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AUC Hosts Annual AAICU Meeting

Dalia Al Nimr
April 23, 2024

AUC hosted this week the annual meeting for the Association of American International Colleges and Universities (AAICU), a consortium of independent, non-for-profit, higher education institutions located outside the United States and based on the American liberal arts model. The meeting was attended by leaders of member universities from the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, including Nigeria, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. 

"We are honored to have hosted such a distinguished gathering of leaders of international American universities. We share a vision and interest in developing liberal arts education and making it accessible around the world."

Watch what AAICU members had to say about AUC.

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AUC hosts the annual meeting of the Association of American International Colleges & Universities, with leaders of member universities from different parts of the world

"We are honored to have hosted such a distinguished gathering of leaders of international American universities,: said AUC President Ahmad Dallal. "We share a vision and interest in developing liberal arts education and making it accessible around the world. The exchange of ideas and perspectives during the meeting exemplifies the spirit of collaboration and innovation that defines AUC and its commitment to global engagement."

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Touring the New Cairo campus, including AUC's Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability as well as the Rare Books and Special Collections Library

“I was very impressed with how architecture played a significant role in focusing on students, faculty and staff. The whole structure speaks to the philosophy of the school,” said Panagiotis Vlachos, president of the American College of Thessaloniki and president of AAICU.

“The University seems to be an engine of change within the community, the region and, of course, the country."

The meeting aims to facilitate conversations on the future of higher education as well as effective strategies and best practices for advancing academic partnerships. It also promotes intercultural perspectives through student and faculty exchange.

“For us to do our work in this sort of rich historical context has really been enjoyable,” said Todd Laursen, chancellor of the American University of Sharjah.

AUC hosted the AAICU meeting back in 2008 resulting in the Cairo Declaration.

“The University seems to be an engine of change within the community, the region and, of course, the country. It incorporates all different communities into it in a magnificent way,” said Samuel Martín-Barbero, president of Franklin University Switzerland.

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AUC Students Win With Sustainable Shopping

Honey ElMoghazi
April 22, 2024

Finance juniors Salma Afifi, Jumana Elhefnawy and Maya Abu Shahba developed ScanHa to incentivize consumers toward making sustainable fashion choices, promoting conscious consumerism and reducing the industry's environmental impact. 

"We want to create a community of environmentally conscious and responsible shoppers without compromising either style or budget," explained Elhefnawy. “ScanHa allows customers to scan the barcodes of clothing items while shopping, showing a sustainability rating for each piece. For high-rated items, the user is encouraged to proceed with the purchase, whereas for low-rated items, the user is redirected toward a more sustainable yet identical alternative. ScanHa also offers incentives and discounts for eco-friendly purchases, which makes sustainable shopping more desirable and accessible.” 

Offered by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at AUC’s School of Business in collaboration with the African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec), a pan-African network that includes universities from across the continent, the competition encourages students to utilize advanced technology (ICT) in order to aid businesses and public establishments in reducing waste and advocating for ethical practices for a more sustainable future. 

Competing with more than 200 participants from 14 different African countries, a team of three AUC students won the ICT for Circulatory Competition for their first-of-its-kind mobile app, ScanHa, which allows consumers to scan clothing barcodes to view sustainability ratings and recommendations for more eco-friendly alternatives.

Three women smile on campus

“We all love fashion, but often fail to acknowledge the effects it has on the environment and how damaging it can be."

The idea of the startup app stems from the Entrepreneurship and Innovation course offered by the Business School. The course mirrors the real-world early stage of the entrepreneurial process where students are given the chance to build a business model throughout the semester resulting in a final pitch. 

“We had identified the problem of sustainability in the fashion industry early on in the course. However, we just did not know how to go about creating a solution. We first toyed with the idea of creating a fintech app, but it lacked the spark,” Afifi said, “After weeks of research and brainstorming, we landed on the idea of ScanHa.” 

 The app aims to shift the stigma surrounding the cost of sustainable fashion. “We all love fashion but often fail to acknowledge the effects it has on the environment and how damaging it can be,” Abu Shahba said. “We want to raise awareness by encouraging consumers to make informed decisions. Whether actively seeking sustainable choices or new to the concept, our objective is to simplify the process of sustainable purchases for the consumer to benefit both the society and the environment."

Text reading 'prototype' next to a phone showing a mockup of an app interface

The ScanHa team credits their success in part to their educational journey at AUC< where classes allowed them to hone their pitching skills as well as their ability to identify weak points in their initial thought process to determine the viability of their project. 

"Their ultimate victory in Afretec further solidified their excellence."

“Research was instrumental to our success," said Afifi. "Our idea is complex, so clarity and cohesiveness were key. Thanks to the power of research, the guidance of our professor and AUC equipping us with an extensive research base, we were able to readily and smoothly answer the Q&A section of the competition.” 

Moataz Darwish '95, associate professor in the School of Business and course instructor, noted, “This team kept passionately exploring their problem space of fast fashion and persistently iterating between multiple solutions for most of the semester whilst their classmates were already finalizing their projects. Their ultimate victory in Afretec further solidified their excellence."

Darwish commended ScanHa’s team diversity. “By combining various thinking styles and personalities, they achieved a well-rounded approach that propelled them to success,” he said.

 

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Adam Talib's Poetry Discovery

Ian Greer
April 17, 2024

Adam Talib (MA ’08), associate professor in AUC’s Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations and a specialist in Arabic poetry, discovered an entire diwan (collection) of poetry by Ibn al-Musalaya, who was famous for his poetry as well as eloquent letters written on behalf of three Abbasid caliphs (Muslim rulers). 

“This collection has never been researched or analyzed before,” said Talib. “I found the manuscript while looking through archives for another project altogether. The discovery of his diwan promises new perspectives on the history of the Abbasid dynasty, the life of a medieval man of letters and the nature of Arabic poetry itself.”

Ibn al-Musalaya’s diwan is a collection of praise poetry, a genre in which poets typically applaud — and legitimate — powerful patrons or rulers, following the rules and conventions of an elite poetic culture. Ibn al-Musalaya praised the most powerful statesmen of his age, the Caliphs he served; their rivals for symbolic power, the Seljuk Sultans; and the great Sunni revivalist Nizam al-Mulk (1018–1092). 

“The relationship between the Seljuk Sultan and the Abbasid Caliph has long been a subject of historical interest,” Talib says. “The Seljuks foreshadowed the future of the Muslim world, and Nizam al-Mulk is the source of dozens of influential ideas and institutions in Islamic civilization.”

Ibn al-Musalaya’s poetry describes celebrations, events and meetings between these historical characters, their comings and goings in Baghdad, as well as their negotiations and plans –– adding color and texture to otherwise dry history. “The value of Ibn al-Musalaya’s poetry is not purely artistic but also historical, providing some of the only sources available on the relationship between the most powerful men of the Abbasid era,” explains Talib.

Talib wants to link his work as a poetry specialist with that of historians during that period, bringing the details of Ibn al-Musalaya’s diwan to a wider readership. He hopes to publish a translation and an Arabic critical edition. In his view, poetry remains a critically underestimated historical source.

“My work is arguing for the primacy of poetry,” he states. “ In an elite culture like that of the Abbasids, poetry is a key, if not the key, idiom. Poetry of this kind was not primarily the expression of individual emotions. It was how elites negotiated symbolic power.”

New historical sources on the medieval era are few and far between. However, an AUC faculty member has uncovered a “never-before-studied” source on the courtly life of Abbasid Baghdad, told through the eyes of a vizier from Mosul in northern Iraq.

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Building Community Resilience to Mitigate Floods

Rawan Ezzat
April 2, 2024

The only AUC faculty member specialized in community resilience, May Haggag ’11, ’16, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Construction Engineering, uses data science and machine learning to develop effective flood risk-management strategies specific to Egypt's unique climate and geography.  

May Haggag

"My work is all about communities, not just buildings"

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  • Woman in a red jacket and white hijab presents in front of a class

“I want to reshape Egypt's approach to mitigating natural hazards to ensure the safety and resilience of our communities, particularly with climate change taking its toll and Upper Egypt’s susceptibility to floods,” said Haggag. "People have to be ready; Mother Nature is in charge. Shifting weather patterns can trigger natural disasters, and we have to be able to adapt.”

