Message from the Director

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American

Studies and Research (CASAR) at The American University in Cairo (AUC). At the center, we aspire to deepen the AUC community’s understanding of the United States and its relationship with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We aim to present a nuanced view of American involvement in the region. To do so, the center supports high-quality academic research. We engage in a wide variety of outreach and educational programs, including hosting colloquia and public lectures, thus making available a broad range of opportunities for the AUC community, and to highlight the usefulness of American studies to students of diverse interests and career intentions. The Arab Spring and the January 25 Revolution represent a new beginning for relations between Egypt and the world. These new circumstances offer an unprecedented opportunity for CASAR, with its mission of bridging cultures and fostering understanding, to play an active role in the debates and discussions that will inevitably arise in this critical moment.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud chose AUC to host an American studies center as part of an effort to encourage dialogue and reconciliation between the MENA region and the United States. It is my belief that American studies in the Arab world can be a fruitful site for bridging the gap between the East and the West through study and constructive engagement. I invite you to join me in this endeavor.

―Naila Hamdy

    CASAR Interim Director