We asked AUCians for their favorite books, movies, recipes and Cairo staycation recommendations for the holiday season. Here’s what they said.

Top Holiday Movies

Home Alone 1 and 2

In Home Alone, Kevin McCallister is accidentally left behind when his family jets off for the holidays, and he transforms into a pint-sized action hero to defend his house from two bumbling burglars. In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Kevin takes his knack for chaos to the Big Apple, battling the same crooks in a toy store showdown while living every kid’s dream of a luxury hotel stay. It’s slapstick comedy meets holiday heartwarming feels!

The Holiday

Two women, fed up with their love lives, swap homes for the holidays—L.A. glam meets English countryside charm! Iris finds her confidence (and maybe love) with a sweet composer, while Amanda falls for a dashing widower with an adorable accent. It’s a festive reminder that sometimes, a change of scenery is all you need for a fresh start.

Klaus

In this magical, snowy tale, a selfish postman is sent to a remote village, where he befriends a mysterious toymaker named Klaus. Together, they bring joy to a dreary town and accidentally invent Christmas as we know it. With stunning animation and a big heart, it’s the perfect holiday hug.

The Polar Express 

All aboard the most magical train ride to the North Pole! A young boy rediscovers his belief in Santa through a whimsical journey filled with hot chocolate, dancing waiters and a heartfelt message about the spirit of Christmas. It’s a story that warms the heart and reminds us that seeing isn’t always believing.

The Grinch 

Whether he’s green and grumpy or digitally remastered, the Grinch is the ultimate holiday antihero with a soft spot for Christmas cheer. Living atop Mount Crumpit, he schemes to steal Christmas from Whoville but ends up learning that the holiday spirit can’t be stolen; it’s about love and togetherness. Bonus points for his adorable dog, Max!

White Christmas

This classic sparkles with old-school charm as two song-and-dance men team up with a sister act to save a Vermont inn. Between heartfelt moments and show stopping numbers, it’s a celebration of friendship, love and dreaming of snowy holidays. Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” will have you swooning every time.

Top Books of the Year

For the best from AUC, check out our Holiday Picks from AUC Press: Gifts for Book Readers. If your book craving is still going strong, here are your picks of the best books you read this year.

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
• Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
• Fledgling by Octavia Butler
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Then He Sent Prophets by Mohamed Seif El Nasr
• Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Zikrayat by Nayra Atiya
• Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
• Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia
• Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed
• It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Your Staycation Recommendations

• Go for a felucca ride on the Nile
• Eat at restaurants: Zia Amilia, Buoy, Tama, Salt of Earth, Taboula, Abou El Sid, Tawlet Yvonne, Andrea and Babel
• Watch a movie at Zawya or other cinemas
• Visit Sheikh Zayed
• Explore Khan el Khalili, Khayamiya Cloth Market and Cairo Flea Market
• Walk around Moez Street, Korba and Al Darb Al Ahmar neighborhood
• Climb the minaret at Bab Zuweila
• Visit the beautifully renovated mosques and other spaces on the main street
• Book tickets to a show at the Cairo Opera House
• Take a weekend trip to Alexandria or Fayoum
• Visit the Christmas bazaars, there is always music and great Christmas vibes! 
• Enjoy family festivities at HydeOut
• Go to Korba in the morning for a breakfast spot, sun soaking and a nice stroll after
• Go for breakfast and morning walks in Zamalek or Maadi

Your Special Holiday Eats

Your Recommendations: 

• Cookies & brownies
• Green bean casserole by Sally’s Baking Recipes
• Gingerbread people
• Pasta with pink creamy sauce
• Hot chocolate with chocolate shavings (melt dark chocolate on the stove and add milk)
• All things cinnamon 
• Mushroom & tomato soups

Your Recipes: 

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients: 

2 pounds sweet potatoes, 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 4 eggs (room temperature), 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (not mandatory), 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger, 8 ounces evaporated milk and two pie crusts

Instructions: 

Roast sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, place potatoes in, roast for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350, then continue roasting for an hour. (You can do this earlier in the day or even the night before.) When you’re ready to bake the pies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the skin and place the potatoes in the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the butter. Mix until incorporated, then add the sugar. Mix again, then add in the eggs, one at a time. Add the spices, vanilla and orange liqueur; mix thoroughly then add the evaporated milk. Once everything is combined, pour the filling into the two prepared pie shells and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, checking at the 45 minute mark for doneness. Allow to cool, and serve with whipped cream.