Natural hazards and natural disasters are actually different, explained Haggag: “A natural hazard is something that can cause risk for people or communities. For instance, if you have a thunderstorm happening in the middle of nowhere, it will not affect people. It's just a hazard. But when the same thunderstorm happens in a city, it can affect people, buildings and infrastructure. This is when it becomes a natural disaster,” said Haggag. 

The number of climate-induced disasters has tripled in the past four decades and is expected to double in the next 13 years, according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. The impacts are also severe, with approximately 1 million deaths attributed to climate-induced disasters and around 250,000 deaths expected to occur in the next 10 years, as per the Consumer News and Business Channel. Furthermore, the intensity of these disasters, along with life and property losses, is rapidly increasing. In the last two decades alone, climate-induced disasters have resulted in global damages of approximately $1.7 trillion, as reported by the Asian Development Bank. 

“This highlights the critical need for proactive measures in disaster risk reduction and climate resilience,” Haggag states. 

"People have to be ready; Mother Nature is in charge. Shifting weather patterns can trigger natural disasters, and we have to be able to adapt.”

Resilience, according to Haggag, refers to the ability of a system to bounce back to its original operations after a disaster hits. “This is evident in any power system, for instance, where redundancy is created by having backup transmission lines to transfer the load if one line fails –– preventing the collapse of the entire system.”

Community resilience is similar but focuses on people. “It’s about a community’s capacity to rebound from a disaster and recover in a sustainable and effective way in the presence of any challenges,” said Haggag, adding, “I am a construction engineer, but my work is all about communities, not just buildings. While pursuing my PhD at McMaster University, I decided to start developing models that could predict what would happen to our communities if a disaster hits.” 

So how can we make our community resilient? How can we enable it to absorb shocks and quickly get back to its normal operations? 

“The answer lies in maximizing the robustness, resilience and agility of our community by effectively managing the redundancy and resourcefulness of our people alongside our critical infrastructure systems,” said Haggag. “This was the base of my work. I was concentrating on climate-induced disasters because this is what we cannot foresee. Communities need to be prepared, and it’s important to raise awareness of proactive measures to mitigate and respond to disasters among policymakers, industry professionals, the general public and, of course, our students.” 

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Cairo Through Fiction: Gretchen McCullough

March 25, 2024

Recently published, Shahrazad's Gift can be found here.

 

Q: Congratulations on the release! Can you tell us a bit about the book?

A: The book is a new edition of my collection of short stories called Shahrazad’s Tooth that was published here in Cairo in 2013 with a small grant from AUC. This edition includes two new stories, all inspired by my time living in Garden City, my neighbors and other people I met in Cairo.

 

Q: Can you give us a sneak preview of some of the stories?

A: The Empty Flat Upstairs was inspired by a neighbor I had from Japan who was convinced her upstairs neighbors were spying on her. In the story, the flat upstairs is officially empty; however, a bunch of people use it off the record so she’s always hearing noises upstairs. It makes her crazy, but whenever she asks the bawab (doorman) if someone’s living in that flat, he of course replies no. So there's this division between the official reality and her lived reality. Each story explores different people and their interactions, particularly the kind of surreal or absurd quality that cross-cultural differences can take on.

 

Q: If you had to pick like three words to describe the book, what would you choose?

A: I would say surreal, goofy and quirky.

 

Q: What does the process of inspiration look like for you?

A: It’s a little like a fishing rod; you don't know what you're looking for until you find it. I always tell students that you have to be alert because you never know what's going to be interesting. It’s sort of inexplicable. Some things take root, and others don't. Sometimes you don’t know why something initially interests you, it's not like journalism– Imagination is an essential element of the process.

 

Q: Once you’re inspired, what do you do?

A: Every project is different. Even once you have the idea, you often aren't sure what you're where you're going to go with it. For me, it often involves a lot of research, and I write lots and lots of notes. If I’m working on a novel, I’ll make a loose plan for the structure. You have to be flexible enough to go whichever direction the story flows authentically, adapting as you go.

