(K-12) Educational Outreach
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Teachers from the D.C. area attended the day's talks.08/17/2009
Learning About Egypt--In D.C. and First Hand
The Center offered a study-tour of Egypt this summer. Fifteen educators traveled with CCAS Assistant Professor of Arab Politics, Dr. Samer Shehata, and Director of Educational Outreach, Zeina Azzam Seikaly, for a tour of the country July 6-18. They visited Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor, and Aswan, with attention to both ancient Egypt and contemporary life in the country. During this trip Dr. Shehata gave academic lectures and offered continuing explanations and commentary while traveling with the group. The outreach program was pleased to partner in organizing this study-tour with Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc., a nonprofit that sponsors exchange and dialogue programs between the United States and Egypt.
On Saturday, June 6, the outreach program organized an orientation program on Egypt that included scholarly presentations by four experts on the country. The seminar was open to the larger teaching community in the D.C. metropolitan area, and 52 educators attended.
The first speaker was Amy Riolo, an independent author and food historian, whose presentation was titled “Ancient Egypt for Educators.” She focused on the early dynastic period, starting from about 3150 BCE to 41 CE, with the advent of Christianity and Roman civilization. Ms. Riolo explored the foods of ancient Egypt, such as fish, spices, grain, beans, and dates, and many cultural traditions of that era, including literature, music, sports, and Nile festivals. She suggested and described many activities for teaching these fields in the classroom.
Sumaiya Hamdani, Associate Professor in the History and Art History Departments of George Mason University, spoke about “The Past in the Present: Exploring Islamic Cairo’s Living Heritage.” She said that there are many connections and a tremendous amount of continuity between ancient and Islamic Egypt. Dr. Hamdani gave a historical sweep of Islamic history, from the Umayyad period in the seventh and eighth centuries to Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. She focused on the Islamic influence in the city of Cairo itself, especially during the Mamluk era.
Samer Shehata addressed “Politics in Contemporary Egypt” from the 1952 Free Officer coup that overthrew the monarchy to the present day. He discussed land reform initiatives, the nationalization of the Suez Canal, the presidencies of Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Anwar Sadat, and Hosni Mubarak, the various wars in which Egypt has been involved, and the emergency laws that have been in place in the country since 1981. Dr. Shehata described the major political institutions in Egypt, including the presidency and bicameral parliament. He also explained the history and current politics of the Muslim Brotherhood and other major opposition parties, such as the Wafd, Tagammu`, and Arab Socialist Nasserist party. He talked about the Kifaya movement, the “Egyptian Movement for Change,” the first to openly challenge President Mubarak, and the vibrant press and civil society in Egypt.
“There is also a vibrant feminist movement in Egypt,” said the next speaker, Farha Ghannam, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Swarthmore College, who addressed “Gender and Social Life in Contemporary Egypt.” She described the movement as starting in the nineteenth century with a secular discourse; it advocated women’s rights in employment, education, and the political sphere. At present, Islamist feminists are drawing on the religion of Islam to apply Islamic norms, and Muslim feminists, whose aims are human rights and equality, encourage female scholars to reinterpret Islamic texts. Dr. Ghannam also talked about women’s work inside and outside the home, marriage and the family, the hijab, and the challenges faced by the Egyptian working class.
The program also held a screening of Cairo as Seen by Chahine, a documentary directed by the famous Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine (1991). Everyone received a resource packet with background information about Egypt and enjoyed a Middle Eastern lunch with colleagues, speakers, and CCAS staff.
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