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.
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.
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.
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 were honored across multiple categories, showcasing their strengths through innovative, eye-catching designs.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Marina Nader Asham, Hager Elattar, Jasmine Ramzy, Habiba Tarek Abouseif, Maryam Mohsen Al-Najjar and Sarah Khaled Shebl
Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Typography’ subcategory
Project:
Honorable Mention, Typography
Project:
Namat
Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Illustration’ subcategory
Project:
Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Apps & UI-UX’ subcategory
Project:
Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Digital Media’ subcategory
Honorable Mention, Product Design
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.
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
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
"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.
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.”