 

Q: What makes the upcoming collection exciting or meaningful to you as the author?

A: Well, it was initially published locally and I'm excited that the collection will now reach a bigger audience. The American publisher is a small independent press called Cune that publishes books about the Middle East who are based in Seattle. They’re also making a Kindle version of it, and I'm really glad that the stories will be given another shelf life. Cune Press published my novel, Confessions of a Knight Errant, in 2022, which is partly set in Egypt during the 2011 uprising; partly set in Texas. 

 

Q: How has living in Cairo affected your writing?

A: When I came in 2000, I started from scratch learning Arabic, and I think learning it has affected my writing. Some of the inspirations for my work were stories that were told to me by Egyptians in Arabic, which influenced my own storytelling. The writing I did about Texas feels like another life, what I write here has a very different flavor.

 

Q: Do you face challenges as an American writer writing in and about Egypt? If so, what are they?

A: A constant question is how to portray another culture in a way that's respectful. It’s complicated and challenging, especially when writing from the perspective of an Egyptian character. But there are also lots of funny things that happen in cross-cultural interactions, and that's one of the things that I like to explore in my books– these kinds of cultural snafus where tensions, misunderstandings and differences show up. Things get lost in translation, in far more than just a linguistic sense.

 

Gretchen McCullough was raised in Harlingen Texas. After graduating from Brown University in 1984, she taught in Egypt, Turkey and Japan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama and was awarded a teaching Fulbright to Syria from 1997-1999.

Her stories, essays and reviews have appeared in The Barcelona Review, Archipelago, National Public Radio, Story South, Guernica, The Common, The Millions, and the LA Review of Books. Translations in English and Arabic have been published in: Nizwa, Banipal, Brooklyn Rail in Translation, World Literature Today and Washington Square Review with Mohamed Metwalli. Her bi-lingual book of short stories in English and Arabic, Three Stories from Cairo, translated with Mohamed Metwalli was published in July 2011 by AFAQ Publishing House, Cairo. A collection of short stories about expatriate life in Cairo, Shahrazad’s Tooth, was also published by AFAQ in 2013. Confessions of a Knight Errant, a novel, was published by Cune Press, 2022. 

Currently, she is a senior instructor in AUC’s Department of Rhetoric and Composition.

Looking at cross-cultural interactions through the lens of fiction, the new collection Shahrazad's Gift by Gretchen McCullough dives into the perspectives of her characters, exploring their inner worlds, tensions with their neighbors and navigation of the absurdities of everyday life. 

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Healthy Aging Research Partnership

March 20, 2024

Mohamed Salama, professor at AUC's Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, alongside Vaibhav Narayan, the Executive Vice President at Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative, and Mie Rizig, a Clinical Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Neuromuscular Diseases at University College London, delve into the partnership between AUC and Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative, aiming to undertake initiatives focused on Alzheimer's disease. 

AUC's Alzheimer's Disease Research Collaboration with Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative and UCL

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  • Two men and a woman shake hands in front of a banner from Brain Week 2024

In an unprecedented international response to Alzheimer’s disease, AUC, the The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) and University College London (UCL) have partnered to leverage AUC’s expertise in neuroscience research alongside UCL’s cutting-edge methods of addressing neurological disorders to combat the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on aging populations, both in Egypt and beyond. 

Advancing detection, monitoring, prevention, and treatment methods while located in Egypt, this project is uniquely positioned to have a broad impact. 

"With a population of over 110 million, Egypt has served as a distinctive meeting point between Africa and the Middle East, boasting a wealth of genetic and cultural heritage. This project not only promises to bring benefits to the people of Egypt, but also aims to advance the understanding of dementia in both the region and the world,” says Mohamed Salama, author of the Longitudinal Study of Egypt Healthy Aging, North African Dementia Registry lead and professor at the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (I-GHHE) at AUC.

I-GHHE Founding Director Hassan El-Fawal described the partnership as “a fulfillment of the Institute’s vision to leverage regional expertise towards global impact.” Data from their research will be made available publicly through the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative platform, supporting global research initiatives and interventions by providing the broader research community access.

