“Teaching is like a one-person show,” said Jillian Campana, professor of theatre in the Department of Arts, likening the students to an audience, and a lesson plan to a script.

It was moving to Cairo for the first time in 1993 as a fresh college graduate — before returning again in the second half of 2016 — that sparked her interest in teaching. “I was deciding whether to become an actor or not, and I had moved to Los Angeles. But I didn’t feel like a strong woman there; that industry privileged appearance over intellect and creativity,” she said. “It was too hard to give up something I had been doing since I was 5, so I wanted to go as far away as I can. I wanted to immerse myself somewhere completely different. So I came to Egypt, and I immediately fell in love with it. I found out that through teaching theatre, you’re able to teach a lot of other subjects.”

Since then, she embarked on a journey to not only explore, but test the limits of conventional teaching methods by pairing them with her passion for performing arts.

Old Beginnings

Campana began her teaching career by taking teaching English as a foreign language classes at AUC's School of Continuing Education. Upon working with refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia, she found that she was successful in teaching language skills through drama, realizing that this method of education was key to the learning experience. “It provided authentic context and repetition, reinforced memory and allowed them to be more playful with the language,” she explained.

As a result of her innate passion for drama and theatre and her extensive educational knowledge of performance studies, Campana could not help but acknowledge the performative nature of teaching and how much it resembled being on stage. Her then-newfound interest in pedagogy, the art of teaching, allowed her to take note of the way in which all teachers often find themselves adopting completely different and well-rounded characters that automatically present themselves during class.

“If the content is delivered in a creative way, it will stick in the students’ minds; it will connect them to the subject matter,” Campana affirmed, adding that this type of experiential education at AUC has often proven itself as a great way to engender more interest in the subject. “Students will be more likely to engage with the subject and more likely to use it in their everyday lives.”

Since her return to AUC, has taught an array of theatre classes, including Theatre in the Making, Acting I & II, Documentary Theatre, Applied Theatre and Physical Performance. Campana shed light on the approach of integrating art in teaching by giving an example where students might be presented with material pertaining, for instance, to the history of Greek theatre. This information may be strictly theoretical, she noted, requiring hours and hours of traditional lecturing techniques. This is when she takes a different route so that students are able to connect to it on a more personal level.

"Rather than just talk at them, I can give them a little bit of information and then maybe have them create a poem with that information and perform it as a Greek chorus,” she said. “That way they’re hearing the information; they’re turning it into something that’s meaningful for them in a creative way; and they’re delivering the content to their class as a member of the Greek system.”

While drama and acting typically fall under non-traditional ways of teaching, experiential education is not necessarily exclusive to conventionally hands-on material. Campana explained how she teaches a master’s degree program in the United States for teachers using an approach known as Integrated Arts Education, which utilizes fine and performing arts to teach kindergarten through grade 12 non-art teachers how to use the arts to enhance student engagement in classrooms.

The Art of Teaching Art

The theatre professor recognizes the impact of technological advancement on the existing methods of teaching. “Teaching has become very hard," she reflected. "I mean, there is very little factual information that I can give you that you can’t just go look up. My job is to give [students] the needed information, but also have them do something with it.”

At the beginning of each semester at AUC, Campana has been using introductory forms that students are required to fill out. She emphasized the importance of teachers getting to know their students to deliver the information in ways that are more relevant to them. Campana asks her students about their respective majors, their aspirations in life as well as reasons for taking her class. If she is aware of which student is majoring in which subject, she can work to make connections between the content she is teaching and the content students are learning in their departments of major, inspiring them to effectively use the information upon leaving the classroom.

Dynamic Art Scene

Campana pointed out how the art scene has changed in the past few years in relation to socioeconomic status. “Theatre has tended to be an art form more accessible to people with means,” she explained. “It takes time to go view art, and for people who don’t have time or the money, it’s a discretionary activity that doesn't add to their lives. It’s unfortunate because art teaches us and makes us think and hopefully, activates some change.”

Director of the successful student performance of Lysistrata at the University, Campana pointed out that AUC students are able to learn all about theatre. “AUC is in an incredible position to be a major changing force in the theatre scene in Egypt,” she said. “The students are so talented. But what I’d like to see is AUC alumni work together to form their own theatre company.”

Establishing a company of actors, directors and designers working as a group to produce a number of plays every year requires hard work, according to the theatre professor. “We would have to produce about two to three plays once a year for maybe five years,” Campana explained, adding that achieving consistency in this regard would be the main challenge when it comes to implementing such a concept. However, she does not deem the process an impossible feat and believes that with the alumni’s effort and dedication, the project is very much a doable one.

Campana studied acting at the California Institute of the Arts, performance studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and has earned an interdisciplinary PhD in theatre and the social sciences. Campana’s book, Acting Successful: Using Performance Skills in Everyday Life, is used as a required textbook at several universities and schools.

It is estimated that 17 percent of all Egyptian adults have diabetes, according to the 2017 statistics by the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office.

Ithar Hassaballa, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, says community-based interventions can step in to  be more sustainable for the health and well-being of individuals with chronic conditions.

“Public health was one of the disciplines that started community psychology,” Hassaballa said. “It focused on prevention of these issues using behavioral methods ,such as behavior change strategies. A lot of public health issues are related to behaviors of communities."

Before joining AUC in Fall 2017, Hassaballa completed her PhD in behavioral psychology, with a focus on community health and development. It was also there that she had worked on her main research-based community intervention, which was for a group of African-American women with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in Durham, North Carolina (NC).

The same concept, she believes, can be applied in Egypt – where Type 2 Diabetes is on the rise.

Involving the Community

“Community psychology is multidisciplinary; it’s sociology, public health, economics, politics,” she stated. “But it is also all about including participants as decision makers.” It is not impossible, but unlikely, to sustain any type health and development program over time if community members are not
active participants.

The first advantage is that in a bottom-top approach, participants are able to cater the intervention to their own needs. “For women in Durham, NC, running outside as exercise was not an option because in that community, running outside could be perceived as running away from a crime scene or having committed a crime,” she explained. “The Durham Diabetes Program participants decided they could create mall walking groups – it is a safe environment, and it is comfortable enough to walk indoors in the state’s harsh winters and humid summers. They were able to commit themselves to this and hold each other accountable. Without the participation of the women, who are the community experts, the program would not have been successful.”

Hassaballa perceives this type of community participation as one of Egypt’s strengths. “Social support is huge here. People have no issues asking each other for help,” she noted. “It’s the way people live here. Nearly everyone is family-oriented. It’s key to addressing problems, stress levels and other behavioral issues.”  

With this motivation in mind, the assistant professor is ready to start working this summer. The first step will be a literature review to detect the gaps in terms of T2D, where she would be able to determine what people understand and believe about diabetes and which behaviors related to the condition are prevalent.

Another observation that will be confirmed with data are some of the weaknesses that contribute to the high level of diabetes among Egyptians. “People are, unfortunately, only physically active within their daily routine – so no extra exercise. There are high stress levels, high number of smokers and nutrition issues. What we know is that these environmental and social factors play a larger role than genetics,” she stated. “Starting in the fall, I will create a team of students to begin our research.”

Hassaballa wants to take advantage of being at AUC, where not only can she apply for a research grant, but start with the smaller community of students for surveying, connect offices and universities working in chronic diseases with international organizations and collaborate with departments that have experience in addressing diabetes. But she stressed that all these bodies aren’t as important as the community members. “People need to feel like it’s theirs, like the entire program is their baby,” she said. “We have to provide opportunity. We have to train people on how to make their own decisions and be active participants. If you come in and make a decision on behalf of a community, it will fall apart when you leave or when funding ends. No one will be interested. We want people to carry it on afterward on their own.”

Making a Difference

Hassaballa chose to join AUC because of its community psychology program. She currently teaches two undergraduate courses and one graduate course. She believes that one of AUC’s strengths is students not being afraid to express their opinions.

Students in her Community Psychology course are currently conducting focus groups related to smoking at AUC. “They are currently looking into student views on the [Tobacco-Free Campus Policy] as well as strategies for assuring that the smoking spaces on campus meet the students’ needs,” she stated.

But it’s not just within AUC that community psychology is being put into use; it’s around Cairo as well. The same class is going into Al Shorouq and conducting focus groups with psychosocial workers in the district’s schools. “My students are trying to find the challenges and recommendations for assuring that the roles are fulfilled, but not burdened by the amount of students who need help,” she explained. “They go into the community, implement, carry out interviews. They’re trying to make improvements by including participants and their ideas.”

One of Hassaballa’s major experiences at the University of Kansas was working collaboratively with the World Health Organization in Africa to improve community health. During the Ebola outbreak in 2014, her team effectively used community toolbox – the largest community-building resource online – to evaluate training modules and adapt them to the African context; address educational, economic and social determinants of health; and provide prevention methods. With AUC going through some changes to promote a healthier campus, Hassaballa’s expertise in examining gaps and providing solutions will benefit the community in taking significant steps toward these changes. “I know AUC is moving toward promoting a healthy AUC," she said, "so I want to connect with that and engage as many students and faculty members as possible, whether those in community psychology, athletic facilities, marketing or communication.”

To make a real difference, awareness and empowerment go hand in hand, according to Hassaballa, and we need to hold community members accountable in order to move forward toward prevention, change and development. “We need to look at the surrounding environment as a whole,” she asserted. “It’s related to the behavior of everyone – including politicians, researchers, those who design buildings – not just those who are affected. Understanding these issues is where behavioral psychology comes in and where community psychology can play a role.”