Oven-baked Sweet Potato with Crème Caramel 

Ingredients: 

2 large sweet potatoes, 2 tablespoons butter, cinnamon for flavor, 1 packet of crème caramel powder (follow package instructions), Milk (as specified on the package), Sugar (as required by the package).

Instructions:

Prepare the sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes, prick them with a fork, then place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until tender. Once baked, let them cool, then peel, add butter, cinnamon and mash until it’s a smooth texture, and set aside. Make the crème caramel: In a saucepan, heat the specified amount of milk according to the package instructions. Gradually add the crème caramel powder, stirring continuously until dissolved and slightly thickened. Combine: pour the crème mixture over the sweet potatoes batter and mix until all blended. Spread in a Pyrex, place in the oven for 25 minutes with top flame on. Let it cool, and drizzle the caramel sauce on top.

AUC partnered with the Global Liberal Arts Alliance (GLAA), a consortium of liberal arts universities, to offer our students an interactive cultural exchange experience through globally connected courses. Enrolled students will virtually engage in international, multicultural discussions on critical issues of our world alongside students in other classrooms around the world.

Through a selection process, faculty from AUC traveled to the American University in Bulgaria in the summer of 2024 to meet with global faculty partners in other GLAA universities and plan the activities of their joint courses. Connected courses on all campuses were held face to face, with virtual interactions on shared coursework with global student partners, to span five to seven weeks of the course. 

“This initiative supports our central goal of advancing the liberal arts learning outcomes through high-impact learning experiences that place our students at the center of academic discussions, bringing together students with multiple cultures and perspectives to grapple with complex issues that concern our societies today,” said Ghada Elshimi, dean of AUC’s Academy of Liberal Arts.

She added, “Students in these courses develop the skills to collaborate with [other] students from different backgrounds and reflect on their own values, identities and biases, as well as those of others. Transferable skills of global learning, deep listening, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork are among the important outcomes that students gain.”

“Students in these courses develop the skills to collaborate with [other] students from different backgrounds and reflect on their own values, identities and biases, as well as those of others."

Let’s take a look back at the courses that were offered this fall and hear from their faculty and students.

Courses Offered in Fall 2024

SCI 1930 Human Nutrition and Wellbeing (Lettuce Talk!) 

Taught by:
Lobna Mourad
AUC’s Department of Biology

Connected with:
Jennifer Johnson, Kenyon College
Gaybe Moore, Oberlin College 

This course connected with students at Kenyon and Oberlin colleges in Ohio. Students developed nutrition literacy, looking into global, food-related epidemic threats and the consumption of processed food from perspectives of different cultures and backgrounds. They discussed issues such as food politics, malnutrition and food waste.

"Never be afraid to have too many cooks in the kitchen.’”

Johnson appreciated the exchange of ideas and disciplinary perspectives on food with the other professors. “Meeting with my colleagues regularly to discuss our courses and students’ progress has been a highlight of my [work] this semester. Students tell me that they, too, value the relationships they’ve developed with peers from different universities. Some hope to keep these relationships going even after the course is over.” 

Though adapting to different time zones and working styles can be a challenge, Johnson says that it was absolutely worth the effort for herself and her students. “In spite of the anxiety and frustration she felt at times, one student described how much fun she’s had and how proud she is of her group’s final project. Her advice to others? ‘Never be afraid to have too many cooks in the kitchen.’”

