Spinoza on the Relationship between the Mind, Body, and Technology

By: Hanan Khayal, Nourhan Tomoum and Salma Rizk

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CAIRO, Egypt - The Department of Philosophy and the Philosophy Club held the lecture “Spinoza, the Mind/Body, and Technology” by Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch, associate professor of Philosophy and Dean of HUSS, who discussed Benedict Spinoza’s conception of the relationship between the mind, body, and technology.

         Bowditch began the lecture by giving a brief biography of Spinoza. Benedict Spinoza was a prominent philosopher of the 17th century whose ideas are still popular today. He then discussed some of Spinoza’s speculations. “Human beings are modes of God and nature who strive to expand their power of being," said Bowditch. He explained how passion could literally make a person less powerful physically. 

         Spinoza’s ideas revolve around the fact that there’s only one substance: the universe, which God created, and therefore, everything revolves around the idea of “God.” The lecturer continued to explain the relationship between the mind and body. He gave the example of how the creation of something like the printing press allowed for massive spread of books like Luther and Erasmus. Such books expanded the human minds and suggested new ways of thinking. Also, “The internet is simultaneously a physical and mental entity,” Bowditch emphasized.

         At the end of the lecture, Bowditch related Spinoza's classic ideas to modern times. He explained how technology played an vital role in our mental and physical lives. In the interview, when asked about further notes on Spinoza, Bowditch said, “Spinoza is a useful text, a useful metaphysical picture, saying what's going on.”

         The lecture was hosted in The American University in Cairo last Sunday in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hall. Steffen Stelzer, former chair of the Department of Philosophy, members of the Philosophy Club, students, and faculty members also attended the lecture. 

The Object-Oriented Approach to Philosophy

By: Sarah Hassan, Hania Elkady and Mayar Maged

Cairo, Egypt - The American University in Cairo hosted a lecture on “Object-Oriented Method in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Art and Architecture” on Sunday, March 30, where Dr. Graham Harman introduced his new approach in philosophy, discussing the various criticisms posted against his view.

Harman initiated the event by discussing the term object-oriented, as he assumed the audience had no background about the method. Apparently, the term is driven from computer science in which he borrowed from the object-oriented programming without having prior knowledge in the field.

Although he uses many terminologies, Harman stuck with naming the term “object-oriented” because he realized that people became more familiar with it.

Harman defined what an object is, and how its definition varies from ordinary people to the one that he believes in. According to him, an object for most people tends to be limited to midsize durable things and does not include ideas, events and large collections of objects like armies, countries or universities.

Despite what others perceive, he believes that the definition of an object is broader. An object contains all of those cartoon characters like squares or circles. It is also anything that has a certain individual consistency to it as well as anything that cannot be reduced either to its component piece or to its effects.

“I think his view goes against most famous ones and many people attack him on the Internet. I was eager to hear what he has to say about this,” Mathew Crippen, philosophy professor, said as he was commenting on the fact that Harman has a lot of opponents against his object-oriented approach to philosophy.

When asked what he has to say about the criticism held against him, Harman replied, “criticism can be a good sign, especially if you are being criticized for opposite reasons. Some people say I’m too based on science, some people say I don’t take science seriously enough. It’s a good sign that both of them are missing the point.”

Study Abroad in Denmark: Journalism Students Share their Experience

By Youmna Hashem, Hana Koueider and Rowaida Khidre. 

CAIRO, Egypt – On Sunday, three journalism students at the American University in Cairo shared their Danish study abroad experience with their peers and faculty. The panel discussion was an hour long and took place in the Mary Cross Hall.

     Ola Noureldin, Nour El Afandi and Yara Enany took turns introducing themselves and telling the audience about their experiences in a land foreign to them. They spoke candidly about their fall 2013 semester abroad at the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark.

     Nour, the first to take the floor, explained that Aarhus, the city in which the three young women stayed, is a student city that is rich in cultural and ethnic diversity. “You’re going to become open minded,” she said. “You’re going to deal with people who are completely different to you,” Nour added. She went on to say that, although she felt homesick at first, she adapted quickly and began enjoying everything her courses had to offer.

     Yara, the first graduate student to go on this study abroad programme, spoke about the challenges she faced during registration. She explained that, although she initially had some issues finding accredited courses for her master's degree, it worked out to be a “brilliant experience.” Being the only graduate student, Yara’s time at DSMJ was slightly different to her undergraduate counterparts. She was given the opportunity to carry out “risk reporting” in collaboration with the United Nations and the EU.

     Ola, a senior, spoke about the teaching approach adopted by her professors at DSMJ. “The teachers don’t spoon feed you the information. They want you to figure out the right way on your own,” she said. She explained that the main difference between education there and education at AUC was the practical application of knowledge. In a post-interview, Ola said she would "advise (students) interested in study abroad to go for it. It's very enriching."

     We spoke with audience member Malak Assad, a journalism student planning on going to DMSJ next fall. When asked what her overall impression was, Malak said, "I see how much (the students) grew there... I'm really looking forward to seeing it."

Student Produced Egyptian Media Literacy Campaigns

Student Produced Egyptian Media Literacy Campaigns

This presentation was a part of the AMICAL Multimedia Workshop (#AMICALmw14) that took place in Prishtina, Kosovo on March 21-21, 2014.

A Student Produced Media Literacy Campaign by kim fox on Prezi

Here is the list of student produced media literacy campaigns that were created as the final project for JRMC 200 mass communication in fall 2013 at The American University in Cairo (AUC):

See Through the Suit Campaign

Think For Yourself Campaign

Media and Gender Stereotypes

Against Media Bias in Egypt

Say No to Film Piracy

End to Cyberbullying

Role Modeling

It's a Crime (Film Piracy)

How Did the Arab Spring Shift from a Series of Uprisings to Polarization?

By Karima Ragab, Nushka Gatwary and Youmna El Sherbiny

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CAIRO, Egypt- The Middle East Studies Center welcomed journalist and political analyst Issandr El Amrani to discuss the shift of the Arab Spring from the contagion of revolution to the contagion of polarization specifically in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. 

        The lecture was hosted in The American University in Cairo last Wednesday in the Alsaud Hall. Sherene Seikaly, director of the Middle East Studies Center, assistant professor Adam Talib as well as other students, staff and faculty members attended the lecture.

        El Amrani started off his lecture by explaining how his personal experiences and insights enabled him to cover the succession of events taking place in the Middle East clarifying his preference in using the term “Arab Uprisings” instead of “Arab Spring.” “What happened in Tunisia didn’t stay in Tunisia and what happened in Egypt didn’t stay in Egypt," said El Amrani confirming that all countries are indirectly affected by one another.

        Although there was a contagion of revolution that was initiated by Tunisia in 2011, there were many preconditions that led to these waves of protests not only regionally, but domestically. For example, the issue of “tawreeth” which, in Egypt’s case, meant the succession of Gamal Mubarak as president following the footsteps of Hosny Mubarak.

       The main polarization in the three countries lies between the Islamists, liberals and members of the former regime. There are many differences between those who are called secularists and Islamists; for instance, the dilemma of the judicial system, the role of women and the interference of religion with the public life. Accordingly, in Egypt’s case, the issue of having an Islamic or non- Islamic regime is highly questioned, as Egypt is known for having a big non-Islamists minority.

       However, “Far from being an ideological battle. It is also a battle of control of resources," El Amrani said. The three countries’ major concern is shifting to corporatism. For example, Libya’s resource of oil which, clarifies why the Arab world perceives Libya as a powerful country.

AUC Financial Forum: News Report

By: Nehal El-Sayed

         A financial forum was held on Sunday at The American University in Cairo (AUC) to discuss the budget deficit problem that faces the university at the 2013/2014 fiscal year. 

The following report is a summary of the forum in which the main points were addressed. It talks about the purpose of the forum, the reasons behind the problem and the suggested options to overcome this deficit. The forum was held to raise awareness about the issue among AUC community. AUC President Lisa Anderson and Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance Brian MacDougall presented and discussed the different aspects of the problem and listened to the audience's suggestions. 

         This is the reaction piece in which the audience reflects on the forum and give further comments and raise concerns about the issue. It has post interviews conducted after the forum by a colleague student. The interviewees expressed their thoughts about the issue. One of the main concerns that was raised was holding the forum in English while some members of the audience do not operate in English at the university. Another concern was that how the plans would affect the members of the AUC community. 

Credit: Interviews conducted by Farah Moustafa 

AUC Forum Aims to Save University from $9.7 million Deficit

By Emmy Sarkes, Shahenda Karim, Karima Aly and Malak Asaad.

CAIRO, Egypt- In a forum discussing the $9.7 million forecast budget deficit for the remainder of the 2013-2014 fiscal year (FY), Executive Vice President for Administration and Finance Brian MacDougall presented different strategies to over come the deficit.

The lecture was hosted at The American University in Cairo (AUC) in the Mohamed Shafik Gabr Lecture Hall last Sunday. President Lisa Anderson, MacDougall, as well as students, staff and faculty members attended the forum.

As MacDougall reviewed different strategies in order to act on the current forecast budget deficit, he mentioned which would have a major impact on faculty and staff. The proposed suggestions include salary reductions, hiring, benefits and overtime policies.

Regarding faculty salaries and benefits, MacDougall says, “We know that the part time faculty budget linked to income generating centers will be underspent,” adding that most of the budget is used for salaries and benefits and that under spending on faculty by $1.2 million and having a $200,000 average relates to the positive in terms of staff salaries and benefits.

MacDougall also mentioned that there might be a hiring freeze for both staff and faculty. “Putting a large limit on which positions will be filled will save the university millions of dollars,” he says. 

Another strategy suggested by MacDougall is reducing staff through non-renewal contracts. This does not mean letting go of staff members in the near future, but when looking at all the options, MacDougall says: “This is clearly something we should consider.”

Salary increases could also be postponed in order to decrease expenses. The university may not be able to make another commitment that it cannot support or have the ability to fund.

MacDougall added that the university spends over $2 million a year on overtime. He suggested that this amount of money could be compromised if overtime is reduced to only when absolutely necessary. This means spreading all the unessential workload throughout separate days rather than compressing all the work in just one day.

Different approaches will be used to overcome this budget deficit. Since the university had not anticipated this drawback and changes in policies are not definite yet, discussions will be held and the board of trustees will be open to listen to different opinions on how to get through this obstacle. 
         Another forum was held in Arabic today, Tuesday November 26, for those who had difficulties understanding the previous one in English.