Mostafa Kandil '15, co-founder and CEO of Swvl, a mobile app that organizes convenient transportation routes around Egypt at reasonable prices, was recently featured in Forbes Middle East commenting on the $8 million the company raised in its first round of venture capital financing. This is the largest round of funding for a tech startup in Egypt and one of the largest in the Middle East. 

“Swvl is on its way to becoming a household name in Egypt and one of the biggest job providers in the country," Kandil told News@AUC. "We are very excited about what the future holds for us as we build the first unicorn in Egypt.”

Kandil and his team are alumni of the AUC Venture Lab, where they participated in cycle 7. With entrepreneurial support and the knowledge and guidance of mentors, the team was able to launch the application before graduating from the cycle. Read more about how SWVL got started here.

They’re uncomfortable to talk about and scary to think they could happen to everyone, but they do: catfishing, sexploitation, sextortion and blackmailing. Ahmed Hosam Refai ’18 –– music technology and multimedia journalism graduate –– chose these as the main topics for his award-winning audio documentary, Catfishing in the Nile: Sexploitation and Online Blackmailing in Egypt.

Refai’s women-centric audio documentary already won him two prizes: the Society of Professional Journalists’ Radio In-Depth Reporting Mark of Excellence Award and the Zayed University Middle East Film Festival's Best Audio Documentary.

Why Catfishing – Why Women?

“I was working on a random night of November 2016 when I received a text from a friend. It said, ‘Help me! I’m freaking out; someone is blackmailing me!’” Refai recounted at the beginning of his audio documentary.

The friend trusted a catfish – a person who poses as someone else online –– and sent him personal photos of herself. The catfish’s true colors came out, and he began making demands that ranged from sex to sending him money.

“Essentially, the topic is sexual exploitation, which is done through a variety of ways, usually by an abusive ex-boyfriend, a hacker or a catfisher,” he stated.

It wasn’t just Refai’s friend. It was a growing number of Egyptian women being trapped into a cycle of sexploitation, sextortion and blackmail by catfish or by people they know – this is why Refai chose this as the topic of audio documentary. In his audio production class, under the supervision of Kim Fox, associate professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, he had to produce a 6 – 8-minute audio documentary. 

“I focus on women –– even though men might have had to face similar situations –– because this does affect women more aggressively and strikingly,” he explained. “My documentary delves into personal stories of women who had to deal with this. The most challenging part of it is finding those who are comfortable enough sharing their experiences.”

The main reason that makes women a target, which permeates the many sects of Egyptian society, is patriarchy. The lack of agency –– for women –– that comes with their body politics create a space for predators to take control, often threatening them with exposing them to their community of family and friends. “Egypt is a fertile environment for this type of blackmail,” he remarked. “Victims of online blackmail find themselves being blamed for sharing such photos before marriage. This makes compromising material such as photos, videos or even information a potent weapon in the hands of the blackmailer.”

One of the victims interviewed, Ghadeer, who is a feminist activist, was blackmailed with a video she had sent to her then-boyfriend. In a classic blackmailer style, he used the video as a means of trying to get her back, which she refused. Women like Ghadeer took matters to the authorities, knowing very well the social risk associated with that.

Fighting Back

Refai says that there has to be a second side to the story of his documentary. Since he was unable to talk to any predators, due to his project not allowing anonymity, he decided to try talking to security services. After several attempts, he was eventually to get a hold of telephone intelligence services and he inquired about protocols regarding internet crimes — he was told there was no number available for internet intelligence services. 

What he found out was that the victims had to go themselves to report. In a rare occurrence, Ghadeer went ahead with these legal procedures and was able to get her blackmailer convicted of defamation. Despite this victory, Refai states that the video spread in later years. “It invited a barrage of bullying,” he explained. “At that time, she had made a name for herself as a feminist activist, which made her an even more appealing target. Private blackmail had turned into public shaming. What she did next is the best part of the story.”

Ghadeer reported the video her ex blackmailed her with and then posted it herself. She was able to reclaim back that cyber space, which was once a battlefield where she had to fight for her honor. “Now I am posting my own video, and I post them to affirm that we women have the right to post our bodies online without being ashamed, without being stigmatized,” she affirms. “The cyber [world] is a space where we [can] defend our bodies and our right to that space. So I post my videos now. I am very happy with what I am doing.”

"I knew that within the context of our society, if I went through any legal channel, I'd end up being shamed. I'd end up being told I was the one at fault. Being aware of that has led me to go to my most viable option. I resorted to blackmailing back."

