a tourist taking a photo inside the egyptian museum

Welcome to the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology (SEA)

The department aims to provide quality education to students from Egypt and the world and to engage in scholarly research and publication relevant to the department’s disciplines and to Egypt, the wider Arab World, and beyond. It also strives to provide appropriate community service, participation in development programs and activities, and efforts toward the preservation of cultural heritage.

Grounded in the traditions of the liberal arts and sciences, the department’s programs contribute to the development of critical thinking, reflect the changing conditions of the world, foster a global perspective and respect for human diversity, enhance a holistic understanding of peoples and their societies and cultures, and assist in the development of socially-aware and culturally-sensitive citizens.


More About SEA

SEA News

AUC Faculty Munira Khayyat Publishes Book on War in South Lebanon

In her new book, A Landscape of War: Ecologies of Resistance and Survival in South Lebanon, Assistant Professor Munira Khayyat depicts conflict as a setting where life must carry on.

King Tut Image

Mysteries of the Boy King

October 18, 2022
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Picture of Ramy Aly and his book

A Fresh Point of View on Middle Eastern Diasporas With AUC’s Ramy Aly

October 4, 2022
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The mummy Salima Ikram is investigating

Ancient Afflictions: Salima Ikram Investigates Mummy Who Suffered From Oldest Documented Stroke

August 9, 2022
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Mariam Ayad

Reading Into the Past: Mariam Ayad's Research on Coptic Letters Sheds Light on Women in Byzantine Egypt

June 7, 2022
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Cairo

Reimagining Cairo: AUC Alum, Student Win 3rd Worldwide in 2022 Berkeley Prize Competition for Design Excellence

May 24, 2022
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Salima Ikram

AUC's Salima Ikram Involved in Major Mummy Finding That May Alter History

October 27, 2021
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st

Changing Perspectives: Anthropology's Unique Life Lessons

May 26, 2021
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The Study of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology

Manuel Schwab, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology, discusses how these three disciplines connect to life's bigger questions.

Graduate Programs

 

 

The mummy Salima Ikram is investigating

Egyptology-Coptology: MA

AUC’s Egyptology-Coptology program provides students with a unique opportunity to visit sites and museums and interact directly with Egypt’s ancient heritage. Students also gain insight and experience from leading international experts in Cairo on a wide range of topics, from language and religion to art, architecture, the social structure of the ancient Egyptians, and heritage issues
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Alexandria Beach

Sociology - Anthropology: MA and Graduate Diploma

Located at the heart of the Middle East, the faculty and students engage critically with the region and the representation of its people, cultures, and politics. The program seeks to provide a thorough foundation in the principles of Sociology and Anthropology while also developing critical skills for a wide range of real-world professional situations. It offers a unique opportunity for students to conduct original research amidst an intellectually stimulating environment.
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Undergraduate Programs 

Majors

 

 

International Day

Anthropology: BA

Anthropology offers interpretations of all aspects of human life. Cultural anthropology, one of the four traditional subfields of the discipline, seeks to understand human life-worlds in all their variation across time and space using people’s lived experiences, practices, ideas, and explanations as a principal source of knowledge about the world.
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a tourist taking a photo inside the egyptian museum

Egyptology: BA

Egyptology is the scientific study of ancient Egypt's history and culture, from the earliest times to the Arab conquest, a time span of some 4,600 years. The program covers all aspects of ancient Egyptian civilization, from language and religion to art, architecture, social structure, and heritage management, and provides the first-hand experience of ancient monuments and sites.
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Sociology Classroom

Sociology: BA

Sociology is the systematic study of society with particular attention to social interaction and the social making of humans. It investigates the forces that hold society together and threaten to pull it apart by analyzing interaction at every level, from micro-group interaction to competition of nation-states.
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Minors

 

 

Alexandria

Anthropology Minor

The minor in anthropology provides students with a basic knowledge of anthropological methods and theory from a cross-cultural perspective on selected aspects of the world’s cultures and societies. 
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Community Based Learning Courses

Community Development and Organizing Minor

The minor in Community Development provides students with theoretical and practical knowledge that enhances their understanding and vision of a strong civil society, one that is engaged and participatory.
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facade of a church

Coptic Study Minor

The minor in Coptic Studies provides students with an introduction to the Coptic period as it follows on from the Pharaonic period and into the Islamic period. This interdisciplinary program, drawing primarily from the Egyptology and Arabic Studies, will cover religion, art, literature, social and political history from the early days until the present.
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Silhouette of people walking in a line with the sky illuminated behind them

Development Studies Minor

The purpose of the development studies minor is to offer students an introduction to the various social, political, economic, and cultural factors related to the process of development. The approach is interdisciplinary and comparative, with a primary emphasis on development-related issues.
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human skeleton

Egyptology Minor

Egyptology is the science and study of Ancient Egypt, including the different aspects of its material and nonmaterial culture.
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crowded street

Sociology Minor

The minor in sociology introduces students to the central concepts and methods of the field. Emphasis is on the theoretical perspectives of sociology in studying society, culture, and the individual.
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Faculty

Ian

Ian
Morrison

Chair, Department of Sociology, Egyptology, and Anthropology. Principal Investigator, Extimacies: Critical Theory from the Global South The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Helen
Rizzo

Associate Professor and Sociology Unit Head
Ramy

Ramy
Aly

Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Anthropology Unit Head
Salima Ikram Faculty Professor

Salima
Ikram

Distinguished University Professor

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Publications

Kingship, Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt

Kingship, Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt: from the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom

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book cover

A History of World Egyptology

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Contact Us

AUC New Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O.BOX 74, New Cairo 11835, Egypt

Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Room 2101, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hall (HUSS)

t +20.2.2615.1879 │sea@aucegypt.edu