Cross-Cultural Blog

Going around downtown Cairo, we chose to zoom in on Tahrir square, yet what we are about to discuss is found all over Cairo. Within the same neighborhood, within the same street, when choosing to fulfill a very basic necessity; eating, the choices are right there, across from one another, costing one and half pounds for a chopped liver sandwich and fresh juice of your choice-(according to the season as well), in our case it was pomegranate for 3 and a half pounds or if you walk about 5 minutes to Estoril, you can get a mixed grill plate for 60 pounds.

What seems to be alarming is not so much the difference in prices, yet it is the lack of awareness that certain types of food even exist among a certain strata of the society (that in fact represents the majority of it) Those standing around buying a liver sandwich in a lot of cases regard having meats in a meal quite a rare event, let alone be aware of different types of seafood, or perhaps even understand what Chinese, Indian, or Japanese food is. Yet, at the end of the street are those dining in Café Riche, who are very much familiar with and enjoy international cuisine.
However, it does not simply seem to be all about what you can afford to eat therefore, you are aware it exists, it’s the fact that your income sort of declares a certain background, in which you live and don’t have a chance to explore outside or elsewhere. You stick to what you know and what you grew up eating. Specific types of food that are very inexpensive are what you mostly eat. And you don’t even think about what’s being served in the restaurant down the street. Even if you wonder, you never step in, or question. It’s almost like a self imposed mechanism, where you completely block out what you know you can’t afford to have.

Surprisingly still, at the end of the day, regardless of how much money you can afford to spend on food, you find the majority of Egyptians choosing “balady bread” (local bread made in Egypt) over French baguettes.

N.B: Please look at Extended Entry for photos.

Continue reading "Food choices- Sarah Ibrahim and Menna Maged" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 04:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, students are connecting three ways across three continents. From the American University in Cairo, Egypt to Orebro University in Sweden, all the way to Stanford University in California, students are video-conferencing in real time to discuss cultural blog entries and differences in living accommodations, education, and cultural values (doxa).

According to the Lesson Plan, students will first introduce themselves and then discuss their blog posts that show aspects of their culture.

After sharing their differences, they will be creating a brochure TOGETHER as a team --> and composing a visual argument to launch their imaginary new company.

Students, please take a moment to write a comment on this blog entry with your response to your experiences connecting today. Be sure to include your name and institution.

• What did you learn about rhetoric and cross-cultural communication today?
• How did you resolve any technical difficulties (we know you had some!) What was your solution?
• What was most memorable moment or element of the video-conference exchange? What surprised you the most?
• Explain your GROUP BROCHURE - how did you create it? What does it mean?
• What new insights do you have about diverse cultures or ways of working together that you can use for your future?

Thank you!

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (0)

Having the AUC located in the heart of the Middle East, “Egypt”, means that its students will be following an Arab style of clothing since Egypt is a purely Arab country. Despite such fact, AUCians are well acknowledged with ongoing worldwide fashion trends and that what makes the AUC one of the most distinguishable universities in Egypt; its amazing mixture of Arab and non-Arab fashion styles. Below are some of the popular fashion trends followed by the differently cultured students and which are as follows:

Here, we have the eye-catching Gladiator sandals. Why are they on the top-of the AUCian fashion list? Well, they have their unique styles which as you can see can reach the ankle line and therefore be hidden under the trousers as well as be wrapped around them. Not only are they found in various colours that range from astonishing pinks, explosive purples, electric blues, calming whites to classical blacks, but also, they are surprisingly comfortable since they are usually made from comfortable materials such as leather. In addition to the sandals, we have the head bands which are seen an important accessory to the diverse AUCian outfits. What makes them that famous is the “hippy” look they provide as seen in the photo above (right figure).

Speaking of accessories that are related to one’s profile face, are the Ray-Ban sunglasses. Whether they are in their classical shapes or modern ones, they definitely suit both sexes as seen in the above left picture. Nevertheless, when it comes to skinny trousers either cotton or jeans, they are worn by males, yes, males and not just females unlike what is usually perceived by many.

Leggings”, a word that indeed can’t escape an AUCian female closet. Why? Because it goes well with all seasons; summer, winter, spring and fall. They are called leggings since they actually customize the leg’s shape. Despite the fact that they might be of a thin textile, they are astonishingly warming during cold days. Although in the above pictures the leggings’ colour is black, you can find them in cheerful colours like red, purple and even yellow. Oh! Here we find again the Gladiator sandals spicing up the leggings and the skinny jeans as well.

We just can’t forget about the books and that’s where the cross bags come to take an essential part in our clothing. It all started simply as laptop bags and with their enormous spread over the AUC campus, they became a desirable trendy look. They can be plain casual like Vans or with classical designs such as Louis Vuittons. Speaking of classical style of clothing, the classical shoes come along as seen in the above pictures with Kareem wearing the brown and Youssef wearing the black.

Those were just few of the AUCian trends that largely depend on the ongoing global changes in the fashion industry. However, being an AUCian, means you just have to be yourself whether you follow these looks or not. In both cases, you are still going be an AUCian...

Mirna Awad and Amr El Abd

Posted by Student Cultures Class, American University in Cai at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey peeps, this is Osman and Hamza and we're talking about some different groups in AUC. AUC is one of the places in the region where you can find a collection of various groups having different beliefs. The existence of students from different cultures allows the campus life to be enjoyable. However, every student tries to find the group that supplements his beliefs. Therefore, students that share the same beliefs create their own group. That is how diversity shows up. Examples of these groups are the Gucci corner group, the theatre majors, the science majors, the “G-spot” and the Goth cave group. The variety of groups around the campus is extremely wide and they are all very different, yet share similar aims.

Continue reading "Diversity of groups in AUC" »

Posted by Student Cultures Class, American University in Cai at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Student Cultures Class, American University in Cai at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

AUC was first established in 1919 in downtown Cairo, this part of the busy city was known for its ancient artifacts and beautiful environment surrounding the campus but due to the rapidly growing population and the narrow streets and since most of the population concentration is located in central Cairo and Giza it was very difficult to maintain a smooth flow of traffic around the university campus, this caused many problems to the students, professors and even to the public, it was impossible to sustain proper class timing. Also the pollution became intense in this area due to the very large number of vehicles. Also the fact that many of the government's headquarters are located in this area caused even further complications. All these difficulties made the university board consider moving to a new campus in a place more suitable not only to make it easier for the students and the professors but also to help decrease the over crowded streets in this part of Cairo. After long discussions and debates the board reached the conclusion that they should move to a more suitable, newer area. The decision was reached to build a new, bigger more advanced campus in new Cairo which is a city newly formed and considered as an extension to the capital. It is located south east of Cairo, with the new city’s vast areas and facilities it was able to attract a very large number of business and schools to re-open there. With AUC leading by taking this huge step of moving out, not only did it serve the public in this crowded part of Cairo by decreasing the pressure on this area but it also leaded other universities to do the same and encouraged many businesses to open in this new area and also investors were stimulated and started building huge resorts, houses and living areas. This all was a great step in helping diverse the Egyptian population in new areas. The new AUC campus also was a great positive to the university's capabilities and facilities. The larger space of the new campus enabled a lot more, now AUC has enough space to build more labs and better classes and larger lecture halls and conference rooms; this opened a door of opportunities to the university to expand its teaching programs, and research programs now not only will it now be able to accept more student but AUC is now able to introduce medical school and pharmaceutical school, and in the very near future these schools will be established. AUC’s new campus is also environmentally friendly this is a great positive in helping our country decrease its greenhouse gas emissions. The over all view is that AUC's step towards moving into new Cairo created life in an area once people knew as the desert and transformed it into a new place full of life for the good of our country.
By:
Beshoy Tarek Malaty and Hussein Mohamed

Posted by Student Cultures Class, American University in Cai at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog post is by Stanford students in dialogue with students at American University of Cairo for a course in Stanford's Program in Writing and Rhetoric on the subject of food politics and science.

After reviewing various photographs published in the photo essay “What the World Eats” in Time Magazine , we have discovered several discrepancies between the depiction of the typical American diet and in the foods we Stanford students actually consume. We realize that while these photographs may accurately portray the diet of a “typical” American, as students of Stanford University we feel that the two photographs fail to accurately portray the contents of our diets.

Continue reading "What We Really Eat" »

Posted by Stanford Rhetoric of Food, Group C at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

" I talk here about the problem of deforestation, how it is caused and how it affects our lives."

Deforestation has become an increasing activity these days. Deforestation is when people start removing forests and cutting down trees. There are several uses and causes for doing so. But there are effects to that as well, and these affects are a threat to all of us humans and other living organisms as well. This is a major problem because it affects my life now and if it continues, it is going to affect the coming generation which could include my children and grandchildren. They could suffer from loss of such resource which could make them suffer.

Continue reading "Threats of Deforestation" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It was an unforgettable day, the day I saw dead animals along the canals of Cairo. My dad was driving the car when I shouted at him to stop so I can take a closer look. It was the first time I had ever seen such a horrible image in reality. There were dead horses and cows floating in the water. What was really shocking was that people passing by did not care. It seemed to me that they thought this was normal, an image that they see everyday. But this was a first to me. I was shocked and devastated that somebody would do that.

Continue reading "What Are We Drinking ?" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 03:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Egypt is a very beautiful country. My family is mostly Egyptian and we have lived in the great city of Cairo for about eleven years now and although the a lot of the time all we can see is pollution, at times, when it has all cleared up, the breathtaking view of the sun setting behind the pyramids of Giza never ceases to amaze me!

I remember when we first moved here my parents would take my brother and me to all the touristic areas so that we could really appreciate our country. We went to Sharm El Sheikh, the Giza and Step Pyramids, felucca rides on the River Nile and all the other typical touristic attractions. I will never forget when we went to Sharm, we went on a snorkeling trip to the beautiful coral reefs of Ras Mohamed. It was better than anything I had ever seen on marine life on the Discovery Chanel! Last Spring break my friend from America came to visit me and so I, of course, planed all the regular touristic sites and this time around, since I am now older and more understanding, I learnt much more about my country and culture and seeing my friend’s reaction to all the wonderful things I introduced her to made me proud to call Egypt my country, my home.

Continue reading "Find Your Harmony With Nature" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 02:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

One of the major environmental problems happening in Egypt is the garbage that people are carelessly throwing in the streets. It has been a way of living for a very long time, and since it has been this way for so long I don’t think the citizens of Egypt really find it as a problem. It is only normal for most Egyptians to finish what they are eating and throw the trash in the street. I think one of the major reasons for why that happens is because there aren’t many garbage cans around so people just take the easy way and stick their garbage in any corner. That corner eventually builds up and moves on into the streets.

Continue reading "Streets of Egypt" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

According to your Blog, you guys stated what you had felt about the waste and pollution that caused the death of Salmon fish, the huge mountain of garbage and the disturbed ocean. In response to their blog, I believe the blog’s message was an inescapable kind of message that needs to be read by all people who encourage and increase waste and pollution. Moreover, the images that you posted were not only some images that conveyed “something that depicted the problem of consumption and waste” (Amaya), but also showed your “ethical, spiritual, and moral beliefs” (Bill), which was very effectual in showing your message to the audience. Furthermore, I think that providing your thoughts about a certain image that tackled a specific pollution issue did show your seriousness for showing people the different forms of pollution and also verified your personal beliefs. Moreover, your detailed descriptions of the four different images made them even more touching by clarifying what has happened in them at that time, such as describing what has happened to the Salmon, the huge pile of garbage and the polluted ocean. Indeed, your images acted as a kind of emotional appeal to the readers. Consequently, I was very touched and sympathized with these images, which caused me to actually feel your blog’s message. Also, I think that you, as a group, were successful in posting a very decisive and essential blog, which was been posted especially to show “nature as the victim that must be protected, no longer the wild beast to be conquered, like once erroneously thought of” (Carpenter).

Posted by American University in Cairo at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mohamed Allam
Fady Barsoom
Abdullah Atiya
Sarah El Massery

Living in a touristic country like Egypt, is considered a double edged sword. Tourism benefits our country economically since it is one of the main sources of our income; however, tourists receive special treatment in Egypt, especially from security and police. When I was in Hurghada (which is a very popular city on the Red Sea), I saw a police officer asking some Egyptians for their IDs, a routine occurrence. What was unusual was that for no specific reason the police officer just decided to take the person who showed his Egyptian ID into the police station. As soon as the guy heard that he was going to the police station he took out his German passport and handed it to the officer. Suddenly, the police officer changed his tone and started joking just to let go of the issue. The half-Egyptian-half-German man just looked to the officer with disgust and said “I showed you my Egyptian ID and you wanted to hurt me, but now you treat me so kindly just because I showed you this (German Passport)?”