On the other hand, Fatma, another interviewee Refai presented, chose to not report to authorities, since there is a risk of exposure that comes with that. "I knew that within the context of our society, if I went through any legal channel, I'd end up being shamed,” she recounted. “I'd end up being told I was the one at fault. Being aware of that has led me to go to my most viable option. I resorted to blackmailing back. I knew a couple of people who may be categorized as ‘thugs’ or whatever. I knew them, and I had helped them before. You can’t face someone who is blackmailing you alone. You have to find someone who they’d fear more.” This actually worked, and as Refai puts it “curbed the spread” of whatever was being used against her.

The eye-opening audio documentary is just the start for Refai, who is interested in the genre as well as podcasts. “I didn’t have a particular interest before this class,” he reflected. “The class gave me the motivation, skills and aesthetic qualities of audio documentary, and I have to thank Professor Kim Fox for that.”

A reporter at heart, the former senior editor at the student newspaper, The Caravan, just graduated, and he is looking forward to reflecting and analyzing more issues –– in print and online.  

It was during his summer holidays as a student that Bernard O’Kane, now professor of Islamic art and architecture, took trips from Ireland to Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iran -- and “was hooked.”

Recently, O’Kane won the ninth Farabi International Award, granted by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran for outstanding scholarship in Islamic humanities. Through publishing books, taking students on field trips and photography, O’Kane has, for the past – almost – 40 years at AUC, significantly contributed to the study of Islamic art and architecture.

Islamic Art: Past and Future

In November 2017, a project that O’Kane and graduate students worked on from 1997 to 2004 was finally made available online. As part of the project, funded by AUC and the American Research Center in Egypt, O'Kane and his team recorded all inscriptions on mosques in Egypt. The large team of students took trips to the mosques and photographed and documented the Arabic text with English translations. “It was delayed because, at the time, Arabic and English text did not work in the same field,” he explained. “But today, the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage is hosting it with the servers, and the data is available online for free. It’s a useful tool – not just for art historians, but for linguists and scholars of other fields as well.”

When it comes to working on projects with students, O’Kane says “there is no shortage of projects to work on.” In recent years, students have been more interested in modern Islamic architecture, he noted. “In our graduate program, we get architects and interior designers passing through who are among the people that can be very influential in this field,” he said. “We are hoping that they can learn to harmonize elements of cultural heritage and modernity in mosques – which hasn’t been easy to do anywhere in the Islamic world.”

In an effort to revitalize students’ creativity, O’Kane is commencing another project in collaboration with the Department of Architecture that aims to tackle the tough task of designing modern Islamic architecture. “We are hoping to give a joint course on designing modern mosques,” he mentioned. “I will be providing the historical context, and the other professor will be providing the studio part.”

Meanwhile, on an individual level, he is working on The Ultimate Book of Mosques, which he describes as a fun project that will require him to look more closely at modern mosque architecture. “I’ve been asked to pick 100 mosques and write captions and an introduction. It covers the entire Islamic world chronologically,” he stated. “So I will be balancing a little in terms of historic designs and what’s happening now with mosque architecture, which is fascinating, and has all sorts of possibilities.”

Why Cairo?

O’Kane, who originally studied law in the early 1970s, later switched to the field of art history, worked on his thesis in Iran and then came to Cairo in 1980 to join AUC’s Department of Arab and Islamic Civilization as an instructor. O’Kane believes that coming to Cairo for someone invested in the field of Islamic architecture is beneficial due to its location and the richness of its history. “A core part of the identity of Cairo’s Islamic architecture is that it has a larger chronological range than any other Islamic city, starting in the ninth century.” he reflected. “Mosques in Egypt have survived to an extraordinary extent, and Egypt is unique in the sense in which the capital city – Cairo – dominated over the other towns by getting more than usual in patronage from the rulers and the sultans – which is why we have this rich and extraordinary legacy.”

Another advantage for students learning an intricate and complex branch of art history such as Islamic architecture is studying in the historical city of Cairo, O’Kane affirms. “Cairo is in the middle of the Middle East, so we’re able to take students to see the original buildings, which is so much more enriching than being in a class and showing slides, for example,” he pointed out. “More than that, if I’m studying this field, being in Cairo means I can easily travel to other Islamic cities to further my studies.”

Moreover, Cairo’s Islamic art is distinct for its valuable stonework and inscriptions and what O’Kane describes as “some of the greatest masterpieces of world architecture” like the Ibn Tulun Mosque and the Complex of Sultan Hasan. “As mentioned, field trips are a wonderful way to introduce students to their cultural heritage, places they’ve never been to before, or that they never knew about,” O’Kane said. “Fortunately, the Museum of Islamic Art was recently reopened, containing masterpieces of art from around the Islamic world, now extremely well-displayed. It’s very exciting.”

