American University in Cairo
New Cairo Campus
The Sullivan Lounge
Sun 19, 1pm – 2pm: Join a talk by David Rafferty, associate professor of practice and director of the Music Programme, on creative research regarding the mapping of human gesture to sound and real-time computer graphics in audiovisual performance. This talk explores movement mapped directly to sound and dynamic visual processes, drawing from collaborations with dancers and instrumentalists.
Thurs 23, 1pm - 2pm: Professor of Practice Ahdaf Soueif, one of our most important living Egyptian novelists, will discuss her groundbreaking, wide-ranging writing and activism. Professor Soueif’s brilliant bestselling novel The Map of Love, which appears on The American University in Cairo’s ECLT and core curricula, was nominated for the Booker Prize and translated into dozens of languages. Her other works of fiction and nonfiction include In the Eye of the Sun, I Think of You, Cairo: Memoir of a City Transformed and This is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature. Don’t miss this very special opportunity to ask Professor Soueif questions about the art and craft of writing.
History Department Conference Room 2144
Wed 22, 1pm – 2pm: “History Hash Outs—The School of Unlearning: Living Through History at AUC 1990-2026” Michael Reimer, professor of history at AUC’s Sultan Al-Qasimi Department of History, will give a talk that features reflections on the experience of teaching history at the university over the past 40 years, in the midst of momentous changes—depressing, liberating and confusing. He will analyze what he has learned and “unlearned” about historical pedagogy, institutional dynamics and intercultural politics—and himself.
Italian Cultural Institute
3 El-Sheikh El Marsafy St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2735 5423/2735 8791
Registration is now open for general Italian language courses (in-person/online). Duration: 40 hours | Period: (20 May – 9 July 2026) In-person: Zamalek & Downtown | Online: via Zoom | Teachers: native or bilingual Schedule: 3 days per week (set by the Institute) Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday/Saturday Time slots: 17:00–19:00 or 19:00–21:00 Fees: Course: 2700 EGP | Course + placement test: 3000 EGP Placement test: May 6 or 7, 2026 (Not required for beginners or current students) (Fees do not include books and study materials) Registration: 15- 29 April 2026 | Email registration is not accepted Payment is required before registration (non-refundable) — Upload payment receipt and ID copy In-person registration: through this link Online registration: through this link Payment methods in this link | Terms and conditions in this link For more information: [email protected]
Registration period for accelerated Italian Course for Children is from 11–25 April 2026 — May-June 2026 Session with Daria Mizza In-person Intensive Italian for children (Ages 8–12) | Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo (Zamalek) Every Saturday, 11am – 1:30pm May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 & June 6 | 6 lessons | 2.5 hours each | 15 hours total Format: Small groups, maximum interaction Your child already knows a little Italian — now let’s make it real! Build confidence, fluency, and a love for Italian in just 6 engaging sessions. Placement test online Monday 27 April, or TBD with the teacher. To ensure homogeneous groups, possible assignment to a later session. For further information and registration, write to: [email protected]
The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC)
1 Dr. Mahmoud Azmi St, Zamalek, Tel 02 2738 2522
Thurs 23, 6pm: “Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said” lecture by Professor of History at the University of Oslo Lucia Carminati.
Her first book, Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said. Labor Migration and the Making of the Suez Canal, 1859–1906, has won the 2024 Best Book in Urban History (excluding the U.S., Canada, and Europe) of the Urban History Association. Through moments of light and darkness, Port Said kept growing and puzzling observers: was it a showcase of modernity or a mere backwater? Was it truly a part of Egypt? And was -indeed is- it exceptional? This talk engages with these questions as it bridges the Carminati's book’s findings with some lines for future research.
Tahrir Cultural Centre (TCC)
AUC’s Tahrir Campus, Al-Sheikh Rihan St, off Tahrir Square, Tel 02 2615 2694/01280009077
Oriental Hall
Sat 18, 6pm – 8pm: The Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations is hosting a conversation about Palestinian prison literature featuring writers Basem Khandaqji and Nasser Abu Srour, both recently released from decades in prison. Khandaqji is the recipient of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF, 2024) for his novel A Mask, the Color of the Sky, and Abu Srour was awarded the prize for Arabic Literature by the Institut du monde arabe in 2025 for The Tale of a Wall: Reflections on Hope and Freedom. The conversation will be moderated by Dina Heshmat, Associate Professor of Arabic literature.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Short link: