If you’ve ever crammed for a final last minute and put on your favorite playlist to keep you focused, you’re not alone. But does listening to music while you work actually help your performance? Undergraduate students Yasmin Hamoud, Mariam Bourham and Mahmoud Malatawy’s project looked into this question, taking them all the way to Long Beach, California to present their work conducted as part of the Cognitive Psychology class taught by Jacquelyn Berry, assistant professor of psychology.  

Unique in its focus on bilingualism, Hamoud, Bourham’s and Malatawy’s study had three groups: the first listened to mid-tempo then fast-tempo music in Arabic, the second listened to mid-tempo and fast-tempo music in Russian, and the third  had no music at all. The participants, all of whom were Arabic and English speakers, completed both a logic-based task and a visual task while listening, and the students measured their performance and compared it with that of the other groups. They found that music negatively impacted performance irrespective of the type of task, the language, or the speed.

“In the past, there have been similar studies, but by focusing on English and Arabic bilinguals, we were able to contribute to an understudied part of the field,” Bourham says. 

What makes studying bilinguals specific? “Bilinguals have rather different brains,” explains Bourham. “For example, they have more inhibitory powers: If I'm speaking in English, I might have better abilities to inhibit the Arabic side of my brain, and vice versa.”

The students also enjoyed the practical side of their work. ““For me, the most fun part was watching the psychological effects of the experiment, not only whether the participants were able to complete the test, but just examining whether they were agitated, distracted or felt accomplished.”says Hamoud. 

Through their research, the students had the opportunity to present their findings at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Long Beach, California, with funding from a grant from the University.

“AUC really gave us the creative and academic freedom to research what we’re passionate about,” says Hamoud. “Being selected for the conference  was a very surreal moment because I have always wanted to be able to present my research abroad.” 

Their focus on bilingualism helped the students build community while at the conference. “Our poster actually gained a lot of traction, especially from bilinguals, which was really interesting,” says Bourham. “Many Arab Americans stopped at our poster, and we connected with a lot of other researchers through that. They really identified with our research, and I felt proud to be conveying an aspect of research that hasn’t really yet been covered.”

Mentoring and networking were also beneficial for the students. “There were a lot of professors at the conference from different disciplines, like architecture or chemistry, who would give us advice about how to continue our research. I felt really proud of the work we had done and demonstrating how interesting psychology can be,” says Hamoud.

Overall, the conference opened doors for the student to grow and develop both personally and professionally. “Through this experience, I got to explore the opportunities that AUC provides to people who want to present their research abroad,” Bourham says. “Afterward, we were invited to seek out additional conferences here in Cairo. Our initial opportunity had a domino effect, which had a huge impact on us.” 

A major transformation lies ahead for the AUC Library, which holds the largest English-language research collection in Egypt, with the help of a $2 million American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). After the upgrade, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, the AUC Library will include a digital exhibit corridor, active collaboration zones, new seating options, communal spaces, planters and a cafe. 

“This revamp will launch learning into the future, with design requirements that enable effective, next-generation, collaborative learning,” said Hoda Mostafa, director of AUC’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) and principal investigator of the USAID/ASHA Learning Transformation grant, alongside co-principal investigator Lamia Eid '88, ’92, dean of the University’s Libraries and Learning Technologies.

This ASHA grant is the latest of three awarded to CLT by USAID, totaling $3.7 million. The previous two funded the development of new learning spaces on both the New Cairo and Tahrir Square campuses: digitally empowered classrooms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) as well as the construction of additional hybrid learning spaces, a data visualization lab and dual delivery classrooms (2022). In Fall 2023, 11 of these classrooms were launched, where 92 faculty members are teaching more than 1,700 students across a variety of courses. 

“This revamp will launch learning into the future, with design requirements that enable effective, next-generation, collaborative learning." 

“By reimagining our learning spaces, we are creating a landscape that we hope will enable our goal of accelerating transformative teaching as well as active and engaged learning at AUC,” said Mostafa, who is the principal investigator for the three USAID-funded ASHAawards; AUC Learning Landscape Transformation. “The impact of the three awards extends to our entire AUC community, where thousands of our students, faculty and staff will experience futuristic, formal and informal, collaborative learning spaces.”

Read more about these projects here.

Spanning 45 years, AUC’s partnership with USAID/ASHA has fostered innovation, scientific research, education and economic development in the Egyptian community, withapproximately $35 million awarded grants to date. 