O’Kane has immersed himself in the world of art history for the past few decades, keeping himself connected with scholars, writing significant books on the subject, such as The Mosques of Egypt, which includes 543 of his own photographs, serving as a visiting professor at Harvard and University of California, Berkeley, and being recognized for his research in the field. “Art is an enriching experience,” he concluded. “Whether it is music, literature, visual art or architecture. Studying it adds another dimension to life.”

Widely recognized as a hub for cultural and artistic expression, AUC’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HUSS) recently received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a series of teaching, research and outreach programs administered through the HUSSLab research unit. 

The program, titled Public Humanities for Egypt and the Global South, encompasses 20 activities designed to support faculty and graduate student research, innovative multidisciplinary teaching, public outreach and inter-institutional collaboration, as well as provide direct funding for workshop activities in the Center for Translation Studies and the Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women's Studies.

“AUC is seen as a crucial link," said Stephen Nimis, chair of the Department of English and Comparative Literature and director of the HUSSLab. "It is a University that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation wants to invest in. The foundation sees that our strategic positioning between the Global North and Global South makes us a key center for forging north-south exchanges in the humanities.”

While the HUSSLab​'s main goal is to enhance research and resources among AUC faculty and students, its distinctiveness lies in its goal of reimagining and redefining topics, discussions and studies within the humanities throughout Egypt. This will be achieved by promoting partnerships with local and global institutions and prioritizing public outreach.

“Often, people think of those studying or working in humanities as isolated, in libraries reading books and working on their arcane studies,” said Robert Switzer, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. “But in philosophy, for example, Socrates was not in the library. He was out there in the community talking to people. This is a wonderful opportunity to re-engage the humanities in the broader world and reach out, not just to our MENA community, but the Global South as a whole, which is a huge part of the mission of the University and HUSS.”

The HUSSLab team is keen to spark exchange across the globe, with a special focus on Africa, Asia as well as South and Central America. “It’s important that faculty get interested in this,” affirmed Nimis. “This will definitely further their careers by allowing them to experience activities outside of their scope as professors at AUC.”

The program will commence by bringing notable international authors and academics to campus, partnering with institutions for faculty exchange programs in the Global South and both Georgetown and Northwestern universities, and conducting monthly roundtable discussions –– based on HUSSLab’s workshops –– at the University of Michigan to support pedagogical innovation.

Embodying the spirit of the humanities and social sciences, the program is combining all of its goals, spearheading conversations on humanistic topics and values through a series of public lectures, such as the HUSSLab Lecture Series and Cairo Conversations. The speakers, Nimis pointed out, will range from academics and non-academics to social and political activists. Moreover, forums and workshops will be arranged with members of reputable institutions in the fields of humanities, social justice and education, including the Women and Memory Forum as well as the Cairo Initiative for Liberal Arts and Sciences.

In collaboration with the translation studies centers at both AUC and the American University of Beirut,  HUSSLab will also be holding Arabizing the Academy workshops to promote academic research and publications in Arabic to connect with the public across Egypt. They will also make available open-access, Arabic-language monographs on important topics.

The HUSSLab plans to expand its outreach strategies by holding three, six-day winter schools for non-academic professionals in Egypt who have a substantial interest in the humanities, but are unable to commit to regular academic research. AUC’s postgraduate and postdoctoral alumni are also encouraged to share their knowledge by applying for fellowships.

The program team hopes to integrate other disciplines into the field of humanities and strengthen AUC’s position in the region and around the globe. “The first grant can be the beginning of many great things happening down the road,” asserted Nimis. “The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation sees us as a 20-year investment, expecting us to come back with other ideas and projects. Everyone should always be thinking of new ideas for now and the future.”

Mohammed El Shafie ’17, philosophy graduate and recipient of the HSBC Bank Egypt Public School Scholarship, now steps up to a new challenge as he enters his first year at Harvard Law School this fall.

With a long list of academic feats behind him, El Shafie looks to the future with fervor in the hopes of using his law degree to effect significant change. “I hope to work toward bringing the Islamic and Western worlds closer to one another,” he affirmed.

El Shafie was resolute in his plans even as he started applications to law schools, noting in his speech at President Francis J. Ricciardone’s inauguration that his dream was “to avert the danger of terrorism by establishing a genuine philosophical foundation for a true understanding between East and West.”

El Shafie looks back at AUC as a catalyst that exposed him to numerous fields, drawing out various interests in him. He ultimately chose to pursue a major in philosophy, observing great value in the study of the theories that form the fundamentals of political thought. He has shown devotion to his scholarly work even outside of the classroom, participating in international conferences and reigning in impressive awards for his writing.

“AUC’s liberal arts education allowed me to see a great deal more than I would have otherwise,” he affirmed. “Professors in the philosophy department were always very willing to discuss theories with me. This is an experience that I don’t think I could have found at another institution.”

