Partnerships
The main building of Cairo University, founded in 1908 Source: Stephan Toepper
Freie Universität maintains the following partnerships with universities and research centers in Egypt:
University Partnerships
Ain Shams University
In cooperation with the Center of Excellence in Studies and Research in German and Arabic as Foreign Languages (EZ DAAF), the Cairo Office of Freie Universität offers Arabic Courses in Cairo for students of Middle Eastern studies. On June 3-4, 2011, the EZ DAAF organized the workshop “German and Arabic as Foreign Languages” in which representatives of Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Marbug participated and identified further possibilities for cooperation in studies and teaching.
The American University in Cairo
In September 2010, the American University in Cairo and Freie Universität Berlin established a student exchange program, which allows FU students to study at AUC (and vice versa) for one or two semesters. The application deadline for the exchange is every year in January. For details, please refer to this website (German). Furthermore, both universities cooperate in teaching and research. In August 2010, AUC hosted the summer school program “Gender Inequalities, Sexuality and the State.” In May 2011, the Cairo Office of FU and the American University in Cairo jointly organized the international summer symposium “"From Revolution to Transformation: Egypt 2011/Germany 1989."
Cairo University
In February 2009, Freie Universität Berlin and Cairo University, one of the largest and most prestigious universities of Egypt, sealed their deepening cooperation with a Memorandum of Understanding. The Egyptian Wafedin scholarship program offers FU students one or two semesters as an auditor at an Egyptian university. A particularly popular department for this is the Faculty of Economics and Political Science of Cairo University.
In 2009/10, Prof. Dr. Cilja Harders (Center for Middle Eastern Politics, FU-Berlin) and Prof. Dr. Ola El-Khawaga (Head of the Master program Euro-Mediterranean Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University) organized, for the first time, a bi-national course entitled "Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Institutions, Concepts and Implementation". The course was comprised of four modules and a final report can be found here (.pdf).
In May 2011, the Faculty of Arts of Cairo University and the Seminar of Arabic Studies of FU Berlin jointly organized a German-Arabic workshop, in which research projects in the field of Arabic Studies were presented and discussed.
German Organizations in Cairo
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
The Liaison Office of Freie Universität in Cairo has been established in close cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The DAAD promotes German universities abroad through the exchange of students and scholars and by international programs and projects. DAAD's branch office in Cairo celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2010. Freie Universität is the first German university to set up office within the premisses of DAAD, beside the Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) of Philipps-Universität Marburg.
German Archaeological Institute (DAI)
Founded in 1907, the Deutsche Institut für ägyptische Altertumskunde became affiliated with the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in 1929. Since 1957 the department is situated in a villa in Cairo-Zamalek. The area of research of the department encompasses more than 8,000 years of history ranging from the oldest prehistoric pharaonic culture to the Islamic period. In cooperation with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, the Institute is engaged in various projects as well as in the documentation, scientific processing, publishing, and preservation of monuments and selected works of art in various museums in Egypt.
In cooperation with DAAD and DAI, the Liaison Office of Freie Universität organizes the lecture series “Studies on Egypt and the Middle East in Berlin.”
German Embassy in Cairo
On the website of the German Embassy in Cairo, you will find information on questions of immigration to Egypt as well as visa requirements for the Federal Republic of Germany. Furthermore, the German Embassy provides information on numerous events on its Facebook page.
Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB)
The Orient-Institut Beirut supports historical and contemporary research on the Middle East and the Arab world. Research activity at the institute contains a broad spectrum of approaches and methods current in humanities and social sciences. It accommodates various research interests and furthers the articulation of diverse perspectives. The Orient-Institut is committed to supporting individual research.The institute also provides doctoral and post-doctoral grants, which are announced at its website. The Orient-Institut is a part of the "Max Weber Foundation - German Humanities Institutes Abroad".
The OIB Cairo Office serves as a liaison office and promotes OIB research in Cairo through the organization of workshops and lectures. OIB and Freie Universität Berlin Cairo Offices jointly organize a research seminar.
