Message from the Chair
We are the home of various disciplines that relate to the rich and living cultural heritage of the Arab and Islamic worlds. We approach this living heritage through various avenues that are reflected in our four main specializations: Arabic Language and Literature, Islamic Art and Architecture, Islamic Studies and Middle East History. These approaches often intersect in both our research and teaching making ARIC a truly interdisciplinary department. We study the region and its culture through its written texts and material culture, through the lives of the people in the region as well as their ideas and the artefacts they left behind. Located in Cairo, Egypt, the “mother of the world”, and with the middle east region as our immediate context, we benefit from access to a wealth of sources: documentary, material, and cultural. Not only do our scholars get to work at some of the important libraries and archives, and visit historical monuments and sites, but they also get to meet and interact with many of the contemporary authors and intellectuals of the region.
ARIC is also unique by its remarkable community. Our faculty, students and staff are an eclectic mix of people from various parts of the world, joined together by their appreciation and dedication to learning more about the Arab and Islamic worlds. Here you will meet dedicated academics from Egypt and the Arab world but also from Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the United States. We also boast of an amazing group of faculty members who studied at some of the top universities in the world and who are well-recognized in their fields of research. Our alumni have gone on to pursue very divergent but interesting careers; ones that require critical thinking, analytical skills, good knowledge of the Arab and Islamic culture and a passion for the region. From academia, to teaching, diplomacy, public service, cultural and heritage management, cultural development, NGOs, journalism, translation and entrepreneurship ARIC graduates have gone to achieve remarkable feats.
As you peruse our pages, please feel free to drop us a line to ask any questions you may have, or - better yet - drop by on campus and visit us in person!
Associate Professor of Middle East History and Department Chair
Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations