AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO

The American University in Cairo (AUC) provides high quality educational opportunities to students largely from the well-off segments of Egyptian society, as well as from other countries, and contributes to Egypt's cultural and intellectual life. The university offers programs at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels, as well as an extensive continuing education program. The language of instruction is English.
The university advances the ideals of American liberal arts and professional education and of life-long learning. As freedom of academic expression is fundamental to this effort, AUC encourages the free exchange of ideas and promotes open and on-going interaction with scholarly institutions throughout Egypt and other parts of the world.

Contents

Historical Development of the University

New Campus

Research

Student Community Service Program

Controversy and Censorship

Notable Alumni/ae

External links

References

Historical Development of the University

The American University in Cairo was founded in 1919 by Americans devoted to education and service in the Middle East. For its first 27 years the university was shaped by its founding president, Dr. Charles A. Watson. He wanted to create an English-language university based on high standards of conduct and scholarship and to contribute to intellectual growth, discipline, and character of the future leaders of Egypt and the region. He also believed that such a university would greatly improve America's understanding of the area.
Initially, AUC was intended to be both a preparatory school and a university. The preparatory school opened on October 5, 1920, with 142 students in two classes that were equivalent to the last two years of an American high school. The first diplomas issued were junior college-level certificates given to 20 students in 1923. At first an institution only for males, the university enrolled its first female student in 1928, the same year in which the first university class graduated with two B.A.'s and one B.S. degrees awarded. Master's degrees were first offered in 1950.
Originally AUC offered instruction in the arts and sciences and in education. In 1921, the School of Oriental Studies was added to the university, followed in 1924 by the Division of Extension. This division was later renamed the Division of Public Service, and finally evolved into the Center for Adult and Continuing Education. AUC's high school division, known as the Lincoln School, was discontinued in 1951.
In 1956, the School of Oriental Studies was incorporated into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as the Center for Arabic Studies. The English Language Institute was added the same year. After the Faculty of Education was discontinued in 1961 and degree offerings were dropped from the Division of Public Service, university degree work was consolidated into a single academic structure, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Programs in sociology, anthropology, political science and economics were added to the curriculum and the natural science offerings were significantly expanded.
Two applied research units, the Social Research Center and the Desert Development Center, were established in 1953 and 1979, respectively. Another landmark in the history of the university was the development of professional programs: the departments of Engineering, Computer Science, Journalism and Mass Communication, and Management now offer several degree programs at the Bachelor's and Master's levels.
In 1960, AUC enrolled approximately 400 academic students. By 1969 the university had more than tripled its degree enrollments to over 1,300 students, 450 of whom were pursuing graduate studies. Since then academic program enrollments have grown to 3,890 students at the undergraduate level and 1,013 students at the master's degree level 9 (Fall 2006). Adult education expanded simultaneously and now serves approximately 30,000 individuals each year in non-credit courses and contracted training programs.
In 1993, the academic programs offered through 13 departments were organized into three schools: Humanities and Social Sciences; Sciences and Engineering; and Business, Economics and Communication.
In 2007, the university's Center for Adult and Continuing Education was renamed the School of Continuing Education and the Adham Center for TV Journalism was renamed the Center for Electronic Journalism.

New Campus

In 2008, AUC will be relocating from downtown Cairo to New Cairo. Compared to the university's current 7.3-acre campus, the new campus spans 260 acres and is designed to accommodate 5,500 full-time students and 1,500 faculty and staff, with room for further expansion. AUC's City for Learning will offer state-of-the-art educational resources to students and faculty, and its environmental sensitivity will be exemplary. The construction project is regarded as one of the biggest in the country, with a total cost of about $400 million.

Research

AUC is dedicated to conducting research within Egypt and the region that advances insight and understanding and addresses current social needs. An important aspect of the university's mission is to enhance and encourage research and provide a climate conducive to maintaining the university at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. AUC faculty engage in a variety of research projects and creative activities covering every area of academic inquiry.
Research centers at AUC include the Social Research Center, the Desert Development Center, the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Program, the Institute for Gender and Women's Studies, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research and the Science and Technology Research Center.

Student Community Service Program

The university’s community service program includes more than 10 student-run community service organizations addressing a range of social issues. Students work with children, the elderly, cancer patients, orphans, the blind and the needy. Every service program offers hands-on experience with civic action, an enhanced awareness of the meaning of citizenship and the opportunity to find solutions, provide comfort and guidance, and assume a leadership role in the community.
From raising money to build a library in an underprivileged village to hosting an on-campus party for orphans, AUC students are actively engaged in community service, working with the elderly, cancer patients, orphans and the poor. AUC’s Community Service Program connects student clubs with NGOs and other service-based agencies to provide a far-reaching and long-term range of services and activities that target the needy.

Controversy and Censorship

The American University in Cairo came under the microscope in May 1998, when a group of alumni forced the university to stop teaching the controversial book "Mohammed" by French Orientalist Maxime Rodinson.[1] The Censorship Authority (of the Egyptian government) had earlier demanded the revision of some 450 books, and banned four outright for violating religious, cultural and traditional beliefs: "Islamic Political Thought" by Montgomery Watt, "Political Islam" by Joel Beinen, "Muslim Extremism" by Gilles Kepel and Alifa Rifaat’s short story collection "Distant View of a Minaret".
The controversy came as the university itself was under attack for being “American” and “conspiring” to “corrupt the minds” of its impressionable young students.
Less than a year later, in January 1999, Samia Mehrez, an AUC professor of modern Arabic literature, came under fire for assigning her class the fictional autobiography of Moroccan writer Mohammed Choukri "Al-Khubz El Hafi" (For Bread Alone). Students complained to their parents about the book’s “pornographic content”, and a public campaign ensued against both Mehrez and the university.
The curriculum committee was forced to consider removing Sudanese novelist El-Tayeb Salih’s "Season of Migration to the North" from the following year’s reading list.
In 2000 a Female student started wearing a full black veil or Niqab, covering her entire face. A 1994 law bans women from wearing such garb on campus. Although initially allowing the student to attend for a semester, the school's top officials prohibited her from attending classes unless she removed the veil before classes started on January 28. American University officials said that this was not an issue of free expression but of a tendency towards extremism, incompatible with AUC image of being a liberal institution encouraging face-to-face dialogue. Amid public controversy and anger of some students for not allowing her to wear the veil, the student in question decided to enroll in a government university. [2]
Also in 2000 Dr.Sherifa Zuhur, professor at the History department at AUC and president of the Association for Middle East Women's Studies was denied a renewal of her contract, allegedly, as a retaliation for her previous filing of a suit with the EEOC alleging discrimination on the basis of gender and nationality. This prompted Dr. Zuhur to go on hunger strike. [3] [4]

Notable Alumni/ae

★ Suzanne Mubarak, Egypt's First Lady.

★ Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Jordan's Queen.

★ Akil Beshir, Chairman of Telecom Egypt.

★ Tarek Amer, Deputy governor of Egypt's Central Bank.

★ Amr Waked, Actor.

★ Gamal Mubarak, Secretary-General of The National Democratic Party Policies Committee; and President Hosni Mubarak's son

★ Hisham Abbas, Singer.

★ Mahmoud El Esseily, Singer.

★ Nabil Fahmy, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States.

★ Hoda Badran, Chair of the Alliance for Arab Women.

★ Khaled Dawoud, UN correspondent of Al Jazeera.

★ Haifa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia's only female filmmaker.

★ Azza Karam, UNDP senior policy research advisor.

★ Sadek Wahba, Managing director, global capital markets, Morgan Stanley.

★ Mohamed Aly (aka Mohaly),Writer & Trainer, Managemnt Consultant of the British Spot Local.

★ Lamis El Hadidi, '90, managing editor of Al Alam Al Youm newspaper.

★ John Brennon, President and chief executive, The Analysis Corp.

★ Haytham El Mayergi, Director, Citigroup.

★ Mervat Tallway, Executive Secretary of the ESCWA.

★ Mona Al-Shazli, Famous Egyptian talk show host

★ Hassan Abdalla, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Arab African International Bank

★ Lex Coleman

★ Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author

External links

★ American University in Cairo web site

★ AUC's New Campus

★ Giving to AUC

★ News and Events

References

★ Rania Al Malky Readers No More? Quiddich,anyone? The “Other” no more A Matter of Principle Rising from the Ashes, "Egypt today", September 2004, Accessed August 22 2007.

★ Philip Smucker A veil drapes Cairo campus in controversy, "Christian Science Monitor", January 17 2001, Accessed August 22 2007.

★ Haim Watzman At American U. in Cairo, Professors Fear Censorship and a Revolving Door, "The Chronicle Of Higher Education", Accessed August 22 2007.

★ Sondra Hale Sherifa Zuhur's AUC struggle "The ARABIC-INFO mailing list", May 6 2000, Accessed August 22 2007.