“This collaboration will bolster our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease in an important region with a genetically diverse population and varied ancestries,” says Vaibhav Narayan, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative executive vice president. The joint efforts will also support students and engage clinicians across Egypt, addressing the underrepresentation of the MENA region and Africa in the field. “Over the longer term, this program will bring regionally relevant prevention and intervention efforts to individuals typically neglected in these efforts,”  he continues.

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AUC at Cairo Design Week

Em Mills
March 20, 2024

An exciting convergence of the Egyptian design industry, Cairo Design Week celebrated artists through events, competitions and dynamic exhibitions. AUC alumni stood out across multiple categories, recognized for their talents in digital media, illustration, typography, visual communication and UI/UX design, and an open studio exhibition by Ghalia Elsrakbi, associate professor of practice in the Department of the Arts, highlighted students' educational journey at AUC. In addition, speakers from AUC’s Rare Books Library gave exciting and immersive talks in the Citadel of Cairo, culminating in a walking tour. 

Alumni Project Highlights

Alumni were honored across multiple categories, showcasing their strengths through innovative, eye-catching designs. 

Two hands point to cards showing calming circular graphics

Emote

Emote is a tool for emotional communication in the form of a projective therapy kit for therapists to use during their sessions. Emote eases the journey through each session, not just for the client, but also the therapist. The cards have abstract compositions that allow one to subjectively project and layer their emotions, to help ease communication barriers.

Jasmine Ramzy ’23, graphic design

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Apps & UI-UX’ subcategory

 

Magazine spread with an illustration of a woman posing in a dress

Once Upon an Archive

Once Upon an Archive is a design project that attempts to explore and investigate the relationship between the world of fashion and the sociopolitical changes of the 20th century. Through delving into the archives of the iconic magazines; Al Musawwar (1924), Misr-el-hadithah El Musawara (1927), Al-Kawakib (1932), Akher Saa (1934), and Bint Al Nil (1945), visuals were collected covering the years 1899 until 1952 and a timeline of political events was created in correspondence to the collected timeline of fashion-related visuals. The project allows viewers to engage in an immersive experience through flipping through a publication detailing the timeline of events while simultaneously seeing the projected animations of the collected visuals. Through this project I aim to experiment with different ways in which archival material can be presented.  

Hager Gamal El Attar ’23, graphic design and integrated marketing communication

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Digital Media’ subcategory

 

Graphic showing a repeating angular pattern

Namat

Namat is an Arabic display typeface. The typeface is meant to reflect characteristics of Islamic geometric patterns, and could be used for cultural events, festivals, display, or creating an identity for a space like a museum. Alongside it's basis in components drawn from Islamic art, I have also given the typeface modern aspects. Namat is slanted, modern, has a 3D effect, and has a great contrast. 

Marina Nader Asham ’22, graphic design with a minor in architecture

Honorable Mention, Typography 

 

Logo reading Azza Fahmy in latin letters and Arabic script

Azza Fahmy | Arabic Logo Adaptation

In 2020, I was commissioned by Azza Fahmy, a renowned Egyptian jewelry design house that has been passionately translating cultures into art since 1969, to create an Arabic type logo that complements their existing Latin type logo. The objective was to develop a type adaptation logo, ensuring that the Arabic type logo captures the essence and features of the Latin letterforms, resulting in a harmonious type-matching logo. The project involved a deep understanding of both Latin and Arabic scripts, meticulous great attention to detail, and a profound appreciation for the cultural context behind each script. By respecting the unique characteristics of each script while skillfully integrating their shared features, the result was a balanced bilingual logotype.

Sarah Shebl ’17, double major in graphic design and communication and media arts  

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Typography’ subcategory

 

Faculty Advisers

Bahia Shehab (MA '09), professor of practice in the Department of the Arts, as well as Jochen Braun and Ghalia Elsrakbi, associate professors of practice in the Department of the Arts, served as faculty advisers for alumni participating in the event.

