The American University in Cairo (AUC), founded in the aftermath of World War I in 1919, has over the years seen monarchs and military men come and go across Egypt's political stage and stood witness to the Arab Spring and 2011 revolution as it unfolded outside its gates on Tahrir Square. This year, the institution, with a global ranking of 420th by QS Top Universities, celebrated its 100th year by inaugurating the Tahrir Cultural Center (TCC) on the site of its original campus in downtown Cairo, where its first graduating class of 28 students received their diplomas in 1923.
One of the first exhibitions presented at the TCC, which opened in February, was “Bint al-Nil/Daughter of the Nile,” featuring paintings by Sherin Guirguis, an Egyptian American artist paying homage to the Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik. The choice of a feminist-focused exhibition seems apt for a university that admitted women in 1928, years ahead of many universities worldwide.