We have to admit that the problem is not in the tourists, but in the Egyptian government which values tourists more than Egyptians because of the money they bring into the country. This indicates some drawbacks in the Egyptian system. The law is not enforced on tourists especially Arabs from the Gulf who do as they please and are left unjudged. We should be very welcoming to our visitors and tourists, tolerant with them and hospitable as we have always been, but at the end of the day we would want to see both tourists and Egyptians treated with the same level of respect.

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Sherif Yassin
Rana Abd El Aal
Dalia Abd El Aziz
Nora Hamdy

Egypt has always been a country where tourists from all over the world visit. Tourism has always been popular in Egypt because of its great history, geographical diversity and extraordinary nice weather. The tourism industry provides Egypt and its citizens with economic and social benefits. According to the Egyptian Tourism Minister
Zuheir Garana Tourism attracts 11 million tourists annually and will reach approximately $12 billion by 2011 that kind of revenue makes tourism vital for Egypt. Also, we Egyptians get to see the tourist's amazement at all of our monuments. This make us appreciate our country even more. We begin to think to ourselves "How come we haven’t seen many of our monuments up till this moment while all of the foreigners come from all over the world to see these things?'

Beyond any doubt, tourism improves the quality of life for Egyptian citizens and the whole world.

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi Stanford Bloggers,
we are Hannah, Fatma, Farid, and Mark, a group of students from the RHET 201 class in the American University in Cairo. We are all part of a research writing class and we are very excited to be blogging with you.

Tourism affects various aspects of an Egyptian’s life and culture; starting with a multilingual nature to a feeling of inferiority and dependence. Those effects are not all necessarily beneficial nor are they all harmful. Yet, their significance in shaping modern Egyptian culture is undeniable.
Tourism engraved various traits into our culture. Hospitality comes naturally to Egyptians; it is the trait most obvious to spot among Egyptians. Additionally, as residents of a country that hosts millions of global tourists every year it has become typical of Egyptians from various sectors of society to speak more than one language in order to communicate with the visitors. Another positive side-effect of tourism is the constant exposure to people from different cultures. This has taught us the importance of respect, tolerance and understanding.
Along with positive effects of tourism on Egyptians comes a sense of inferiority and need. Tourism constitutes over 40% of the nation’s economy, and has created a sense of inferiority to foreigners in the hearts of many Egyptians. The pressure to maintain and develop tourism potential coupled with a long history of colonization makes many Egyptians work hard to please tourists over themselves. Throughout Egyptian society the “West” is perceived of as superior and more commonly there is a notion of anything that is foreign as superior.
In short, Egypt’s dependence on tourism has definitely affected the various aspects of the Egyptian cultural identity. Although some of the effects are beneficial to Egyptian culture like the learning of multiple languages, there are also the feelings of inferiority to tourists.

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

Ahmed Aboul Enein
Deena Abdelmonem
Noha El Farouk
Nemat Assaad

Hi, we're Ahmed, Noha, Nemat and Deena. We are Egyptian students at the American University and Cairo and we have taken an interest in the tourist activity that goes on in Egypt. We have looked into this matter by reading many articles and from our own observation that occurs in our daily lives.

Egyptians tend to have mixed feelings about the institutions running their country, but most can acknowledge that tourism is a major factor that helps shape the appeal Egypt has to the rest of the world. Tourists have become a prominent staple in Egypt’s many scopes, and Egyptians do the best they can to keep the tourism industry running.
People from all over the world come to visit Egypt for its timeless treasures and unique, lively culture. Being exposed to tourists your whole life makes you accustomed to it after a while though. However as youngsters, we couldn’t help but feel amazed by the people who marveled over the most basic aspects of our daily lives. Yes donkey carts may seem out of place in other countries but we as Egyptians cannot imagine walking down the street without seeing them. Other than astonishment, there was a general feeling of pride. All of these people paid a lot of money and flocked from different, far places all over the world in order to come and see our land and its wonderful sights.

We find it amusing that they come to our country and fascinate over how we go about our daily lives as Egyptians. However, as we grow older, this confusion mixed with pride slowly changes into acceptance. We also began to understand the importance of Egypt’s tourism industry and how crucial it is to our country’s economy and international acclaim. After seeing those tourists for almost every day of our lives we accept the fact that they too are part of our daily lives. We even stop noticing them as much, they are as part of Egypt as the pyramids themselves.

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Nada Ayman Abdelmohsen
Hesham Khaled Atwa
Ahmed Youssef Bedda
Ramy Hatem Fakhr
Ahmed Mohamed El-Mikawi

The Egyptian government has been striving to preserve the country’s reputation of being a top tourist destination and has neglected to show tourists the unsterilized culture and society of the nation. We can either present tourists with a lame attempt at a pseudo-utopian society in which the people are completely satisfied, or we can candidly reveal the reality that is now Cairo, misery and all.

Although I would not want to depict my home country as an economically developing third world nation, the government’s deceptive illustration of our nation to the tourist industry is unethical. I want to show tourists the real Egypt. In order for them to share in the bittersweet sentiment that makes me love this country. They will need to experience the lightheartedness that populates the hearts of the average person no matter how dire their conditions are.This sense of humor has got to be our most amiable attribute as Egyptian people. Instead of having tourists see only one side of our culture, I would have them embrace our sociable personalities and see us who for truly are.

We should be flaunting our collective sociable personality and have foreigners know us for who we really are as a people.

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

This is Yara and I have lived abroad for thirteen years, mostly in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There I met people from all over the world at a very young age and so meeting people with different backgrounds and cultures became normal. Coming back to Egypt, seeing a tourist only reminds me of the years I spent abroad and the multi-ethnic friendships I had. - Yara

My name is Yasmine and I have also lived abroad for 13 years. The two countries where I lived (Botswana and Gambia) are very well known tourist destinations, so I have been accustomed to seeing tourists since the earliest stages of my childhood. I find that tourists just blend into my daily life. In Gambia, where I had been living most recently, we associated the “tourist season” with much celebration and leisure, given the amount of events that took place in the country during that time. This effect does not come into play in Egypt however, I feel very indifferent about tourism here because there are no “special” event that takes place when tourists come to Egypt.- Yasmine

Coming back to Egypt, I realized how much I had no idea about anything regarding my own culture. It was the tourists who taught me about Egypt’s history and its value. I think it is startling how tourists come to experience the “Egyptian” way of living. Frankly, I’m used to living around ‘tourists’ more than people of my own country. Therefore, I tend not to notice when tourists are around. Salma

As an Egyptian living here in Cairo all my life, constantly seeing tourists made me realize the significant difference between us. Their fascination with Egypt’s history and culture makes me appreciate and value my Egyptian identity and where I come from. Growing up, I did not think about it as a child; it was only recently that I have really considered it.- Farah

My life is different a little. I lived for like four years in Istanbul/Turkey then traveled to Rome/Italy staying there for another four years. As a result, agreeing with Yasmine, I have been habituated with tourists to the extent that I lived with them. Nevertheless, returning back to my home town finding out that it is visited by a huge number of tourists from all over the world did not in fact surprise a person who lived with and dealt with them- Seif

Posted by AUC Rhetoric of Education Class at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Right now, students in the 11 am Global Leadership class are posting blogs on their analysis of six speeches by prominent Global Leaders. Each team has conducted an analysis - and learned how to apply the effective communication techniques of the leaders to the case studies they are pursuing for their research projects.

We look forward to comments and questions from Blog Readers across the world! We especially look forward to our collaboration with Professor Sanaa Makhlouf's class at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

Please, read on, answer their questions, and ask some of your own!

Alyssa

Posted by Alyssa O'Brien at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Every time you open any link from category people you will find a modified logo goes with the category. That is why I disagree with you as you said that Obama is concerned more with the young people and that he does not have many old people supporting him. Obama is doing his best to reach the whole America's society. On the other hand, I do not know a lot about McCain so I cannot agree or disagree. Furthermore, many women are supporting Obama. However, women voters are not gullible or simplistic. They are wise enough to choose the candidate who is going to fulfill their needs.

Rana El Shamy

Posted by American University in Cairo at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

I totally agree upon your words because Obama was really smart, he chose to make his logo very flexible so as to change it as he likes; that is to say, he changed it freely to appeal to most of the people. For instance, the one that I liked the most was the logo of the student and that is the biggest evidence that Obama succeeded in conveying his message perfectly. The logo of the student comprised a notebook in a circular shape indicating Obama it really appeals to me because I am student. Subsequently, I should avow that the team who is responsible for the presidential campaign for Obama is outstanding and they are even better than McCain's team who did not have the same creative spirit. To answer your question, I want to say that women will not be deceived by the logo of McCain or even be touched by the text of " Obama Biden" or " McCain Palin ". Whom they see efficient enough they will vote for.

Posted by American University in Cairo at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

McCain made a choice to choose a woman as his vice president, who may become one of the first female vice president in USA history. There are many reasons behind Mccain’s choice of Palin. McCains opposition had an interesting choice of candidates including an African American and a woman and in order to stand out he was in need of someone who could fill this gap in his campaign and Palin seemed to be the right choice. She would be bringing a relatively 'youthful' and energetic aspect to his office as she is 44 and he is over 70, this incorporation would add refreshment to the office. He is also trying to get the votes of American women who had voted for Hillary. By chossing Palin he wants to prove that he believes in women and their equal capabilities like men. He is not just targeting women through this emancipated view. He is also targeting men by including a female factor. She seems elegant, represent able and could be considered the perfect example of a women pursuing her career and maintaining a successful private life. His choice is believed to be based on many more factors that he believes will be of interest to the American population. Palin being a young, conservative, ordinary woman of five children with a huge success in her career seemed to be a right choice as it created a statement about the American culture. Her many economic and political accomplishments and being the governor of Alaska make her qualified for taking on such a position. But still the question remains... is Sarah Palin the right choice? There is a lot of controversy behind her. Part of the American population still does not totally accept the idea of choosing a female leader. With all this in mind, McCain took a decision to have her as his vice president without realize the controversy that could come from bind her. One example is her 16 year old daughter who is pregnant now, before being married; in this case an abortion wouldn’t be an option as it’s against republican views…could this cause a problem for the campaign. So the question is did McCain really make a good decision when he chose Sarah Palin to be his vice president?

Posted by American University in Cairo at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

Different strategies are used by the different candidates in order to attract their audiences. John Mccane uses a strategy that could seem some what unethical to the Arab world and that is; “attacking the competition instead of focusing on ones own strengths.” In the front page of his website, Mccaine states that Obama’s past should be of concern to many American’s as it is unclear. He also tries to make it clear that Obama is actually running against the current president and not Mccaine himself, and that is by repeating Obama’s statement “ I’m not Goerge Bush.”

This defense mechanism by Mccain only shows weakness and that he’s afraid that what he is fighting for is not appealing to people enough. Accordingly, he finds whatever way to steal voters from obama, by trying to show that he is a bad person instead of showing what a good person Mccain really is.In his website Mccain invites people to share any embarassing video they have about Obama.

He is also attacking Obama’s plan for taxes and for obamas general economic plan. This is pretty much expected since the candidates are in a race for better future plans. But what is not acceptable is finding away to attract obama personally instead of professionally which is what Americans are looking for.

To sum up McCains actions shows only weakness and the unavailability of good ideas to support the American Public which will in the end grant him his votes.

Rana Abdel Rehim
Meena fawzy
Mohamed selim

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

Obama’s website addresses the issue of poverty in America while McCain does not. Each candidate chooses to include or omit this issue since each is targeting a different audience. McCain’s campaign targets older, well-off people, namely upper-class citizens, while Obama targets “the common man,” specifically the lower-and-middle class. McCain does not wish to appeal to Obama’s target group and thus does not address the growing issue of poverty in America. Obama’s campaign dedicates a large part of his website to this issue, which effectively reaches his target audience.
Obama starts his speech by describing a famous encounter between Bobby Kennedy and an impoverished child of the Mississippi delta. This introduction touches the audience on a personal level as well as appealing to patriotic emotions. He states a known quotation by Bobby Kennedy, “How can a country like this allow it?” These words insinuate the audacity of poverty in a country as rich and affluent as the United States. Obama does not fail to repeat these words throughout his speech which emphasizes their emotional effect. Obama mentions facts such as the increase of poverty two fold since 1980 and follows them by repeating, “How can a country like this allow it?” mounting the outrage towards the government who has not taken poverty into account. He attacks McCain’s ideologies indirectly throughout the speech by offering quotes that were said by Dr. King, “Hope is not found in any single ideology – an insistence on doing the same thing with the same result year after year.” These words reinforce appeal to the American patriotism of the middle-class.
As students in a third world country it is interesting to us to consider poverty as a serious issue in the richest country of the world.

