Arab and Islamic Civilizations: The City of Cairo

Prior to studying abroad at AUC, a recent graduate who too came to Egypt last Fall semester encouraged me to take courses that were different from Gettysburg, or to just take courses that I found interesting. When I came across The City of Cairo, I assumed by the title I would be learning about Cairo’s art history. Though I had no experience in architecture or art history, I still decided to take it because it seemed interesting to me.

This course would end up being one of my favorite courses this semester. I not only learned about the basics of architecture and how to analyze a building floor plan. But as part of the course, I learned about the urban heritage of the city of Cairo by going to several filed trips to different neighborhoods, such as Wust al-Balad (Downtown Cairo) and old quarters of Cairo.

In the first image, this is a view of The Mosque of Ibn Tulun (�

سجد إبن طولون). It was built in Al-Fustat, and regarded as one of the oldest mosques in Cairo, Egypt. The second image is the inside of the Al-Mutawakkii’s Nilometer, it was an ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile. I learned so much about the architectural history while being here. It was an amazing course and I hope other students coming to AUC to study abroad get the opportunity to take it as well!