"Students tell me that they, too, value the relationships they’ve developed with peers from different universities. Some hope to keep these relationships going even after the course is over.” 

While bridging three courses across different time zones was admittedly difficult, Moore said that “students were able to learn effective communication skills and integrate their classroom learning into real-world conversations about food, nutrition and public health.” 

The results of global collaboration in the students’ learning were “made evident in their final project, a series of Public Service Announcements that could be distributed either in the United States or Egypt to address health disparities and provide education on topics related to our courses.”

AUC freshman Zeina Swiedan appreciated the diverse interactions. “I have been exposed to new cultures and ideas, and learned the importance of respecting other cultures that might not be in line with mine," she said, describing the experience as a fun challenge that she would repeat without hesitation if given the chance.

AUC course instructor Lobna Mourad shared similar sentiments: "This collaborative experience has been incredibly enriching for both myself and my students. I am confident that we all gained valuable knowledge and skills. Moreover, I am grateful for the opportunity to build lasting friendships with my AUC peers and professors from the United States. I look forward to participating in future global course connections. "

AUC awarded Lebanese novelist Mohammed Tarazi the 2024 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for his novel Mīkrūfūn kātim Ṣawt (Muted Microphone). The award ceremony, which was held at the historic Ewart Memorial Hall on AUC’s Tahrir Square Campus, celebrated Tarazi’s literary achievement alongside prominent writers and cultural figures from across Egypt.

The winning novel was chosen by the members of the judging panel and selected from six shortlisted novels. 

“The jury selected Mīkrūfūn kātim Ṣawt (Muted Microphone) for the 2024 Naguib Mahfouz Award for its deep metaphor and imagery and powerful characters as well as its smooth narrative style," said Sarah Enany, chair of the judging panel, professor at Cairo University's English Department and winner of the Banipal Prize for Literary Translation. "Although it discusses Lebanon today, it emerges from the limits of its own setting in space and time to unveil a general human reality for those of us in contemporary society who live in cities that stifle souls and kill dreams.”

At the ceremony, Mohammed Tarazi expressed his appreciation for this recognition: "Perhaps it was this silence that struck a chord with the distinguished members of the committee, who chose to grant me the highest honor a writer can aspire to — a voice. This voice came in the form of a medal bearing the name of the great writer, Naguib Mahfouz, placing me among the remarkable creators recognized for their literary excellence and unwavering stand against hatred and tyranny.”

“The jury selected Mīkrūfūn kātim Ṣawt (Muted Microphone) for the 2024 Naguib Mahfouz Award for its deep metaphor and imagery and powerful characters as well as its smooth narrative style."

The judging panel was comprised of Kay Heikkinen, formerly at the University of Chicago, and winner of the Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation; Ahmed Taibaoui, winner of the Best Arabic Novel Prize at the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2023 and the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2021; Youssef Rakha, novelist, poet and essayist; and Maysa Zaki, literary and theatre critic with over 30 years of experience in the field.

Thomas Willshire, executive director of AUC Press, acknowledged the incredible efforts of the judging panel saying: “I must thank our panel of five judges of the Mahfouz Award Committee, that despite full calendars of their own they have spent the last year reading and reviewing the 181 submissions for the prize. These came from 18 countries across the Arab world. An embarrassment of riches that makes the selection of the six titles shortlisted for the prize, let alone the determination of a single winner, an achievement worthy of this celebration.”

Perhaps it was this silence that struck a chord with the distinguished members of the committee, who chose to grant me the highest honor a writer can aspire to — a voice. This voice came in the form of a medal bearing the name of the great writer, Naguib Mahfouz, placing me among the remarkable creators recognized for their literary excellence and unwavering stand against hatred and tyranny.”

Willshire added that the award ceremony also commemorates the 113th anniversary of the birth of Naguib Mahfouz Long before winning the Nobel Prize in 1988, he was already recognized as the towering figure of Arabic literature, the author of 34 novels, more than 350 short stories, dozens of screenplays and five plays over an extensive career that paralleled Egypt's history during the 20th century. In 1985, AUC Press began translating the works of Naguib Mahfouz into English. 

