A-U-C…Teaches the Egyptian Revolution
Rania Nafie
5-22-11
LEAD-IN: Isqat Al-Nizam is a new course offered in the Spring 2011 semester at A-U-C.
HIST 412-04 which is coordinated by Dr. Michael Reimer and team-taught by faculty of A-
U-C’s History Department addresses the historical events of January 25 th
to February 11 th
in
Egypt; it addresses the events of the revolution and places them within the broader context of
Egypt’s history, as well as the history of political revolution in the modern world. A-U-C’s
Rania Nafie reports.
Fade in: Hikayet Shaa’b song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:30)
Fade out: Hikayet Shaa’b song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
Egypt as an Arab country has always had a rich history of revolutions that started since the days of the pharaohs but the story of the latest revolution is unique in a sense.
Fade in:
Hikayet Shaa’b song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:30)
Fade out: Hikayet Shaa’b song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
The January 25 th revolution that was led by young people and managed to overthrow
Mubarak’s regime after thirty-year rule was hugely a symbolic victory for all Egyptians. It changed the face of modern history and the whole world was witnessing one of the most peaceful and civilized revolutions.
Fade in: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:27)
Fade out: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
In reaction to the revolution, The American University in Cairo known as A-U-C offered a new course HIST 412-04 which is coordinated by Dr. Michael Reimer.
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Nat sound: Protestors chanting al shaa’b yurid isqat al nizam (:16)
On defining the course Reimer says:
REIMER: “The title of the class is Isqat Al Nizam. Egypt's 25th of January movement in comparative historical perspective and the class considers both recent events but more importantly it sets those events in the context of Egypt's own history. So we look backwards at for instance the uprising of 1977, we look back at 1952 and the Nasser movement…the free officers’ movement, we look at 1919 the wafd and the nationalist revolution there” (:42).
Fade in: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:19)
Fade out: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
There are further themes studied in the course Reimer elaborates:
REIMER : “ and we look all the way back into the 19th century and some of the revolts that took place at that time and we also look across from Egypt at other countries that experienced revolutions especially in The Middle East. So we are considering the
Palestinian intifadas, the Iranian revolution, yesterday we talked about Algeria. And then a little even further beyond that..we are trying to make comparisons between this uprising, revolts for instance..or revolutions in eastern Europe and Latin America”
(:31)
Fade in: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:15)
Fade out: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
On how the idea of the class came about Reimer says:
REIMER: “Well, the idea actually came from an initiative that the provost circulated suggesting that AUC organize classes that would respond to recent events and allow students to reflect on those events and so I had the idea of setting up a course where we would do a kind of comparative revolutions theme and I'm pleased to say that my colleagues both supported it as a course but also are contributing to it and I wanna emphasize that it is a team-taught course. So each week another member one of the professors from the history department presents a lecture on a particular theme”
(:50).
Elaborating on how the class started, Halima Nasr al-Shenawy, a research assistant at the
History Department says:
AL-SHENAWY: “First of all Dr. Reimer started by the beginning of the semester with a short version of the syllabus of Isqat al Nizam course 412 and it was approved in about a week” (:13)
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The class witnessed an overflow of students who were willing to take the course, Al-
Shenawy says:
AL-SHENAWY: “He opened a section for about 15 students…it was ya3ni overload
15…it was actually till 20…so we had a long waiting list…so we decided to open a new section which decided Dr. Heather Keane to give and then there was another waiting list in the hudogrant office so they wanted a third section to be opened so Dr.
Blanks agreed to give that third section…so now we have three sections of the 412"
(:30).
According to Reimer the students will be exposed to a variety of viewpoints:
REIMER: “The reading material comes from various scholarly books and journals as well as of course those recent news reports when talking about the 2011 revolution.
The material is chosen from week to week by the professor who is making the presentation so last week for instance we talked about the 1919 revolution and Dr.
Pascale Ghazala chose the readings as she was doing the lecture. This week we talked about Algeria and compared it with Egypt and since I was doing the lecture I chose the readings” (:36)
Fade in: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:25)
Fade out: Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
Al-Shenawy adds:
AL-SHENAWY:” The material…what I do is like according to the syllabus…it is once a week...every Wednesday there is a different professor from the history department who is teaching the lecture..each one submit to me by email their materials and I collect them and compile them and send them on blackboard for the students, print them for the three sections professors" (:27).
Mahinour Aly, a Political Science major who is currently taking the course comments on the material:
ALY: "In regard to the material of the course I think they are very relevant to what is happening now in Egypt.
so I think they are very useful because they offer a firsthand experience into revolutions or uprisings that we have not been taught as students in the Egyptian schools, we have been pretty much taught what was given by the government as their side of the story of Egyptian history, we have been taught only revolutions that are against foreign rulers or foreign interventions” (:40)
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Students had positive reflections on the class and why they decided to take it Aly says:
ALY: “I decided to take the 412 Isqat al-Nizam because it was of direct relevance to what's going on in Egypt. I have been very occupied during the revolution with the happenings and what's going on on the square, I have been there numerously and for me this was an opportunity to bring that passion of politics and worries about the future of Egypt into an academic form, so I got into the course and now that I'm registered in it…I'm very happy that I made that choice” (:36)
Fade in: Wihyat albi song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:21)
Fade out: Wihyat albi song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
It took time to finally register in the class Aly tells:
ALY:”I had to compromise because the class was announced late of course…so I had to reschedule my initial plan for the semester but I'm really happy that I did that because the course puts the revolution in perspective with other uprisings or revolutionary movements that took place in the modern era both in the Middle
Eastern region and other regions of the world” (:24)
Students have the chance to express their opinions about the class lectures Reimer says:
REIMER: “The reflections that they are making are through, they write a series of critical essays in the course and so yes we have actually had them write one critical essay based on the first several sessions in the course and it seems that the students are very excited about the course and making these comparisons and trying to understand this revolution and its possible trajectory in a historical way” (:26)
While the course is fundamentally a history course, students not majoring in History or a closely related field may enroll. Everyone can join the class Reimer says:
REIMER: “Well, the class is drawn from a lot of different groups of students. We have quite a number of history and political science majors who are interested in taking the course because this fits perfectly within their program. We also have a lot of students who are taking the course as a capstone to fulfill a capstone requirement or a core seminar of the core curriculum that requires that students take a 400 level course as a capstone and so a good number of our students are also taking it for that reason. (:30)
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The class is not only based on lecturing and students have the chance to participate Reimer explains:
REIMER:” Each session we have a lecture and then we have usually as much time for discussion as we do for lecturing” (:8)
Expressing her personal thoughts on the course objectives Aly says:
ALY:”So I think doing this comparison can help us as people who are living the experience…the revolutionary experience to put our experience into perspective with similar happenings perhaps we can learn from them..perhaps we can understand what they are happening better and perhaps we can learn a lesson of where perhaps we are going and maybe make better choices" (:24)
Fade in: Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:23)
Fade out: Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
The class did not leave a good impression on Egyptian students only but also impacted foreign students said Joseph Finn, an American study abroad student who is taking the course as well. He emphasized that he feels great to be living in Egypt during that glorious time of
Egyptian history. Finally, Finn mentioned that all the readings and lectures he studied in Isqat al-Nizam HIST 412 remarks Egypt’s history and provide reasons for all Egyptians to be proud.
Fade in: Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
(:12)
Fade out: Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
Credits:
- Hikayet Shaa'b song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
- Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
- Wihyat albi song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
- Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
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Special Thanks To:
- Professor Micheal Reimer
- Professor Khaled Fahmy
- Professor David Blanks
- Halima Nasr el Shenawy, research assistant at the History Department
- Mahinour Aly, a Political Science student at AUC
- Professor Kim Fox
- Mr. Tarek el Maghraby
For their appreciated help in the completion of this documentary.
Appendix A:
-Hikayet Shaa'b song by Abdel Halim Hafez
“ My brothers…may I say something? The story is not the revolution only but it is the story of us…Egyptian people…a nation that stood up against injustice…a nation that was very powerful…a nation that struggled and achieved victory. Do you want to listen to the story?”
Appendix B:
-Hikayet Shaa'b song by Abdel Halim Hafez
“We won…we won…we won. We won when the army supported us and revolted with the people. We won when we made lighted up the revolution like fire. When we made our country free…when we got rid of corruption”.
Appendix C:
-Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
“Photo…Photo…photo…all of us need a photo. Photo…Photo…photo…to celebrate our victory. Photo for the happy nation to celebrate their victory”.
Appendix D:
-Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez (Just music).
Appendix E:
-Soora song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
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“Let destiny take a photo of us. We are going to come closer and whoever who gets out of the
Square will never get in the photo”.
Appendix E:
- Wihyat albi song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
“I swear by the happiness of my heart every evening and morning that I have never found someone who is happier than someone who achieved success in what he struggled for”.
Appendix F:
Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
“And I woke up on a revolution that is shaking the world and I found myself enjoying freedom of expression and choice in my country”
Appendix G:
Zekrayat song by Abdel Halim Hafez.
“Stand up…stand up…stand up and show yourself and be proud. Get up…get up…get up and enjoy freedom”.
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