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American University in Cairo

Coordinates: 30°1′11.8″N 31°30′1.24″E / 30.019944°N 31.5003444°E / 30.019944; 31.5003444
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American University in Cairo
الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة
File:American University in Cairo logo.jpg
TypePrivate
Established1919
PresidentDavid D. Arnold
ProvostLisa Anderson
Students5,577
Location
Cairo
,
Egypt
CampusNew Cairo, Egypt (Main Campus) and Tahrir Square (Downtown Campus)
Websitewww.aucegypt.edu/

Founded in 1919, the American University in Cairo (AUC) is an independent, nonprofit, apolitical, non-sectarian institution of higher learning [1] located in Cairo, Egypt. The university’s mission is to to contribute to the intellectual growth, discipline and character of future leaders in Egypt and the region. The university offers American-style liberal arts education at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels, and it provides an extensive continuing education program. The university promotes the ideals of American education, professional education, and life-long learning.

AUC holds institutional accreditation from the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the United States (MSCHE/Middle States.)[2] AUC's engineering programs are accredited by ABET and the business programs are accredited by the Association to Advance College Schools of Business (AACSB.) [3] In Egypt, AUC operates within the framework of the 1975 protocol with the Egyptian government, which is based on the 1962 Cultural Relations Agreement between the U.S. and Egyptian governments.[4] In the United States, AUC is licensed to grant degrees and is incorporated by the State of Delaware. [5]

The university’s English-language liberal arts environment is designed to promote critical thinking, language and cultural skills as well as to foster in students an appreciation of their own culture and heritage and their responsibilities toward society. The university’s aim of promoting international understanding is supported by means of scholarships, learned discourse, a multicultural campus environment and The American University in Cairo Press.

AUC's faculty members, adjunct teaching staff and visiting lecturers are internationally diverse and include academics, business professionals, diplomats, journalists, writers and others from the United States, Egypt and other countries.[6]

Historical Development of the University

The American University in Cairo was founded in 1919 by American Mission in Egypt, sponsored by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. It was dedicated to the cultural enrichment and modernization of Egypt[7]. 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.

Originally, AUC was intended to be both a preparatory school and a university. The preparatory school opened to 142 students on October 5, 1920 in the palace of Ahmad Khairy Pasha, a former minister of education. 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, Eva Habib Masri, in 1928 - forty years before Princeton University would do the same. [8] That same year, the first university class graduated with two bachelor of arts and one bachelor of science degrees awarded. Master's degrees were offered in 1950.

In 1951, the last class of preparatory students graduated, and AUC officially became university-level institution. [9] It was also in this decade that the government of Egypt claimed that the university's original name, The American University at Cairo, diministed the city. [10] Accordingly, the university changed its name, substitutiong "at" with "in." [11]

To further establish its presence, the university expanded its academic offerings. The Social Science Research Center was established in 1953. In 1956, the School of Oriental Studies was incorporated into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as The Center for Arabic Studies and The English Language Institute was established. University degree work was consolidated into The Faculty of Arts and Sciences where programs in sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and an expanded natural sciences program were added to the curriculum.[12]

Another landmark in the history of the university was the development of progressional programs including the departments of engineering, computer science, journalism and mass communication, and management.[13] The American University in Cairo Press was established in 1960 and today publishes up to 1,000 books annually. [14] It is regarded as the Arab world's top English language publishing house. [15]

In 1960, AUC enrolled approximately 400 academic students. By 1969 the university had more than tripled its degree enrollments. Within this period, the university opened the Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) which attracted students from around the world who wish to study Arabic.[16]. Adult education expanded simultaneously and now serves approximately tens of thousands of individuals each year in non-credit courses and contracted training programs [17].

The Desert Development Center was established in 1979 by AUC as a center for applied reserach and training to promote sustainable development in Egypt's reclaimed desert areas.[18] Growth continued through the 1980s and it was during this time that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education granted AUC full accreditation. AUC's first bookstore opened in 1985.

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 in 2008, Adham Center for TV Journalism was renamed the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism, Training and Research. In 2009, The university added three new schools: the Graduate School of Education, the School of Business and the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP). The founding dean for GAPP is Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, former Egyptian ambassador to the United States and an AUC alumnus.