AUC Press has been the originating publisher of Naguib Mahfouz’s English-language editions for more than 30 years and has also been responsible for the licensing of some 600 foreign-language editions of the Nobel laureate’s works in more than 40 languages around the world since the author won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. With up to 60 new publications annually and more than 800 titles in print,  AUC Press is recognized as the region’s leading English-language publisher.

The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, established in 1996, recognizes the best contemporary novel published in Arabic in the past two years. In addition to a $5,000 cash prize, the winner receives a trophy and an English translation of their work, published under the renowned AUC Press fiction imprint, Hoopoe.

The winners of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature have included 11 women and 15 men; of these, there are 13 Egyptians, three Palestinians, two Algerians, two Lebanese, two Syrians, one Moroccan, one Iraqi, one Sudanese and one Saudi Arabian.

On December 8, the 53-year reign of the al-Assad family came to an end as rebel groups took over Syria. The Syrian civil war has been raging for almost 14 years, starting in 2011, and many experts viewed the regime collapse as a sudden shift in the conflict’s power dynamics. 

We spoke to AUC Professor Bahgat Korany to better understand the causes, impact and future of Syria following the fall of the al-Assad regime.  

Korany believes the speedy fall of al-Assad is significant in itself, demonstrating “our misconception of confusing the state’s fierceness with its strength. On the contrary, in this case, fierceness is much more a demonstration of the lack of legitimacy and acceptability, indeed of the state’s weakness.” 

Korany explained how al-Assad’s regime was mainly maintained through force, by counting on the Alawite minority and other groups through bribery, along with foreign support from Iran and Russia. “The decline of resources available at the disposal of the regime (lack of finance) or of its allies (increasing involvement of Russia in Ukraine and Iran devoting its main resources to conflict escalation with Israel) created serious economic problems for members of the Syrian army. Many simply abandoned the regime,” he said.

Yet while the fall of the regime was welcomed by many, Korany said that “the attainment of political stability for Syrians is not for tomorrow. There are too many militias and warlords dispersed in Syria’s different regions, many with their independent base among the population.” Mohammed al-Bashir has been named interim prime minister, and a new government is expected to materialize by the time his term ends on March 1, 2025. 

“Though Bashar’s fall was really overdue, hard times are still ahead for both Syria and the Arab world as a whole. But the real process toward an alternative, though time-consuming, is now starting.”

Still, Korany warns that “at a time when the need for national unity is crucial, Syria’s sociopolitical fragmentation will make coordination, consensus and coalition-building for a working national regime a real challenge.” He speculated that it will also take a long time for Syria to recover its position as an active regional power.

Another point of concern has been Israel’s encroachment onto the newly liberated Syrian territory. Since the regime’s collapse, the Israeli military has carried out more than 480 strikes in Syria, allegedly destroying the majority of the Syrian army’s assets while seizing Syrian territory, breaching the border for the first time in decades.

“At a time when the need for national unity is crucial, Syria’s sociopolitical fragmentation will make coordination, consensus and coalition-building for a working national regime a real challenge.” 

“The easy way Israel managed the destruction of Syria’s maritime/military infrastructure shows the new military hierarchy of the Middle East,” said Korany. “The ‘new Middle East’ will be essentially dominated by regional powers such as Turkey and especially Israel.”

Korany concluded, “Though Bashar’s fall was really overdue, hard times are still ahead for both Syria and the Arab world as a whole. But the real process toward an alternative, though time-consuming, is now starting.”

Did you know that sign language, like spoken language, is not universal? Egyptian Sign Language, the most commonly used type of sign language in Egypt, differs from other international sign languages. 