I'm particularly proud and pleased that our students who won and were featured are receiving recognition. Design competitions are relatively scarce in Egypt, and our students sometimes hesitate to participate. I hope that the success of these students will inspire others to participate in the future. Notably, all the winning projects address locally relevant topics, such as designing for social impact, sustainability, health, education or reimagining cultural heritage. This aligns with our program's philosophy of teaching design. We consider it our duty to contribute to the discourse on what design can and should achieve in Egypt and the region. The jury's choices and the recognition our students received validate this approach. -Jochen Braun

 

Alumni pose with various awards at Cairo Design Week

Marina Nader Asham, Hager Elattar, Jasmine Ramzy, Habiba Tarek Abouseif, Maryam Mohsen Al-Najjar and Sarah Khaled Shebl

 

Alumni Honored

Sarah Khaled Shebl

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Typography’ subcategory

Project: 

Azza Fahmy - Arabic Logo Adaptation

Marina Nader Asham

Honorable Mention, Typography 

Project: 

Namat

Habiba Tarek Abouseif

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Illustration’ subcategory 

Project: 

The Legends of Bait Al-Kretliya

Jasmine Ramzy

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Apps & UI-UX’ subcategory

Project: 

Emote

Hager El Attar

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Digital Media’ subcategory

Project: 

Once Upon An Archive

 

Maryam Mohsen Al-Najjar

Honorable Mention, Product Design 

Architecture Competition Win

Man in a black jacket and blue jeans presents in front of a conference background

The only AUC representative at the Cairo Design Week Architecture Competition, architecture senior Nayer Rizkallah won first prize alongside his team for designing a floating city to accommodate refugees. Focusing on preserving and reclaiming heritage, the team integrated traditional elements of Palestinian architectural designs into the project to prioritize both physical safety and cultural resilience.

Open Studio Exhibition 

 

Person stands looking at a colorful wall filled with bright graphic art

The Graphic Design Open Studio Exhibition was displayed in the Margo Veillon, Future, Legacy and Ewart galleries in AUC Tahrir Square. 

"The exhibition aims to give a comprehensive idea of the program's educational vision regarding graphic design practices by highlighting students' educational journey over four years." - Ghalia Elsrakbi

 

People standing around a gallery with colorful images displayed

Ghalia Elsrakbi, associate professor of practice; in the Department of the Arts; Provost Ehab Abdel-Rahman; President Ahmad Dallal; Eman Morga; assistant director for special projects  in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library; and Stephen Urgola, University archivist and director of AUC records management, at the Open Studio Exhibition. Students researched a variety of topics, supported by the Rare Books and Special Collections Library, before embarking on their exhibition projects

Talks by the Rare Books and Special Collections Library

 

rare books exhibition display in cairo design week

"Seat of the Throne," travelers' accounts printed on ceramics, part of AUC's Rare Books and Special Collections Library presentation at the Citadel during Cairo Design Week.

History came to life at the Citadel of Cairo through the expertise of speakers Waleed Arafa, Ola Seif, Balsam Abdul-Rahman, Menna El Mahy, and Eman Morgan from AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. The talk was followed by a walking tour led by renowned historian Seif El Rashidi around a few select monuments within the Citadel.

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Beyond Refuge: Graduate Diploma Combines Refugee Studies, Psychology

Honey ElMoghazi
March 13, 2024

AUC is relaunching the graduate diploma, Psychosocial Interventions for Forced Migrants and Refugees, set to begin in Fall 2024.

This interdisciplinary program combines refugee studies and psychology, with a specific emphasis on addressing mental health issues faced by forcibly displaced individuals. Students will have the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience through an internship with an NGO that works directly with refugees.

“AUC has the oldest and one of the few centers in the region dedicated to migration and refugee studies, making it well positioned to offer this program,” said Maysa Ayoub ‘02, adjunct faculty and associate director of CMRS. “Egypt hosts a significant number of forced migrants and refugees, reaffirming the importance of tackling the mental health challenges faced by these vulnerable populations.”

From Syria to Ukraine, forged migration is a global issue that has compounded in recent years. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reached 110 million in 2023 and is projected to rise to 130 million in 2024. This includes refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons and other people in need of international protection. Throughout their displacement journey, these individuals face numerous hardships that can be traumatic and affect their mental health.