Early Religious Controversies

Some Egyptians did not welcome the creation of a Western-based university, whose religious ties made it suspect. Missionaries and their practices of conversion were not well received. There were several controversies that surrounded the AUC which fueled the fire that it was related to the Protestant missionary movement. In 1932, a Muslim student reported that he had been kidnapped by members of the AUC faculty with the hope of converting him, but was later released. The Egyptian press utilized this as a chance to lash out at the university. A few months later, a Muslim student failed his course and accused the AUC of using missionary tactics and degrading Islam. This was followed by another round of harsh critiques from local press. These stories, although most likely exaggerated, seemed likely since in the 1920s the Dean of the AUC admitted to evangelicalism and that bible class was a necessity for all students.[19]

Additionally, there were issues between the founder of the university Charles A. Watson and those in the United States who wanted to see evangelicalism play a larger role in the AUC's goals. In 1922, after years of writing that the university should be more missionary-based, Reverend J.R. Alexander met with Watson. Their meeting created an even bigger divide between the goals that Watson had for the university and the goals that the United Presbyterian Church of North America had for the university. Eventually, in 1926, they came to some understanding that it simply was not possible for the AUC to maintain such close religious ties and be taken seriously within Egypt. Watson was becoming increasingly aware that the best that they can hope to achieve in Egypt is to promote the imitation of good moral and ethical behavior. This realization by Watson allowed the university to grow without the potential religious problems in the future.[20]

AUC's Downtown and New Cairo Campuses

The university's Tahrir Square campus - AUC Downtown - was originally built in the late 1860s as Khairy Pasha palace and became the AUC campus in the 1920s. Built in the neo-Malmuk style, the palace inspired an artchitectural style that has been replicated throughout Cairo. [21] Ewart Hall was established in 1928, named for William Dana Ewart, the father of an American visitor to the campus who made a gift of $100,000 toward construction. The structure was designed by A. St. John Diament, abutting the southside of the Palace. The central portion of the building holds an auditorium large enough to seat 1,200 with classrooms, galleries and exhibition halls. A building intended to house the School of Oriental Studies was erected in 1932. East of Ewart Hall, Oriental Hall has an auditorium and a reception room built and decorated in an adaptation of traditional styles. [22]

During the summer of 2008, AUC relocated its undergraduate and graduate programs to New Cairo. AUC New Cairo. The university's continuing education programs remained at AUC Downtown. The AUC New Cairo campus has an area of approximately 280 acres (1.1 km2) compared to the downtown campus of 7.8 acres (32,000 m2). The campus is host to more than 30 undergraduate programs and 15 graduate programs. There are six schools, including the newly inaugurated Graduate School of Education, School of Business and the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and ten research centers. [23] The New Cairo campus accommodates about 5,500 full time students as well as 1,500 faculty and staff. Construction of the new campus was estimated to cost around $400 million ($100 million of which was provided by USAID), making it the largest in Egypt. The inauguration of the new campus took place on the February 7, 2009 and was attended by a number of key persons including Suzanne Mubarak, Egypt's first lady and AUC alumna, and Margaret Scobey, US Ambassador to Egypt. [24]

Mrs. Mubarak addressed guests at the inauguration, “With the impressive facilities of this new campus and the concerted efforts of all its stakeholders, AUC will continue to meet the challenges in the years ahead and will become even better than it is today. I am sure that with the opening of its new doors comes a renewed focus on institutional purpose, a heightened energy and enthusiasm and a deeper commitment to advance the university and its impact on Egypt, the region and the world. Now more than ever AUC is well positioned to continue making a difference.” [25]

In her remarks, Ambassador Scobey said, “The new demands of our new world raise the importance of education. We need our future lead USAID Frontlines, March 2009ers to be diverse and to have a diverse educational experience…Perhaps most importantly, we need leaders who are dedicated to developing a true respect for each other if we are going to effectively work together to harness these forces of change for the greater good.” Ambassador Scobey also delivered a message of congratulations to AUC from United States President Barack Obama. [26]