In addition to discussing philosophical works with his professors, El Shafie was active in extracurricular activities, writing for AUC Times magazine, helping as a radio program manager and regularly participating in the Philosophy Club. In Fall 2015, El Shafie was awarded the Dr. Ahmed and Ann M. El-Mokadem Study Abroad Scholarship to participate in an exchange program with the University of Michigan. El Shafie is also a skilled and passionate classical pianist who has performed at several events.

“These activities allowed me to see AUC as an educational institution that is part of a community,” El Shafie reflected. “It taught me that the best kinds of educational institutions understand the needs of their communities.”

With the goal of promoting discussion and engagement among students of diverse backgrounds, El Shafie founded a reading society that brought together participants from AUC, Oxford and several other American universities. Named MensCiceronis, the group regularly meets to dissect the classics of Western and Judeo-Islamic political philosophy. Students who were physically available would meet on AUC’s campus, joined by students abroad through Skype. “The group has proven to be quite a success,” El Shafie noted. “It has been a space for dialogue between people of different cultures and has enriched us all very much.”

Beyond his University activities, El Shafie, who is visually impaired, demonstrated a passion for teaching Braille and helping to increase the number of Braille translations available to visually impaired individuals. He worked with the Egyptian Parents Association for the Visually Impaired, teaching Braille reading and writing, Braille music, adaptive technology, Microsoft Word and English in different programs. He volunteered with Bookshare, working on scanning and proofreading books for Braille translation. He also took the initiative of developing the first draft of an electronic Braille edition of Shakespeare’s complete works.

Having explored the philosophies underlying political theory, El Shafie will now begin to make his mark on another university community as he continues to work toward fusing theory and practicality through the study of the written law. “Through studying law, I hope to be able to combine law and philosophy, theoretically and practically, so I can achieve change,” he said.

Recognized for their contributions, two faculty members were honored at the Spring 2016 commencement ceremony: Zeinab Amin, associate professor of the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science and director of the actuarial science program, received the Excellence in Academic Service Award, and Ferial Ghazoul, professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, was presented with the Excellence in Research and Creative Endeavors Award. The awardees were selected by a committee that included representatives from each school.

Commitment to Academic Service

For Amin, there is no greater fulfillment than feeling her contributions at AUC have created a positive impact. “Receiving this recognition means that my hard work has paid off,” she said. “It's an inspiration and affirmation that being generous, giving your effort and time, and giving to the community without any rewards or expectations in return do not only create a positive impact on the community, but also for myself.” 

Throughout her 10 years of service at AUC, Amin’s major contributions include designing a new minor in financial mathematics and restructuring the curriculum of the actuarial science program, which was classified as an advanced actuarial science program by the American Society of Actuaries in 2009 and received accreditation by the Supreme Council of National Universities. She also designed a new core capstone course, which introduces students to the role of enterprise risk management in mitigating loss and optimizing opportunity across a business. In 2009, she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award from AUC for her outstanding performance in helping students reach their full potential in various areas of AUC’s curricula. 

Since Fall 2012, Amin has served as associate chair of the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science, director of the actuarial science program, and the founding adviser of the Actuarial Science Association, in addition to chairing the Senate Curriculum Committee, Departmental Academic Affairs Committee and Faculty Search Committee. She also served as a member of the Departmental Research Committee, a member of the Middle States Accreditation Steering Committee and co-chaired its Governance, Leadership and Administration working group, and supervised the Mathematics and Chemistry Lab.

"Amin is a dedicated advocate for the welfare and the development of AUC,"  said Ehab Abdel-Rahman, vice provost and physics professor. "Her leadership and excellent contributions to the University have resulted in a significantly improved and strategically important impact throughout the entire academic programs. Her contributions to service made a noticeable impact to the University, so it was not only a question of quantity of service but also leaving a mark on the University."

One of Amin’s most recent accomplishments is the partnership initiative she coordinated with the University of Liverpool, which resulted in the student exchange agreement signed by AUC’s provost and the University of Liverpool’s vice-chancellor in January 2016. 

Distinguished Research Record

Ghazoul is the founding editor of Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, an annual interdisciplinary publication that is published in Arabic, English and French at AUC. She is currently on the advisory board of several journals and foundations, including Thaqafat, Fusul, Kitab-fi-jarida and The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.



She was recognized for her distinguished record of past and continuing excellence in research. “Ferial Ghazoul has made an impact on shaping the comparative literature field by her continuity of research productivity since the 1980s and the volume of works published annually, including journal articles, book chapters and translations,” said Abdel-Rahman.

Ghazoul has published extensively on the medieval comparative literature and postcolonial studies. She is the author of two notable books titled The Arabian Nights: A Structural Analysis (1980) and Nocturnal Poetics: The Arabian Nights in Comparative Context (1996). She has also edited and co-edited several literary works including Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide (1873-1999), The View from Within: Writers and Critics on Contemporary Arabic Literature (1994), and Edward Said and Critical Decolonization (2007). 

Ghazoul’s career as a translator earned her the Arkansas Arabic Translation Award for the translation of Matar’s Quartet of Joy (1997), and recently received a grant to translate the works written by the Bahraini poet, Qassim Haddad.

“When you think about Islamic archaeology and archaeology in Cairo, you think of George Scanlon,” noted one of Scanlon’s former students and archaeologist Gregory Williams (MA) ’13, who is currently pursuing a PhD in Islamic archaeology.

Professor emeritus in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations (ARIC), the late George T. Scanlon (1925 - 2014) was a pillar in the ARIC department and AUC. He was fundamental in establishing the University’s program and curriculum in Oriental and Arabic and Islamic studies, especially within his field of Islamic art and architecture. Under his guidance, numerous generations of students have graduated and gone on to pursue successful careers in various corners of the globe.

Commemorating Scanlon’s great work in the field of Islamic art and architecture, his former students and AUC alumni decided to undertake an initiative to establish the George T. Scanlon Graduate Student Award in Arab and Islamic Civilizations, a merit-based award to recognize a distinguished MA thesis produced by an ARIC student in that given academic year.

“As we count ourselves among the privileged graduates who benefited from Scanlon’s dedication to his students and his multidisciplinary approach to the study of Islamic culture and history, we are committed to fortifying his most noble of characteristics by encouraging the research of future generations of historians following in the tradition that he helped establish at AUC,” wrote his former student Iman R. Abdulfattah (MA) ’04, PhD candidate at the University of Bonn and Islamic art historian at the Ministry of Antiquities, and Noha Abou-Khatwa ’98 ’01, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and director of the Islamic Art Network, Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, in their appeal to former students of Scanlon. The George T. Scanlon Graduate Student Award in Arab and Islamic Civilizations has so far raised more than $25,000.

Scanlon’s former students want to ensure that their mentor and dear professor’s name, memory and scholarly contributions are kept alive and thriving for years to come at AUC. “Such a prize recognizes Scanlon’s multidisciplinary approach to his various areas of expertise, but also ensures that he continues to be recognized in posterity for his manifold scholarly contributions,” said Abdulfattah. “It also shows a commitment to students, which was one of Scanlon’s most admiring attributes as an educator.”

Pioneering professors and mentors are an important part of AUC’s legacy. Faculty members like Scanlon made Cairo their home and AUC their family.  Commemorating scholars like Scanlon through named gifts and prizes is one way of keeping their names alive. “Much like the medieval waqf system, which Scanlon taught us, kept the memories of past rulers and sultans alive on buildings and material objects they patronized; named prizes are another way of immortalizing our mentors, through a perpetual academic and intellectual lineage,” said Amina Elbendary ’96, ’00, Scanlon’s former student and associate chair and assistant professor of Arab and Islamic civilizations at AUC. 

Scanlon’s 50-year teaching career at AUC has made an immense impact on all his students, scholars, fellow colleagues and researchers, and everyone who even encountered him briefly. He is remembered by his students as “opinionated, a wonderful teacher, great scholar who was incredibly generous and genuinely interested in his students” said Abdulfattah.

Building on from the work of the very famous K.A.C Creswell, Scanlon established a strong program in Islamic art and architecture at AUC. Several of his former students went on to become important scholars in the field. The theses they produced for their master’s degrees remain important works, which created a very strong reputation for AUC and the ARIC program. “Scanlon was one of the earliest scholars to bring archeology to Islamic studies. So, unlike Egyptology, Arabists were not traditionally trained to work with material culture much less to pursue archaeological work. He was a pioneer at that, and several of his students trained with him on site,” added Elbendary. 

Scanlon made learning at AUC more exciting and his love of Cairo, its monuments and history was contagious. “His impact was immense on steering interest to Islamic archeology in Egypt,” said Abou-Khatwa. “His analysis of what he excavated was brilliant and this is why it is indispensable to the study of medieval Egypt, as it filled in a lot of blanks. Most importantly his work documented and thus preserved for us the first Muslim city.”

Scanlon’s main life achievement was teaching and his relationship with students. “We want to keep that link with students going … as he used to say, ‘Keep the Faith.’”

Getting to Know Professor George T. Scanlon

Born in Pennsylvania on April 23, 1925, George T. Scanlon paved the way in areas as wide-ranging as salvage archaeology and scholarly writing. Throughout his career, he has been affiliated with several academic institutions in the U.S. and the UK including Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, St. Anthony’s College in Oxford, the University of Michigan, and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). He first joined AUC during the academic year 1957 - 1958 and then returned in 1974 as a visiting professor of Islamic art and architecture; he was tenured in 1975 and continued to teach here until 2011 when he chose to retire.