“Forced migrants often experience traumatic events such as war and violence, and adapting to new environments in foreign countries who may not welcome them, adds to their stress,” said Carie Forden, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology.

Research has shown that rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are significantly higher among refugee populations compared to the general population. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD among refugees is around 31%, compared to 4% in the general population, while the prevalence of depression is 32% among refugees, compared to 12% in the general population.

“Psychosocial interventions play a crucial role in supporting these individuals and can include educational programs, community support and psychotherapeutic treatment to promote social inclusion and integration,” said Forden. “The diploma will equip graduates with the skills they need to develop and implement these interventions.” 

The diploma aims to foster a holistic approach to addressing forced displacement, focusing on finding solutions at the individual, family, and societal levels while considering the diverse cultural contexts involved. 

“Graduates of this diploma will be able to think critically and analytically about migration and refugee issues as well as plan, manage and implement comprehensive, culturally sensitive interventions that alleviate –– or at least minimize –– the psychosocial issues involved,” Ayoub said, adding that diploma graduates are qualified to work in local and global refugee organizations. “They will learn to develop effective strategies that have a positive impact on the psychosocial well-being and resilience of refugees, whether adults or children, without discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, religion or capacities.”

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Undergrads, Grads, Faculty Shine in Media Arts Festival

By Dalia Al Nimr
March 11, 2024

Faculty Competition 

Kim Fox, professor of practice in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, was the only faculty winner from AUC this year, given an Award of Excellence in the Short-Form Production Category for her project, "The Egyptian Female Podcasters Podcast." This is the 12th BEA Festival of Media Arts Award Fox won since 2019.

"Producing audio stories is something that I enjoy doing. It's nice to receive the BEA awards for recognition of my hard work, but also in the hopes that the stories will, perhaps, reach a larger audience."

Kim Fox

Check out the full list of faculty winners. 

Undergraduate Student Competition 

Vereena Bishoy, a double major in multimedia journalism and psychology, is the only undergraduate winner from AUC this year, awarded for her radio feature, "Maggie Michael's Road from Cairo to Yemen to a Pulitzer," produced as part of her Audio Production class taught by Fox.

"This piece has a very special place in my heart, award or not. It took a lot of time and effort to bring my vision to life, and it was a great learning curve for me. Looking back at it, it was a beautiful journey. I also got to do it about someone I idolize in the field, which is a dream. So getting the opportunity to speak with her was a turning point for me as an aspiring journalist.."

Vereena Bishoy

Competition judges lauded Bishoy's work. As one of the judges described it, "Clever writing, great interviews, engaging delivery and solid audio production. All around a fantastic story!"

Fox commended Bishoy's talent: "Her audio feature was well produced, from the music to the archival audio to her amazing audio interviews. It's been a pleasure watching Vereena's journey as a multimedia journalism major, particularly her interest in audio journalism, which is my passion. She really performed well on an audio feature assignment in 2020 in my Multimedia Writing and Production course, then she produced the Caravan's podcast and now ... international accolades for her audio work. Proud prof."

For Bishoy, this project was a valuable supplement to her coursework. "I learned a lot about journalism from this project first by applying and practicing what I have learned, but also by listening to high calibers in the field. Hearing their stories and interacting with them was very insightful."

The preparations were intense. "I tried to research Maggie Michael in a lot of depth, and because she is an AUC alumna and a Caravan alumna (like myself), I got to speak to her peers and professors," said Bisohy. "I went through the University Archives and read the article she wrote. I also spoke to one of her editors, Trish Wilson, who is currently working in The Washington Post, which was not only a big deal for me, but it was amazing to see how people saw her and trying to translate that to the project was a beautiful challenge."

Graduate Student Competition 

The graduate student winners are all from the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism's Master of Arts program. 

Haidy Kandil won third place in the Graduate News Competition for her story, "Tahla's Nets" and second place in the Documentary category for her story, "People of Al-Kaaby." 

"I only wanted to do something that I would enjoy while shooting ,not caring very much about whether I’ll win or not. This is what made the awards extra special. I am thankful to all my professors, the AUCTV Team and my family for their constant support and guidance, I could't have make it without them.” 