By: Silke Martin , Kanzy Kandil, Ihab Awwad

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

Soliman Mohsen
Lance Ataalla
Bourhan Rateb

On November 4, the American citizens will face a life changing decision. They will be confronted with a choice that will involve not only the American nation but the entire planet. Therefore, us Arabs are anxious and concerned to whom the power will be granted.
Looking at McCain's website what captivated our attention was his slogan: "Country first". It seems to us that he is willing to protect his country by any means necessary as commander and chief of his nation, even if it takes drastic measures. No matter what his claims are about how much we wants peace, we cannot ignore the fact that he is a supporter of Bushes policies concerning the war in Iraq. Bearing in mind that he was a soldier who refused to leave the battlefield even after an injury that could have taken his life. A man who volunteered to stay an fight instead of going back home could at any time engage an irrational decision and provoke a war at any time.
On the other hand Obama's campaign appealed ton the middle eastern crowd, looking at his slogan:" In change we believe"; for the past eight years middle eastern were faced to a "bush regime". We are ready to face a new era, a time of change and hopefully he will give hope to all.

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

We are handling Barack Obama’s website in general, with regards to color, choice of words, and even layout. The choice of colors and words on his website demonstrate openness to a new life and hope for a new and refined united states. The color blue calms the reader, and since it is part of the American flag, helps give citizens a sense of belonging, and his public-friendly language helps him be close to the public. Obama’s slogan emphasizes his faith in the American public, and his belief in positive change that could be brought about by anyone. Due to his hopeful vision for the future and his concern for both the major and the minor problems of the public, people have a tendency to look up to him and to feel connected with him. We believe his site is very organized, as he has tabs for every concern for the American public or with regards to his campaign, and this brings us to another point. In his “People” tab, he mentions each and every category in the US population – from ethnicities to professions to gender – which gives those people the sense of being important and an integral part of the community. Not only is he concerned about Americans inside the country, but also cares about the welfare of Americans abroad. However, when it comes to religious groups, he does not directly mention Muslims or other minorities, while mentioning Jewish Americans (which we believe is because of their influence on the economy) separately. In fact, he does not even mention the Middle East as a whole. From our Middle Eastern point of view, this makes us feel that we are not part of the discourse even though the United States is majorly involved in the Middle East.

Yomna Osman
Nahla Shalaby
Yomna Arbad

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

On the home page of John McCain's website, there is couple of videos that argues that John McCain is ready to lead the nation and shows his experience in public affairs. That's why the American audience should vote for him, because he always puts his "Country First."

One of the videos starts with McCain informing his plan very clearly to the American audience. He states that his plan is to "Rebuild your savings, grow your investments, and energy independence". He is focusing mainly on developing the American economy and having an independent energy economy after all the crisis it went through the last 8 years of Bush administration especially that there was a huge amount of money spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which lately ended with the Wall Street Crisis. He is giving the audience faith that he will save their economy if they vote for him. He is promising to lower the taxes and create a renewable energy economy, which will create more job opportunities to the Americans.

McCain argues that Washington is spending billions everyday to the Middle East because they want to spread out the wealth. He does not sound to like the idea of spreading the wealth; instead he wants to use it to reform his own economy. He is also making it sound as if Washington is doing the Middle East a favor when in reality the main reason for the presence of the US in the Middle East is securing their oil interests in the region.

By: Abdallah Elsayed and Rana El-Tazy

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

The American elections are an important issue for the whole world, because its results have a great impact on the world’s politics and economy. As we were watching obama and McCain’s website we were interested by a video called 90 percent; the video basically sends a message to the people that if the Americans elect McCain they will be changing George bush by another president who might be a different person but believes in the ideology of his successor. The video starts by saying that McCain voted with the president 90 percent of the time, tax breaks for big corporations and the wealthy, nothing for the middle class, spend $10billlion a month in Iraq( while the American economy suffers), and the video is concluded by john McCain admitting that he voted with the president 90 percent of the time. We believe that this was a clever move from obama because he is telling the American people that if they elect McCain they will be refusing the change that obama is offering for both the United States and the world. The world is not eager to have another George bush; we are all waiting for change. Obama on the other hand represent change and progress and he promises to reform America and turn it into a better one; he also wants people to believe in him and in themselves. Obama is an African American who will bring change to Washington and will be a great president who can make America a better place.

tarek abdel hamid, omar el garawany, ziad badr

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PluoMotgl2w

Posted by American University in Cairo at 05:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

We’re posting to evaluate each candidates websites.

Obama’s website directly directs you to his homepage while McCain’s website first starts with a video that gives us the reasons why we should elect him as voters and how he would improve the economy. Proceeding with another video of his experience and injury in the military, he is trying to prove to us that he is a patriotic and faithful man who can lead the country. He also emphasizes why the united states needs such a man like him having courage and especially faith which is well stressed on.
There is a clickable button that then leads to the homepage similar to Obama’s homepage. Similar tabs that are available are issues, blogs, media, news, etc. The other major similarity that we’d like to stress upon is the color both candidates chose as their background which is blue. When we looked up the blue color psychology we got some interesting results. Blue gives the viewers a sense of calmness, serenity, cleanliness and peacefulness. Moreover, blue is the favorite color of most people according to polls. The American flag also consists mostly of blue because it symbolizes vigilance, perseverance and justice. Assumingly both want to show that they are patriotic and loyal to the American people.
When comparing the ads we found out that McCain has more negative ads than Obama. In McCain’s homepage we found an ad that attacked Obama’s background. Usually when people feel that they’re week they start attacking. This is actually the case because Obama is winning in the polls so far.
We covered and analyzed at least the important aspects of the page layout.

Ahmed Mostafa, Christianne Chackal and Sandra Ahmed

Posted by American University in Cairo at 05:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

Why should Obama be considered about women that much? That question has been raised in our minds several times. Finally, throughout the information we obtained while surfing Obama’s website “http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/womenissues”; we discovered that he is trying to attract those who were strongly supporting Hilary Clinton; so maybe this is why women’s issues figure a lot on his website.
Actually, Obama is addressing the issues that women experience in America, healthcare issues is one of the problems. American women don’t have the same health care insurances like men, so Obama guarantee them with having the same health care men get, with electronic medical records, and reporting systems to assure that his patients get perfect treatments with low costs. Moreover, he will increase the ovarian cancer awareness for women, because so many are infected with it and have no clue how to diagnose it. Because the HIV virus killed so many women, Obama introduced Microbicide development Act, to protect them from its transitions. In addition to the healthcare issue, Obama will prevent any domestic violent act against women and restricted some laws for that because 1,400 women in the United States die every day as a result of harassments, rapes, and stalks.
Last but not least, Obama closed the wage gap between men and women in US because women will be taught math, science as men; hence, men and women will be equally paid for their equal work. Furthermore, Obama will give women seven days paid off checks, if they did not come to their work for their children sicknesses. Not just that, but Obama will encourage women to open their own businesses which they were denied to open many years ago.

Posted by American University in Cairo at 05:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

This blog entry is part of a Fall 2008 blogging exchange between American University in Cairo and Stanford University's Online Activism class. To read all the entries, follow this thread; be sure read the earliest entries first.

The colors are taken from the American flag, but with more lightening effects which could reflect the meaning of better and brighter future as it is shown. Also, colors are going smoothly together, especially in the curves and the "O" shape. Obviously, the shape of “O” is very clear standing for Obama. The blue shape which is in the top of the logo, gives the feeling of the sunrise over a field as an example. The idea of the sun is deeply supported by the lights over the logo and the brighter degrees of the blue and red colors. The blue upper edge also could give the shape of a rainbow. Also, the circle shape easily gives the development process effect “the circle of change”.
What is really great in the shapes of the logo is the flexibility of its design. Every time you open any link from category people you will find a modified logo goes with the category. This indicates that Obama really trying to reach the whole American society with all sectors, professions and categories. As well, the red shapes which represent the American flag, is used perfectly in the names of every state.
It is clear that the logo is so connected to the democrats’ logo. Not only the colors but the also the curvy shapes. As historically known, the democratic party of the US is liberal, so they seek changing old traditions and work towards more liberality. Obama’s logo is more symbolic and artistic comparing with mcCain’s logo. Also, Obama’s logo seems to be more peaceful, but mcCains’ gets the feel of military view especially with the star inside his name.

If you want to check Obama's distinctive logos and the whole ideas visit this links:
http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/004262.html

Islam elbialy, Menattalah elbatran , Rana el shamy

Posted by American University in Cairo at 04:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

Every country has its shantytowns and Brazil is famous, or rather infamous, for its favelas. These favelas have over the years received more and more attention due to the continuous rise of illegal activity, particularly drug trafficking and urban violence. This specific issue has been tackled in the documentary “News from a Personal War” which has been created in relation to the movie “City of God”. The documentary raises a lot of questions by analyzing the case of a favela in Rio de Janeiro. What is the government of Brazil doing to combat the crime in the favelas? What are the changes that have happened since the appearance of the documentary? What are the reasons for those changes? What can be done to improve conditions? These are the questions this paper attempts to answer with relation to this favela and uses the case of Sao Paolo as a comparison in the methods of combating urban crime. The paper is divided into several parts. The first section is a short one describing the current situation in Brazil with regards to a relatively recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The second section is additionally separated into two; the first part talks about the economic improvements of Rio de Janeiro, which occurred partially due to the decrease of corruption, while the other part talks about how the government deals with the urban crime and the favelas. The third part talks about the political structure of Brazil as a major setback to fighting urban crime and uses the law enforcement forces as an example. The last part of the body talks about Sao Paolo as a case study, and comparison to Rio de Janeiro, because of their achievement in reducing the murder rate in the state. Even though the purpose of this paper was to analyze the government’s role in urban crime fighting, it did not manage to achieve this objective due to the scarcity of sources for research. However, it has reached certain conclusions with regard to what can be done and what are the aspects that affect the success or failure of resolving this particular issue.

Posted by AUC: Writing in the Social Sciences at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

In my paper, I examine the favela in the context of Brazil’s democracy. The favela is a state within the state; although geographically an integral part of Rio de Janeiro, it is a socially, economically and politically marginalized state within Brazil. This paper is an attempt to find out what role the democratic government is playing in the favela wars and how come the democracy is not benefiting the large class of Brazilian favelados? The huge gap between the rich and the poor is a major characteristic of the extremely stratified Brazilian society; also, the military regime, which ruled Brazil till 1985 initiating the social injustice, is still indirectly controlling the distribution of wealth and political power, even under the flag of democracy. I evaluate the situation on three interesting political levels: The first is the politics within the favela itself. I use two examples of favelas, one profiting from vote selling, and the other not participating in elections; at the end, both are politically apathetic and thus excluded from Brazil’s democracy. Instead, the favela has a de facto internal government headed by the dealers and acknowledged by the locals, a factor the documentary succeeds to show. The second level is the national level, the Brazilian democracy. Whereas Brazil undoubtedly has an efficient democratic system, its democracy seems to be operating with the favelas external to its drive. The government played a minor role in the last 50 years attempting to find new housings for the favelados and failed. The elite’s privileges are to be safe-guarded and the favelas neglected, even in the basic services, like health and education. The third level of political disintegration is the international level. The international level is surprisingly present, both in pressuring the Brazilian government and selling armaments to the dealers. Both the economic threat of Wall Street firms and the political power of Washington D.C were practiced against today’s president Lula, the Working Party candidate, during his first elections in 2002. The American ‘intervention’ might be explained as an anti-leftist stance, but its exaggerated intensity stays enigmatic. Those international pressures seem to represent an international (or mainly American) interest in the preservation of the status quo. Today’s Brazil is arguably moving towards a better democracy under President Lula with his plans for the redistribution of lands and a long term plan to end the seclusion of the favelados. The favelados, however, have established their own state with their own rules within Brazil, a new state, where they might finally get a voice.

