Summer program on Egyptian anthropology & art history
Christopher Stone
I would like to call attention to an excellent study abroad program on
contemporary Egyptian culture and art history in Alexandria, Egypt.
This cultural program, located in Alexandria, Egypt, is run by
Northwestern University in collaboration with the Center for Teaching
Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL) of the University of Alexandria. It
runs from 14 June to 26 July 1996.
Specifically, the program consists of two undergraduate-level courses in
modern Egyptian anthropology and ancient Egyptian Art History.
Undergraduate university credit will be available through Northwestern
University. Special arrangements may be available for graduate students.
"Culture and Society" (403 B11, according to Northwestern's numbering
scheme) will explore tribal, kinship, national, gender, economic, and
religious identities in modern Egypt. This course will be taught by Dr.
Ahmad Abu Zaid, one of Egypt's foremost anthropologists, who has recently
completed a study on the relationship between Buddhism and Islam.
"Ancient Egyptian Art" (405 C10-1) will focus on art history from the
early Egyptian dynasties (c. 4000 B.C.E.) to the new Kingdom (6th century
B.C.). The course will devote minimal time to the Coptic and Islamic eras
as well. It will be taught by Dr. Gaballah, a noted Egyptologist.
Both courses will be taught in English and assume no previous competence
in Arabic, although students will take spent half an hour daily studying
survival-level colloquial Arabic.
Students will enjoy consider opportunity to perform field work and meet
Egyptians. The classes include numerous day trips in the Alexandria
region. Additionally, several excursions will be planned: a three-day
trip to Cairo, a three-day trip to Sinai, and a five-day trip from Luxor
to Aswan. Additional excursions may be added as well.
Accomodations are provided in St. Marc's College, a French boarding school
ten minutes away from the University of Alexandria. Rooms at St. Marc's
are basic but adequate. Decent internet access was available during last
year's program, and I expect the same to be true this year as well.
Dr. Muhammad Eissa of Northwestern University, one of the most respected
Arabic teachers in the United States and a graduate of Al-Azhar, is
administering this program. Northwestern also offers an intensive
Arabic language program in Alexandria, which I attended last summer and
highly recommend.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to attend both the culture and language
programs simultaneously. Although I did not participate in the culture
program, those who did seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.
The culture program costs $5,100. This cost includes round-trip airfare
from Chicago to Alexandria, double-occupancy lodging, breakfast Monday
through Friday, and the three planned excursions mentioned above.
Single occupancy rooms are available for an additional $50 per week. For
those who prefer to arrange their own transportation to Alexandria, the
language program costs $4,220.
Lastly, I should also note that the political situation in Alexandria,
unlike in Upper Egypt, is quite stable; to my knowledge, no incidents of
terrorism have occurred recently in Alexandria. The city is easily safer
than any comparable American city. The group will fly from Cairo to Luxor,
thus bypassing the problem zone around Assyut in Middle Egypt, which in my
mind is the only politically dangerous area in the country. Information
about the political situation in Egypt can be obtained from the State
Department web site at <http://travel.state.gov/egypt.html>.
If you have any further questions, please e-mail Dr. Muhammad Eissa
<ei...@nwu.edu>. The Northwestern University Summer Session has a web
page <http://www.nwu.edu/summernu>, but its link to the Alexandria
program does not appear to be operating yet.
You can also call (800) FINDS-NU and speak to David Schejbal, director of
Northwestern's summer programs, for more information. The Summer Session
office also has an e-mail address: <sum...@nwu.edu>. I recommend calling
Dr. Eissa directly if you have detailed questions; he is very approachable.
I have also posted some photos I took while participating in the Arabic
language program to the World Wide Web. The URL is
<http://www.princeton.edu/~cbstone/egypt_html>.
The deadline for submitting applications is 1 April 1996.