A prominent American art historian, Scanlon was honored by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (Ministry of Antiquities today) in 2010 for his excavation work in Nubia and Fustat, and his publications related to these projects. Scanlon is the first non-Egyptian, medieval archaeologist to receive such recognition. Scanlon began working on the excavation projects in Nubia and Fustat in the 1960s, where he spent three seasons working in Nubia as part of the UNESCO campaign that aimed to salvage the archaeological sites threatened by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. As head of the American Research Center in Egypt at the time, Scanlon was eventually approached by the director of the then Egyptian Antiquities Service to assist with excavation and preservation efforts focusing on Islamic art and architecture in Fustat.

Scanlon anonymously endowed the annual George Antonius Memorial lecture at the Middle East Centre of St Antony’s College, now in its 37th year; he also gave generously over the years to key institutions that supported the study of the Middle East, such as the American University in Beirut and Middle East Medievalists. However, the Rare Books  and Special Collections Library (RBSCL) at AUC, his official home for the past 40 years, is where his spirit continues to reside. In 2008, Scanlon donated his personal papers, correspondences and the diaries that he has kept over the years to RBSCL.

Surrounded by great monuments, scholars and researchers studying in Cairo have an unparalleled opportunity to unveil the creativity of Islamic art and architecture. Impassioned by the significance of this dynamic field, Nadia Niazi Mostafa, friend of the University and parent of an AUC alum, has been supporting the study of Islamic art and architecture at AUC for more than a decade.

Mostafa’s love for Islamic art and architecture began in the early 1980s when she took classes in the field. In 1999, she established the Nadia Niazi Mostafa Endowed Award in Islamic Art and Architecture, presented to the winner of the best term paper or thesis. In the same year, she provided humidifiers for the climate-controlled rooms in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library (RBSCL), which preserve documents and antiquities that date back more than 100 years.

In 2001, Mostafa established the Nadia Niazi Mostafa Fellowship in Islamic Art and Architecture, awarded to an Egyptian student enrolled in the graduate program of the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations. The award is based on academic standing and financial need. “All students need support,” said Mostafa. “I know a lot of educated parents who wish they could have sent their children to AUC, but could not afford to. When I was taking courses in Islamic art and architecture, the department barely had enough students to keep it going. Having an annual award for the best thesis and a graduate endowment will help attract students to pursue their master’s degree in Islamic art and architecture, which is a very bountiful field that has not received the attention it deserves.” The fellowship has so far supported a total of 10 students.

Without this fellowship, Ahmad Abdel Aziz ’13 would have had to take a couple of semesters off to save money to pay University fees. “It [the fellowship] literally helped me continue the MA program. allowing me to expand my studies further in art and architecture," said Abdel Aziz. "The moment I got the fellowship, I felt like it is the first step of a dream coming true. AUC, by all means, offers the best education in Egypt. It is known for the education and social life it provides that enhances the personal and intellectual skills of students.”

Students enrolled in the Islamic art and architecture program have the advantage of working in RBSCL, which incorporates the holdings of the former Creswell library — one of the finest collections on Islamic art and architecture in the world. In further support for the preservation and conservation of Egypt’s intellectual and cultural heritage, Mostafa named the Nadia N. Mostafa Room in RBSCL on the New Cairo campus. The multipurpose room is used for specialized instruction, as well as for public seminars and lectures. According to Philip Croom, associate dean and director of RBSCL, “Professors in various fields and specifically Islamic art and architecture, which is our biggest area, come to this room to use our archival books that cannot be taken outside the library.” Additionally, it has hosted the inauguration of the Ramses Wissa Wassef exhibition titled, Ramses Wissa Wassef: The Architect and the Artist.

“The rare books and special collections at AUC are amongst the world’s most important collections,” said Mostafa, adding that these collections are a treasure and must be taken care of at all times. “Even if you can get enormous amounts of information on the Internet, they can't compete with the colored illustrations in a rare book, or the feel of the subject in a book.”

Mostafa believes that the time will come when all this wealth of information will be required, not only by museum curators, university lecturers, artists and decorators, but by novelists and playwrights. “There are thousands of historical novels written today about certain time periods in Western culture, but very few, if any, on the Arab and Muslim world. Hopefully, AUCians, with multi-languages, can help in providing writers and directors here and abroad with information on our rich heritage.”

In addition to Mostafa’s support for the arts, she has also been a steadfast supporter of the University through The AUC Annual Fund, which provides immediate funds to help sustain distinguished faculty members, support curricular innovation, maintain AUC facilities, as well as provide financial aid and scholarships.

Photo caption: Daad Abdel Razik, assistant director at the Rare Books and Special Collections Library; Ali Saleh, husband of Nadia Niazi Mostafa; and Nadia Niazi Mostafa