '84), professor of political science and international affairs at The George Washington University, and Tarek Masoud, professor of public policy and the Sultan Oman Professor of International Relations at Harvard University.

"This was an excellent opportunity to interact with junior faculty with very different backgrounds. I have the feeling that the quality of the research proposals of the participants in the summer school will improve considerably. Given the high commitment and the remarkable qualifications of the instructors in the school, participants are going to produce interesting and well-developed pieces of research."

— Pedro Riera, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

"The political science summer school was a terrific experience, with some excellent Egyptian PhD students, a great team of AUC faculty and, of course, an excellent opportunity to come back to the University where I had my first job. While I didn’t get to see the new campus, the old campus certainly remains an oasis within busy Cairo."

— Anthony Lang, University of St. Andrews
Previously served as assistant professor of political science at AUC from 1996 to 2000

"It was my great pleasure to be involved in the political science summer school and to have the opportunity to help train the next generation of Egyptian social scientists. The program was a great demonstration of how AUC contributes to the development of intellectual and scientific infrastructure in Egypt. The seminar leaders, AUC Assistant Professors Amr Adly and Mostafa Hefny, are fast becoming the country’s leading scholars of politics and political economy, and I expect their voices to be deeply influential in the broader Egyptian social scientific field for decades to come. The fact that two energetic, brilliant young scholars chose to begin their careers at AUC is a testament to the ability of our University to draw on top global talent."

— Tarek Masoud, professor of public policy and the Sultan Oman Professor of International Relations at Harvard University

Find out more updates on AUC's Department of Political Science Facebook page.

“I've always loved the projects that bring a fresh look at history,” said Nagla Samir, associate professor of practice, Department of the Arts.

With a fresh unconventional take on history, AUC students have worked on producing an archival publication as part of the University's centennial celebrations to document the 1919 Egyptian Revolution while reproducing and recreating the ingenious songs of the Egyptian composer Sayed Darwish and poet Badie Khairy, who “informed as they entertained” Egyptians at the time.

This is What Has Come to Be is the outcome of a yearlong cooperation between graphic design students and the music program, where students have showcased their contemporary reflections and designs on the 1919 Egyptian Revolution as well as songs that both documented and started the first spark — inspiring the people to revolt against the British occupation.

“Each one of the students has made thorough research on the 1919 revolution and its songs," said Samir. "It was their first time to listen to these songs and the first time to learn about Sayed Darwish and Badie Khairy. It was an opportunity for them to get introduced to different Arabic colloquial languages and deep-dive into Egyptian history.”

The graphic design students — Haidy Helmy, Hana Zaher, Helen Bakhoum, Mariam Ismail, Merhan Amer, Sarah Azzab and Zeina Mansour — have had their own reflections on the revolution. Their works echo their diverse backgrounds and individual perceptions “My project was mainly inspired by the Egyptian sense of humor and the idea of making fun of a bad situation. I chose the songs that highlighted and proved this concept,” said Mansour.

It all started when Wael el Mahallawy, associate professor in the Department of the Arts, decided to do a reproduction of the 1919 songs as part of the This is What Has Come to Be centennial project. He started refining and researching the original lyrics of Sayed Darwish from old recordings, as some of the lyrics and music notations have changed over the years.

“The stories behind each song were the most interesting part of the research,” said Azzab. “For example, Aho Da Elly Sar song was originally written to respond to the British representative’s reaction when Egyptians took a stand against the British occupation.”

“You’d be surprised by how time has changed the songs, showing some cultural changes over the years,” added Samir. “For example, the national anthem used to be Masr Ya Set el Belad. Now, it is Masr Ya Om el Belad.”

Sarah Azzab: "What caught my attention the most were the songs made specifically for Saad Zaghloul by using hidden messages because people were prohibited from mentioning his name when he was exiled. So they sang for him indirectly in a way that only the Egyptian people would understand. I used that to divide the lyrics. I used the fact that the Arabic words don't make sense until they’re connected and then divided the lyrics into two layers."

Mariam Ismail: "My design is based on the concept of hope because I think that is what got people going at the time. I made all the pictures in black and white and added color to them to support the idea of hope — that you can still add life to the most monochrome and colorless things."

Haidy Helmy: "When I thought about Saad Zaghloul and the 1919 Egyptian Revolution, I thought how new it was back then. It was very experiential through different artworks, each showing hidden messages. The design indicates the Egyptian slogan that “numbers beat courage,” symbolizing huge numbers with lemons. This is what the design is all about."

Zeina Mansour: "The idea behind my design was to use humor to highlight the underlying meaning of the song, which in this case was making fun of the people who refused to accept different cultures under the umbrella of religion, but this was a facade."

“It is brilliant how these songs have indirectly contributed to the rise of the 1919 Egyptian Revolution, how these songs spread so that almost every Egyptian was singing them everywhere without the British occupation representatives getting the hidden messages — and eventually it resides under the radar and triggers the spark of the revolution because the people understand what this is about,” noted Samir.

All the lyrics were also professionally translated into English, all in one publication, and the music is on SoundCloud with easy access to the public.

The project is a joint collaboration between AUC’s Office of the Provost and Department of the Arts. 

For the whole playlist of songs, click here or scan the QR code below.