Ohio Explores Cairo in AUC-Oberlin Collaboration
Exploring the depth of Cairo’s modern history in one month is a tall task— there’s a lot to cover, from the new Grand Egyptian Museum to the ancient hanging churches of Coptic Cairo. Yet, with a jam-packed schedule of field trips and lectures, AUC’s faculty-led winter programs make it possible for students to dive into Egyptian history.
In a joint winter course titled Museums, Memory and Politics, students from AUC and Oberlin College learned about modern Egyptian history side by side. AUCians and Obies worked together on group projects in AUC's Rare Books and Special Collections Library and traveled together for site visits, venturing to al-Azhar Park, bartering at markets and dining at the Cairo Tower.
“I could see — from the metro to tuktuks to microbusses — all the different classes and modes of history all at once in one little place.”
The University offers an annual selection of faculty-led winter programs for AUC students to engage and learn with international students from different universities abroad. The class was separately offered in AUC’s winter term and as an Oberlin January term class. The course was jointly taught by Hoda El-Saadi, adjunct faculty in AUC’s department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, and Zeinab Aboul-Magd, professor and chair of the Middle East and North Africa studies program at Oberlin College. At the culmination of the month-long course, students gave presentations on topics related to Egypt's culture and sociopolitical history.
Inspired by a trip through the neighborhood of Sayyidda Zeinab. Josie Shehadi, an Oberlin junior studying English and Middle East and North African Studies (MENA), presented on transportation in Cairo. “I could see — from the metro to tuktuks to microbusses — all the different classes and modes of history all at once in one little place.”
AUC political science senior Noor Ahmad didn’t expect to be traveling during her winter semester, but the course has been a new opportunity to explore home. “It's nice to see things you wouldn’t consider seeing as an Egyptian on your own, so you feel like a tourist,” Ahmad says.
A separate class from Oberlin studying Arabic at AUC tagged alongside the Museums, Memory and Politics cohort for field trips, where they combined a study of Egyptian culture with language-learning opportunities. Oberlin senior Sophia Samara, who studies history, biology and minors in MENA studies, appreciates the many moments in downtown Cairo that put her Arabic to the test. “We would be going to museums and markets, and learning all the vocabulary to explore those places,” Samara says. “When you’re learning the language removed from the places of that language, you feel a lot more disconnected, but here there’s a lot more opportunities to practice.”
Before each field trip, students in the Arabic course read about the museums in Arabic passages tailored to their level. AUC faculty member Sara Abou El Goukh (MA '13) planned the experiential learning opportunities for the class. For her, the most rewarding part of teaching Arabic is watching students grow from just learning the alphabet to saying full sentences. “You get to see students progress,” Abou El Goukh says.
Oberlin data science sophomore Alisha Akhtar says studying Arabic here has let her make new connections that wouldn’t be possible if she only spoke in English. “It was more rigorous than I was expecting, but it was the best for learning so much in three weeks,” Akhtar says.
“When you’re learning the language removed from the places of that language you feel a lot more disconnected, but here there’s a lot more opportunities to practice."
Beyond the classroom, faculty-led winter courses are a cultural exchange. Students from Texas to Cairo share meals and bus rides, getting to know each other over the course of a month. A highlight of the program for Oberlin sophomore Sydney Fink, who studies comparative literature and politics, was discussing international affairs with AUCians.
“A lot of my friends here are political science majors, so we’ve been talking about American and Middle Eastern politics,” she says. “It’s been good hearing people’s lived experiences and perspectives.”
These programs have existed for over 20 years at the University, a strong legacy of fostering relationships and international connections. AUC mechanical engineering senior Karim Elzahby supported the course as a teaching assistant on the program and helped to guide newcomers to the city he calls home. He helped as a teaching assistant after taking the course in his junior year.
“I find the experience of showing people the city that I lived in most of my life very heartwarming,” Elzahby says. “If it was up to me, I’d do it again.”
Winter-led faculty courses bring international and AUC students together for cross-cultural learning and connection