Haidy Kandil

Nariman Hafez and Aya Nashed won two Awards of Excellence in the Graduate Documentary Competition for their stories, "Ladies of the Palace" and "Musakanat Al Rouh-Rosaries for Zen."

"Ladies of the Palace' is more than just a film; it's a spotlight on a community hidden in the shadows — homeless women on the streets. May this documentary be a catalyst for change, inspiring compassion to address homelessness."

Nariman Hafez

"I have always loved documenting different stories through my camera. Even though I was proud of my documentary, I had zero expectations of winning this competition. It was like reviving my passion for documentaries all over again. Thanks to my professors and special thanks to my family for always supporting me." 

Aya Nashed

The projects were produced as part of the Digital Journalism Capstone course taught by Hussein Amin, director of the Kamal Adham center. 

"It will be wonderful to see the graduate students of the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism wave AUC's flag at the prestigious Broadcast Education Association while they receive distinguished global awards at the 2024 Festival of Media Arts during the BEA/National Association of Broadcasters convention activities in Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada," said Amin.

Check out the full list of student winners.

Five AUC women - three graduate students, one undergrad and one faculty - are winners in the 2024 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts, which included submissions from more than 300 participating schools and almost 1,900 entries this year.

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JRMC Student Film Wins First Place

By Dalia Al Nimr
February 27, 2024

The students produced the film last spring as part of the Camera and Editing course taught by Mohammad Badawi, adjunct faculty and senior technical supervisor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. 

"I am truly delighted by the results," said Badawi. "It brings me immense joy to see my students' work recognized in prestigious festivals. While I provided them with the tools to create films, it's their creative minds, passion and dedicated efforts that were the driving force behind their success."

The film showcases life on an Egyptian farm, highlighting "In a creatively executed back-and-forth interview while in action style," as Badawi put it, how farmers endure extreme challenges and hardships. "Drama and journalism intersect within the framework of serialism," explained Badawi.

"I learned that leaving your comfort zone can sometimes open up new opportunities and experiences."

For the students, the experience was transformative. 

"I learned that leaving your comfort zone can sometimes open up new opportunities and experiences," said Toutounji, an integrated marketing communication major. "At first, when we were brainstorming ideas for the documentary, I remember thinking this would be very tough and executing it well would take a lot of effort. But when we went [to film], everything came together."

Echoing the same sentiment, Sabri, an integrated marketing communication major, noted, "I felt so proud and appreciated. All the hard work, sleepless nights and struggles paid off." 

For Sabri, the topic of the film is dear to her heart. "My childhood has always been inspired by countryside tranquility.," she said. "Filming in rural scenery [showed us] how beautiful nature is: cleaner air, quieter life and well-intentioned people."

"It was incredibly hot and sunny on filming day, which made executing some of our shots difficult. But speaking to our interviewees and hearing their stories made us more determined to share their struggles."

The students faced challenges but were persistent in their goal.   

"Filming the documentary was quite tough," said Toutounji. "It was incredibly hot and sunny on filming day, which made executing some of our shots difficult. But speaking to our interviewees and hearing their stories made us more determined to share their struggles. Receiving this award is truly gratifying, as it validates all the dedication and hard work we’ve put into this project. None of this would have been possible without the guidance of our professor, Dr. Mohammad Badawi."

El Omary, a communication and media arts major with a minor in film, described the project as "one of the best" she's worked on. "We struggled a bit while traveling with the equipment, trying to gather as much material as we could in a short time with extremely hot weather and busy schedules, so there was no room for any repetition or ruined material," said El Omary. "We managed to divide the roles between us in a smooth way that made everything flow easily."

The judging panel comprised a distinguished group of Egyptian media professionals, including prominent directors, journalists, TV hosts, as well as public relations and advertising experts. 

 

A documentary film titled Al Ard (The Farm), produced by Roba El Omary '24, Nehal Sabri '23 and Adam Toutounji '24 during their undergraduate studies recently won first place in Al-Shorouk Festival for Media Students' Creativity.

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