As we discussed in Upper Egypt, each student may choose to write his or her final paper on one of three general topics: The social dynamics of race, class, and gender in contemporary Egypt. The relationship between state and non-state actors in the promotion of development in Egypt. The political economy of tourism. Students have [...]
Archive for June, 2009
16 Jun
Home Safely
All of the students who were returning to the US are back (with all their luggage)! We will add a few more photos once we recover from jet lag. Papers and Journals must be post-marked by July 1st. We will post more details on the paper format soon.
14 Jun
Farewell Felucca
In preparation for a very long trip home, students were treated to a relaxing sailboat ride around Elephantine Island in Aswan. Students were also given an opportunity to make sand angels in the Sahara desert.
14 Jun
Aswan
We visited the Aswan High Dam and a temple which had been relocated by UNESCO after the creation of the dam.
12 Jun
Sailing to Esna
Perhaps nothing in the world is as relaxing as cruising the Nile river. I made the short video above using my digital camera. It does not quite capture the beauty, but hopefully you get the gist of it. We are sailing up the Nile at a fast pace. Today we visited the Valley of the [...]
12 Jun
Valley of the Kings
After reading about the history and site management of the Valley of the Kings, we toured a few of the tombs. Photos inside the tombs were prohibited.
11 Jun
Karnak and Luxor Temples
Our group, dubbed “Beautiful Rameses Group” by guide, toured the temples at Karnak and Luxor. It was a wee bit too hot for the tour but we all survived.
9 Jun
Desert Development Center
We are keeping busy at the American University in Cairo’s Desert Development Center (AUC-DDC) in South Tahrir. Students have taken tours of the facilities here as well as local efforts to tranform the desert into forest and agricultural land. As we have limited access to the Internet out here, we will post photos when we [...]
9 Jun
Sustainable Forest
HWS students visited a forest in the desert which has been created using partially treated sewage. The project is funded by the Chinese government in cooperation with several Egyptian ministries. The forest will generate timber which can be harvested annually.
6 Jun
Young Professionals Panel on Development
Three of my former AUC students met with our group to discuss the challenges to economic development in Egypt.
6 Jun
Facebook Protests
David Faris, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses his article on the use of Facebook and Twitter to organize protests in Egypt.
4 Jun
President Obama’s Speech in Cairo
Our group listened to the speech at the Grand Cafe in Maadi. Of course, we were mainly hearing the arabic translation and watching how the customers and waitstaff reacted to the speech. Here is a copy of the English version of the speech delivered at Cairo University.
4 Jun
The Citadel
We managed to squeeze in a visit to the Citadel before President Obama’s arrival shut down most of the major roads in downtown Cairo. Students learned about the history of the fortress of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and the mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha.
3 Jun
Islamist Movements
Dr. Richard Gauvain, the Chair of the Religious Studies Department at the American University in Cairo, provides a lecture on the wide range of Islamist and pietist groups in contemporary Egypt. Later that evening, Professor Gauvain and Ustaza Rania joined the students for dinner at Al-Azhar Garden which looks out on the Citadel.
3 Jun
Islamic Cairo
HWS students visited the oldest mosque in Cairo, Ibn Tulun. We had also planned a trip to Sultan Hasan mosque and Al Rifai mosque, but the latter two had to be cancelled because of President Obama’s visit to Cairo which resulted in the monuments being closed to tour groups. For many of our students this [...]