The three latest awards are an additional part of the legacy of Aziza Ellozy ’64, ’67, adviser to the provost for transformative learning and teaching at AUC who previously served as founding director of CLT. Ellozy has spearheaded innovative teaching and learning initiatives at the University for more than 20 years.

Whether an expression of self, reclamation of identity or purely aesthetic, Ramy Aly, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Egyptology, looks to contemporary Egyptian hair culture to give insight into how race functions on a social level in Egypt.

Soon after Aly came to Egypt in 2013, he had his hair loc’d. Locs, an African hair style that involves coiling, braiding, interlocking and palm-rolling hair to create larger strands that merge together over time, have a long history across Africa and particularly in Ancient Egypt. However, as a contemporary Egyptian, Aly’s relationship with loc’d hair was not straightforward. His soon-to-be loctician in London Mellissa Blake wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. “‘You’re quite Caucasian, but what’s going on with your hair?’ Her surprise brought my attention to the notion that hair care is raced, very explicitly.”

To read the full article, click here.

Sherif Kamel ’88, ’90. ‘13, dean of AUC’s School of Business, has been elected board chair of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for the 2024-2025 academic year, effective July 1, 2024. 

"Being elected as chair of the AACSB Board of Directors is not just a personal honor but also a testament to the vital role that AUC and similar institutions play in shaping the future of global business education," said Kamel. "I am committed to leveraging this opportunity to further AACSB's mission of fostering engagement, accelerating innovation and amplifying impact in business education."

Poised to guide AACSB during a critical phase in its evolution, Kamel plans to prioritize digital transformation in education, enhance global collaboration, and promote sustainable and inclusive growth. His extensive involvement in advisory and governance roles, including a recent appointment to the board of the Central Bank of Egypt, underscores his profound impact on the business education landscape.

"Being elected as chair of the AACSB Board of Directors is not just a personal honor but also a testament to the vital role that AUC and similar institutions play in shaping the future of global business education."

Kamel's roles as vice chair and chair-elect of the AACSB board and leadership of its Innovation Committee in 2023 set the stage for his current position as chair. Under his tenure as dean of AUC’s School of Business, the institution achieved the prestigious triple-crown accreditation and has been consistently recognized among the top business schools globally.  

Established in 1916, AACSB is the world's largest business education alliance. It connects educators, learners and business professionals on an international scale to foster engagement, accelerate innovation and amplify impact in business education, aiming for a better society.  

Advisory Trustee Elias Hebeka, who served AUC for more than two decades, has passed away. 

Hebeka was first elected to AUC’s Board of Trustees in 1990. He and his wife Barbara supported AUC on several fronts, including establishing an endowed scholarship fund for students beginning in 1986 and naming the Dr. and Mrs. Elias Hebeka Innovation Hub –– the first structure seen by visitors to AUC New Cairo. Hebeka was also chair of the Facilities Committee when AUC decided to buy land for its move to the New Cairo campus. 

“When I first joined the Board, I admired Elias’s keen and perceptive intellect as chair of the Finance Committee and his nuanced understanding of AUC,” said AUC Trustee Paul Bartlett. “My admiration deepened as he helped teach me how the University operated, especially during the challenges of fundraising, construction and transition to the new campus.” 

“When working with others, he always exhibited admirable grace and professionalism, and constantly demonstrated his steadfast devotion to AUC."

Hebeka assumed several leadership roles during his time with the Board of Trustees, including vice chair of the Board, chair of the Investment and Facilities committees in the 1990s, and chair of the Finance Committee in the early 2000s. He was also an active participant in several task forces, such as AUC’s Relocation Committee, the AUC Press Study, and the USAID Asset Allocation Study. Hebeka transitioned to an advisory role in 2008.

“When working with others, he always exhibited admirable grace and professionalism, and constantly demonstrated his steadfast devotion to AUC,” said Bartlett, who described Hebeka as extremely welcoming, very knowledgeable and a huge advocate of AUC.  

Born in 1936, Hebeka grew up in Cairo. He received his BSc from Cairo University and MSc and PhD in microbiology from Rutgers University. Upon graduation, he served as an assistant professor at Cairo University and the American University of Beirut. When he and Barbara returned to Cairo, Barbara taught at AUC’s English Language Institute. In the mid-1960s he returned to the United States, embarking on a a successful corporate career, first at Warner Lambert and later as Revlon’s president for worldwide operations.

Hebeka is survived by his wife, Barbara, and his sons, Mark and Michael, and their families. In addition to his support of AUC, he dedicated himself to the Antiochian Orthodox Church.