The universality of sign language is one of the misconceptions that a new workshop offered by the School of Continuing Education, Basics of Egyptian Sign Language, aims to address. The workshop equips participants with basic sign language skills, enabling them to communicate effectively with people who are deaf or hard of hearing, promoting inclusivity and accessibility.

Maged Habashy, director of the Languages Department at SCE, said, “This workshop can benefit anyone — AUC faculty, educators, healthcare professionals, customer service agents and more.” The workshop is currently training 180 customer service agents on sign language in collaboration with a French company running the Cairo Light Rail Transit between Cairo and the New Administrative Capital.

“The sign language workshop at AUC was a remarkable experience for me. It added a lot to my understanding of deaf culture and the needs of the deaf in communications.”

Offered in AUC Tahrir Square, the workshop kicks off by training participants to sign the Arabic alphabet and greetings, as well as vocabulary relating to family, professions, religion, governorates and countries. Participants also learn to sign adjectives that express different emotions, allowing them to maintain conversations with people who are deaf using complete sentences.

“The sign language workshop at AUC was a remarkable experience for me. It added a lot to my understanding of deaf culture and the needs of the deaf in communications,” said participant Wafaa Shoukry.

In addition to linguistic skills, the workshop highlights the culture of people who are deaf and addresses several misconceptions, including the notion that they are intellectually challenged or unable to participate in society. The first part of the workshop is dedicated to correcting such misunderstandings and exploring the need for sign language skills in the Egyptian community.

As interest grows, SCE plans to offer an advanced Egyptian Sign Language course in the future. Shoukry, who is excited to build on her skills in future sessions, said, “I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in learning sign language.”

The workshop is available on demand on the SCE website.

From developing a biosensor that identifies plant pathogens to detecting and tracking  environmental pollutants, AUC’s Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics research group is actively engaged in the field of plasmonic sensing, with applications in medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and food safety. 

“Plasmonic sensing is a technique used to detect very small changes in the vicinity of the sensor by shining light on a metal surface, like gold or silver,” said Hassan Azzazy, distinguished University professor of chemistry and head of the AUC research group. “Due to their high sensitivity, plasmonic sensors are favored for the detection of environmental toxins and disease biomarkers.”

Azzazy’s team is currently working on two main projects. The first seeks to develop a biosensor for the detection of plant pathogens, which affect plant productivity as well as threaten food security and global ecosystem sustainability, especially as plant disease outbreaks have become more frequent and widespread due to climate change. The second aims to detect and monitor environmental pollutants, which negatively impact living organisms and socioeconomic development.

“AUC students and researchers who pursue sensing projects will have access to expert knowledge and resources, in addition to training opportunities in sophisticated laboratories using the latest technology developed by partner institutions.”

Through the newly established Arab-German Plasmonic Sensing Network, AUC researchers are collaborating with a specialized group of scientists in the field from universities and research centers across the world, including Egypt, Germany, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Italy and France. The network’s first meeting was hosted at AUC this fall and featured 14 international speakers. 

At the meeting, several cutting-edge strategies based on plasmonic nanostructures were presented and discussed, including applications in bioanalytics; detection of infectious agents in humans, animals and plants; biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases; photodynamic therapy that combines light and medicine to kill cancer cells; and nanotubes for use as broad-spectrum antibacterials.

Originally established to strengthen collaboration among German and Arab researchers, the network now aims to become an international expert group in the field of plasmonic sensing. Its current cohort of scientists plans to develop technologies to address global challenges in the fields of health, food and environmental monitoring.

One of the network’s goals is to develop a low-cost, universal plasmonic sensing platform for the detection of a variety of targets that can be easily reproduced in many countries, especially those with limited resources. This will serve multiple purposes set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including good health, innovation and sustainable communities. 

“The network complements research activities at AUC due to its multidisciplinary nature,” said Azzazy, a founding member of the network. “AUC students and researchers who pursue sensing projects will have access to expert knowledge and resources, in addition to training opportunities in sophisticated laboratories using the latest technology developed by partner institutions.”