By Sawsan Mardini and John Agbonifo

　

　

Sawsan Mardini is the coordinator of the International Graduate Program of the Office of Graduate Studies and Research at The American University in Cairo (AUC). John Agbonifo is a graduate student in the Department of Political Science and a recipient of the African Graduate Fellowship at AUC.

　

　The AUC Annual Research Conference was first held in 1993 in order to provide a forum for AUC faculty members and selected graduate students to discuss research issues of national and international interest. The conference also helps to strengthen relationships between the university and other organizations and institutions in the region by encouraging multi-institutional collaboration. AUC faculty members are invited to present. or to propose as topics for conference panel discussions, papers concerning their recent research or work in progress. Presentations that analyze the current status of research and education in order to make recommendations for the future are particularly welcome. The conference usually includes eight sessions and a number of panel discussions. The Annual AUC Research Conferences are sponsored by the Office of the Provost and are organized by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research under the direction of the Research Advisory Council. Keynote addresses at the conferences have been presented by such scholars as the prominent thinker Dr. Milad Hanna (6th Conference); Mr. Edmund J. Cain, the resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (7th Conference); and Dr. Raafat Radwan, chairman of the Information Decisions Support Center (this year's conference).

　

　

　

　The first Sasakawa Symposium, which is now associated with the AUC Annual Research Conference, took place in 1994. It initially was an independent event that gave opportunities to AUC's SYLFE fellows to present papers on issues relating to the international political arena. The topics of such papers have included "The Challenges of the Middle East" (1995), "International Intervention in the Middle East" (1996), and "Fifty Years of the Palestinian Question" (1998). It was not until 1999 that the Sasakawa Symposium became an integral part of AUC's Annual Research Conference. This move allowed SYLFF fellows to present their papers to a larger audience.

　It has become a tradition for Sasakawa Symposium fellows to choose a general topic that matches the theme of the associated AUC Research Conference. The title of the 2001 Conference was "Information Technology in Egypt: Challenges and Impact." As stated by Dr. El Akabawy, associate vice-president for computing, "While implementing information technology in its operations, AUC will be further infusing information technology in its curriculum and teaching." SYLFF fellows rose to the challenge of the theme of the 2001 conference by selecting the following as the topic for the Sasakawa Symposium: "Exploring New Frontiers Created by Information Technology."

　Joshua Stacher, a graduate student in political science, addressed the issue of IT development in Egypt. He contended that development through technology is not a novelty in Egypt, inasmuch as it had been a cardinal element of that nation's modernization program. He also stated that although IT might facilitate development in Egypt, it is not a sufficient causal factor to ensure such development.

　Rehab El-Kobtan, a graduate student in English literature and comparative literature, gave a presentation that combined academic seriousness and sentiments associated with social interactions mediated by the Internet. Her paper focused on electronic chatting and the questions that such a phenomenon raises in the Egyptian cultural milieu vis a vis Western liberalism.

　Kevin de Jesus, a graduate student in sociology and anthropology, pointed out how IT educational services at both the Sakakini and St. Andrew's Churches in Cairo influenced the multi-literacy capacity of refugee youths in Egypt.

　Sean Riordan, a graduate student in Arabic studies, brought an exciting evening to a climax with a presentation entitled "Virtuosity in Islamic Education: The Harf Computer Programs." He described the Harf innovations not only as an indicator of globalization, but also as indicating an easing of the traditional opposition between the technologically advanced West and the Middle East.

　Special thanks go to the members of the SYLFF Steering Committee who reviewed and discussed the papers with the fellows well before the presentations. The guidance of the faculty members on the committee has improved the quality of the fellows' presentations. If a paper does not meet the symposium standards, it may not be presented at the event.

　Liberal education at AUC is a two-way learning process. One major role of the SYLFF sessions is to complement the output of faculty members. The resulting exchanges between faculty members and students have enhanced the academic climate of free discourse on the campus.

　

　

　On the campus, the sessions have served as models leading to the inauguration of the Workin-Progress Forums of the Graduate Students' Association. During the past academic year, Workin-Progress Forums have been held every month, in order to allow graduate students who are writing a thesis or paper for a conference to present their work and have it discussed by their colleagues in the presence of a faculty member. One long-term impact of these sessions might be that our undergraduate students will be motivated to aspire to the level of excellence required at such a meeting.

　The SYLFF sessions of the annual AUC conferences have had a major and positive impact on the presenters. The forums engender in fellows the courage, self-confidence, and team spirit required of interdisciplinary scholarship. They serve as a stimulating mechanism that enables fellows to be research-oriented, instills in them a sense of competency, and keeps them focused on the leadership role that is expected of them. Due to this sort of in-house training, several of our graduate students, SYLFF fellows in particular, have applied for and participated in international conferences worldwide. This training has also encouraged eligible graduate students from all disciplines to take advantage of the AUC graduate-student conference grants program that was started three years ago. Actually, a SYLFF fellow was the first person to receive such a grant. During 1999, Ms. Amina El Bendary, a SYLFF fellow during 1996-98, was awarded a conference grant. She presented a paper and won the prize for the best graduate-student paper in a competition organized by Middle East Medievalists at the Mamluk Studies Review Conference held in Chicago early in December 1998. The award she received is from the Middle East Studies Association in the United States.