In its master plan for the new campus, the university mandated that the campus express the university's values as a liberal arts institution in what is essentailly a non-western context with deep traditional roots. [27] AUC New Cairo provides advanced facilities for research and learning and facilities such as an athletic center to enrich campus life. The campus is intended to serve as a case study for how architectural harmony and diversity can coexist and how tradition and modernity can appeal to the sense. [28] Campus spaces are also designed to serve as virtual laboratories for the study of desert development, biological sciences and urban development.[29]

Most university administrative offices are housed in the Administration Building. This includes the offices of the President, Provost and senior administration offices. The Abdul Latif Jameel Hall houses the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research. Within the building are executive training rooms, computer labs, video editing and production labs, and labs for graphics, multimedia, radio broadcasting and newspaper production. Abdul Latif Jameel Hall also houses the Heikal Department of Management, the Mohamed Shafik Gabr Economics Department, the Office of graduate Students Services and the Sony Gallery.

The home of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hall, includes laboratories for psychology and Egyptology, and computer-assisted language labs. The AUC Center for the Arts houses an art gallery; 300-seat theater; labs for electronic music and photography; studios for drawing, painting, sculpture and theater design; and studios for music and film editing and production. The School of Sciences and Engineering features laboratories for all scientific disciplines and specialized fields. There is also an animal facility, greenhouse, herbarium and structural testing facility.

Within the Research Centers Building is the AUC Forum, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies, the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, and the Yousef Hameel Science and Technology Research Center.

The Dr. Hamza AlKholi Information Center houses AUC’s offices for enrollment, admissions, student financial affairs, and student services. The Howard Theatre is located Haten and Hanet Mostafa Core Academic Center, along with the Mansour Group Lecture Hall and curriculum offices.

There are two theaters within the AUC Center for the Arts, including the Malak Gabr Arts Theater and the Gerhart Theater, as well as the Sharjah Art Gallery and offices for the Department of Performing and Visual Arts.

The university’s Campus Center provides students with a communal area for events, socializing and group study events. Inside the building are a bookstore, gift shop, bank, travel office and the main dining room. There is also a daycare center, a faculty lounge and offices for student offices, the travel office and the AUC Press Campus shop.

Near the Campus Center is the student-housing complex. Across the student residences is the three-story indoor athletic complex, including a 2,000-seat multipurpose court, a jogging track, squash courts, martial arts and exercise studios, a free weight studio and training courts. Outdoor facilities include a 2,000-seat track and field stadium, swimming pool, soccer field, jogging and cycling track, and courts for tennis, basketball, handball and volleyball. [30]

The five-story library includes space for 600,000 volumes in the main library and 100,000 volumes in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library. On the plaza level of the library, the Learning Commons are designed for group and collaborative learning.

The campus also features the Conference and Vistor Center where the 1,400-seat Bassily Auditorium is located, along with the 200-seat Moataz Al Alfi Hall, and smaller lecture halls and meeting rooms.

AUC New Cairo was built using 24,000 tons of reinforcing steel, as well as 115,000 square meters of stone, marble, granite cladding and flooring. [31] Sandstone for the walls of campus buildings is all from a single quarry in Kom Ombo, 50 kilometers north of Aswan. The stone arrived by truck in giant multi-ton blocks, which were cut and shaped for walls, arches and other uses at a stone-cutting plant built on the site. The walls were constructed to reduce campus air conditioning and heating energy use. A 1.6-kilometer service tunnel that runs beneath the central avenue along the spine of AUC’s campus supports the pedestrian-centric community. Services accessible via the tunnel include deliveries and pickups from campus buildings, fiber optic and technology-related wiring, major electrical conduits and plumbing for hot water, domestic water and chilled water for air conditioning.

All of 6,790 trees, shrubs and plants on the campus— with the exception of the date palms — were propagated and grown at AUC’s Desert Development Center. In addition, there are 27 fountains, pools and water features. The Urban Land Institute recognized AUC’s new campus design and construction with a special award recognizing its energy efficiency, its architecture, and its capacity for community development.[32]

Moving the campus to New Cairo has been controversial due to its distance from the city center and isolation. There were protests due to the move, especially since the new campus was not completed when it was opened. [33] One program, the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA), will return to the downtown campus for starting in the 2010-2011 school year. The Arabic Language Insitute's standard intensive Arabic program will however remain on the New Cairo Campus for the time being.

During the 2008-2009 Academic year, AUC's newspaper Caravan printed an Investigative Report on March 1, 2009 reporting that at least 2 people were killed in the construction of the New Campus. Campus security was called in when hundreds of workers protested that one killed worker's family supposedly had not been compensated [34]. Caravan also reported that because of the high price of food and lack of outside options due to the campus's obscure location, workers were frequently seen forced to resort to students' leftovers [35]. Additionally, a large number of food poisoning cases on the new campus has resulted in one food outlet being temporarily shut down.[36][37]

Notable Alumni

Notable Professors

See also

References

  1. ^ Higher Education and American Universities in the Middle East.
  2. ^ Association of American International Colleges and Universities (AAICU)
  3. ^ http://www.insiderhighered.com/profiles/american_university_in_cairo.
  4. ^ www.aucegypt.edu/aboutauc/accreditation/pages/default/aspx
  5. ^ www.aucegypt.edu/aboutauc/accreditation/pages/default/aspx
  6. ^ http://www.aucegypt.edu/faculty/research/Pages/default.aspx
  7. ^ Obrien, Michael B. (2007). Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present. New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. pp. 778 w/Index. ISBN 978-0-393-05826-0.
  8. ^ The American University in Cairo: Making History Again
  9. ^ The American University in Cairo: Making History Again
  10. ^ The American University in Cairo: Making History Again
  11. ^ The American University in Cairo: Making History Again
  12. ^ http:www.aucegypt.edu/aboutauc/HistoryandMission/pages/history.aspx
  13. ^ http:www.aucegypt.edu/aboutauc/HistoryandMission/pages/history.aspx
  14. ^ http:// www.aucpress.comt-history.aspx
  15. ^ Egypt Today, Nothing Lost in Translation, August 2007
  16. ^ The American University in Cairo Making History Again
  17. ^ The American University in Cairo Making History Again
  18. ^ http:www.aucegypt.edu/reserachatauc/rc/ddc/backgroiund/pages.default.aspx
  19. ^ B.L. Carter, "On Spreading the Gospel to Egyptians Sitting in Darkness: The Political Problem of Missionaries in Egypt in the 1930s," MIddle Eastern Studies, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct., 1984), 22.
  20. ^ Heather J. Sharkey, American Evangelicals in Egypt, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 154-67
  21. ^ Downtown Cultural Center
  22. ^ Downtown Cultural Center
  23. ^ University World News, Africa Edition, February 16, 2010
  24. ^ USAID Frontlines, March 2009
  25. ^ http://www.aucegypt.edu/newcairocampus/inauguration/Documents/MrsMubarak.pdf
  26. ^ USAID Frontlines, March 2009
  27. ^ A City for Learning: AUC's Campus in New Cairo, 2004, page 20
  28. ^ A City for Learning: AUC's Campus in New Cairo, 2004, page 14
  29. ^ A City for Learning: AUC’s Campus in New Cairo, 2004, page 14
  30. ^ http://catalog.aucegypt.edu/content.php?catoid=15&navoid=479#camp
  31. ^ http://www.aucegypt.edu/newcairocampus/background/Pages/default.aspx
  32. ^ http://www.worldinteriordesignnetwork.com/news/american_university_in_cairo_bags_special_award_from_uli_090709/
  33. ^ http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-38046120090216
  34. ^ http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:-k15ZO3j7xsJ:www.auccaravan.org/Archive/S09/S09_Issue3_En.pdf+auc+deaths+in+campus+construction&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  35. ^ http://www.auccaravan.org/2009/02/22/janitors-dine-on-litter-while-thousands-for-student-free-food-went-unused/
  36. ^ http://www.auccaravan.org/?p=2121
  37. ^ http://www.auccaravan.org/?p=2273

30°1′11.8″N 31°30′1.24″E / 30.019944°N 31.5003444°E / 30.019944; 31.5003444

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