Posted by AUC: Writing in the Social Sciences at 12:52 PM | Permalink

I just wanted to jump in here and reintroduce phase two of an assignment that my AUC students, in a "Writing in the Social Sciences Class" shared with Donna Hunter's Stanford class, "Rhetoric of Criminality." Back in September, both of our classes viewed the documentary, "News from a Personal War" which was filmed in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and focuses on the drug wars there. It includes interviews with favela residents, drug dealers, and young favelados hired by the dealers, and also with the police who regularly raid the favelas.

When our students watched the film we asked them, among other things, to identify questions that the film raises, but does not answer. Donna's students posted their initial responses to the film right away on the blog. My students did research-based response papers, looking to "answer" or at least further flesh-out some of the questions they had identified.

My students are now posting abstracts of the papers they wrote in response to the questions they had investigated. We regret the lag time between Donna's classes original postings (to which some of my students responded in the comments section) and our abstracts, which hopefully will still be of interest to them! Our month of September was a little truncated as we were on an abbreviated schedule because of Ramadan and then on holiday during that last week of September into the first week in October because of the Eid.

Posted by Belle Gironda, American University in Cairo at 12:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is my abstract to the response paper I wrote for my writing in the social sciences class. the paper goes on discussing an issue that is not fully addresses in the documentary and that it female role in the favela and how is that connected to the issue of labor...
“News from a Personal War” documentary addresses the life in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, Santa Marta, in Brazil. Its principal focus falls on the confrontation between the police attacks and the drug dealers facing that. The dynamics of those showdowns and the impact they have on the residents of the favela is adequately discussed. However, one of the major issues left un-visited is the issue of gender and females’ role in the favela. He who watches the documentary can obviously see the absence of the female perspectives on what goes on in the favela. Only two cases the documentary shows: Janete and Hilda. Both give an account on the female situation inside the favela. Janete’s narrative gives nothing but a desperate image of the women as she recounts the situation of the children in the favela and how uncontrollable it is for their mothers to try and divert the fate of being gangsters and drug dealers at the age of 12. It is clear through the documentary that women are not empowered and they are not able to alter the situation and the lives of their children. Even the children in the documentary are mostly males and there is no case of a female child among them. On the other hand, there is another instance of a working female mother, Hilda, whose condition is not much better than what Janete is talking about. But, her presence in the documentary throws the idea of female labor in the favela. It raises the question of how effective they are in the labor force in the favela whose main labor is dealing with drugs. As it turns out from research, women do have a role in the labor force as they essentially become the provider for their households at the times their husbands are imprisoned for being involved in the police-dealers’ confrontations. Consequently, women find their way in the labor market and usually work as domestics for well of families to try to cope to the precarious lifestyle they lead.

Posted by AUC: Writing in the Social Sciences at 03:00 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Refrence:www.aucegypt.edu
The American university in Cairo has built its new campus over an area of 260-acres of land. An international team of architects spent five years creating the campus which turned out to be a huge success. The design of the campus is a state of the art design which blends in with the natural surroundings (the desert) giving the campus its own unique atmosphere. In addition to that, the campus’ landscape contains vast recreational areas designed for sports . The heart of the campus contains the academic buildings where the learning takes place. The campus combines materials found in nature with architecture that blends in with the desert surroundings to create a place that is modern but could almost be an outgrowth of nature.
Amr Hisham

Posted by American University in Cairo at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Egypt as a developing country does not consider animal rights a priority. Last year the students of the American University in Cairo created a community service club that supports animal rights, by providing shelter, food , water and medical care to deprived animals. “Voice of Animals” club is also against malicious acts against animals. This club was the first of its kind in Egypt, and surprisingly it has gained lots of supporters. As more people become aware of this club Cairo animals are happier..

Marina Amin Labib Amin
Christine Fathi Ragheb Hanna
Roba Riad Mohamed Sadek Berikdar

First picture: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=404388980

Last Picture:
http://dl2.glitter-graphics.net/pub/918/918542elqep8jnqg.gif

Posted by American University in Cairo at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Pollution
Cairo is is the home of the pyramids, sunny weather and warm and openhearted people. Cairo has its charm and beauty, but one thing that certainly ruins its lively atmosphere is the pollution. Black rain drops, grey skies, its unbelievable! We know for a fact that there are around 1.5 million registered cars roaming our streets, many of them emitting big bushy black thick smoke! Another cause of pollution in Cairo is the burning of rice fields and garbage; all of this is mostly due to uneducated citizens who don't understand the consequences that relate to these issues. In our old AUC campus which was in the heart of downtown Cairo, we were surrounded by so much pollution you could literally see it in the air.
AUC has just moved to a new campus on the outskirts of Cairo where the sky is blue, the air is clean and nothing is dusty. There is always much less traffic so there is no noise and certainly no black fumes from the exhaust pipes.
Omar El Gamal
Fareeda Atwan
Marwan Roushdy

Posted by American University in Cairo at 07:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Shores, deserts, corals, Nile River, agriculture, animal life. Where can you possibly find such a wild combination but Egypt? Each and every inch here in Egypt is different, representative of a certain culture or historical period, genuine, and capturing the oriental essence of the Arabs.

Nature in Egypt varies from coastal to rural and all the way to Saharan. The breathtaking scenery of Sinai, the spectacular colorful corals of the Red sea, the divine valleys and oasis of the western desert, the hot sunny shores of the Mediterranean, the exquisite river Nile, the authentic atmosphere of upper Egypt and the awesome nights of Cairo. That's what Egypt is all about,diversity. The photos which we've selected for this project show you a quick glimpse of the beauty that signifies Egypt. Each one represents a different part of Egyptian nature and culture all the while capturing the essence of Egypt's astounding beauty.

Four photos may not be enough to give a full image of Egyptian nature, but these photos should've at least communicated the diversity we're talking about. Hope you've enjoyed them.

Ahmed Hazem.
Amira Saied.
Aya Aboul Fotouh.

Posted by American University in Cairo at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0)

Last thrusday we talkesd about the documentry (bridges to baghadad) and we have discussed a lot of different aspects and poinjt of views.we all have agreed that the is somehow biased and that it is edited from an American point of view.Also the film shows some of the children living in Iraq but actully most of them were not affected by the war.futhermore, we brought into the conversation examples of stereotypes like that boy in the film that is listening to rock and has his own band and they actully do not care at all were there is a war or not and they are not influnced at all. one of the points that we discussed a lot was how life changed for those children after the war. Two of us agreed that the war gave the people freedom of expression and that was not available before, but most of agreed that yes they got frredom of expression but the lost a lot of thing in return and those thing are more important to them then the freedom of expression. the people lost houses, schools and colleges,electercity and even water: there life was just misery and all they got in return was freedom of expression. Moreover, we nearly all agreed that bush went into this war to take the oil in Iraq. at the end we as a group agrred that a debate would do a great influnce on that course and it will be interisting

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Last thrusday we talkesd about the documentry (bridges to baghadad) and we have discussed a lot of different aspects and poinjt of views.we all have agreed that the is somehow biased and that it is edited from an American point of view.Also the film shows some of the children living in Iraq but actully most of them were not affected by the war.futhermore, we brought into the conversation examples of stereotypes like that boy in the film that is listening to rock and has his own band and they actully do not care at all were there is a war or not and they are not influnced at all. one of the points that we discussed a lot was how life changed for those children after the war. Two of us agreed that the war gave the people freedom of expression and that was not available before, but most of agreed that yes they got frredom of expression but the lost a lot of thing in return and those thing are more important to them then the freedom of expression. the people lost houses, schools and colleges,electercity and even water: there life was just misery and all they got in return was freedom of expression. Moreover, we nearly all agreed that bush went into this war to take the oil in Iraq. at the end we as a group agrred that a debate would do a great influnce on that course and it will be interesting

Posted by American University in Cairo at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hurghada is one of the well known tourist place in the world. Its located in Egypt along the Red Sea. Its known for its magic of nature with its clear water and amazing weather.
Actually, Hurghada was not created as a tourist place from the beginning, but it was just a local mining and fishing community. However, in the early 1970s Hurghada has been dramatically changed to a global tourist place with the most beautiful resorts in the world and it has become the first destination for the investors from Egypt and from outside it.
This sudden change in few years has affected the local people and the city of Hurghada itself from many aspects; whether from the economic,environmental, and even the social one. My project focuses on these changes and examine whether they are positive or negative ones. I am mainly concerned with this topic because I am one of the local people in Hurghada who have felt these changes.

Doha Rabei Ahmed
RHET 103
AUC ( American University in Cairo)

Posted by American University in Cairo at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Download file

Posted by American University in Cairo at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Walking down the Egyptian street, with billboards of female pop moguls like Haifa Wahbi and Nancy Agram high above the ground, a woman is without exception a target of harassment. It has become an odd phenomenon where men in the society have received the dominant status as women were degraded to nothing more than walking sex objects. There are no immunity or evasion tactics possible for adaptation by women; this is evident in the apparent, and fairly recent, rise of hijab (veil) in the Egyptian society. As flattering as “eh ya te’ma” (hey delicious) may sound to many girls, the line has been crossed time and again to where this habit is embedded in our culture.

Continue reading "Walking Down the Egyptian Street" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Continue reading "Family Values" »

Posted by American University in Cairo at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Today in Egypt, veil became so widespread among upper, lower and middle class girls and women. However, during the fifties, sixties and seventies very few women were veiled and women used to dress in short dresses and the society was accepting that and they were not harassed by men. Nowadays, the widespread of veil could be described as a phenomenom especially among low and middle low classes. This raises several questions :
why did the veil became so widespread and why do women get veiled in the first place and what does this tell us about the Egyptian culture?

First of all, due to the increase in sexual harassement, lower and low middle class girls and women wear the veil to protect themselves from daily harresment in streets if they go to college, school or work or just go shopping. Secondly, starting from year 2000, media through local channels and other satellite channels increased the religious programs that emphasized on the veil and there message was that the veil is a pillar in Islam, one of the Egyptian presenters of those programs was Amr Khaled who affected alot and a lot of women got veiled after his program. Thirdly, there are women who are veiled and they are very religious and work in respectable jobs as University professeurs, doctors, engineers, writers and many other jobs, those women represent well cultivated, successful and representable veiled women, even though they are a minority.

The veil opens an interseting parallel issue in Egyptian culture which is judging people according to their appearance. Some Egyptians say that a women or girl who wears veil is a good and religous women. However,, their are several possibilities, some veiled women are religious, others just wear it as a part of mainstream culture, some women who are not veiled are very successful, religious. The veil issue is too big and it integrates different aspects as economic, cultural and religious issues.

Written by: Marwa Samaha
A Sophmore majoring in Economics at AUC

Posted by American University in Cairo at 01:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One thing that is very common in Egypt is this idea of public vs. private. Of course we all have our own ideas of what we should share with others and what we should keep to ourselves. But the problem here is this division of public and private is reflected in almost all aspects of our daily lives including our own homes! Take for example my own home. I had nothing to do with its design but it perfectly reflects what I am talking about and is pretty typical of most Egyptian homes. We live in an apartment but that apartment has two doors, one for us (my parents, my sisters and I) and one for guests. This is of course done because there is an image that we want to present to any guests coming in which may perhaps not be the most comfortable or convenient or even functional for everyday use. And as the photos that I have taken show, the family entrance is very plain and simple- a couple of chairs, a carpet and dim lighting. But the guest entrance has a fancy chandelier, candelabras; ceiling is painted with cherubs and bright lighting. This part of the house almost looks too perfect, like something out of a magazine which suggests that here in Egypt; we have this need to lead or at least to appear to be leading perfect lives.

The same is true of how much space we dedicate to everyday use and how much space is dedicated to guest use. I think it is fair to say that in most houses in Egypt up to half the space is kept aside for guests. This usually means that 5 or 6 family members would be crammed up in a small space so that guests would get the impression that the house is spacious with plenty of room. Of course how much space there is and how that space is furnished is perhaps most obviously a reflection of wealth and this seems to be an important issue here in Egypt because of the large disparity between the social classes. Egypt is formed from a very large lower class, a slightly smaller upper and class and a very small middle class. People who have some degree of wealth do not want to by any means be mistaken for anything less than what they are and people who have some wealth but aspire for more use their homes and the presentation of their homes as a means of social upward mobility.

Posted by American University in Cairo at 05:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)