Maha Elsaid — Contemporary Writers Series

Presented by the Creative Writing and Literature program at Mills College. 

This online event is free and open to the public.
Registration required. Broadcast link will be provided on the day of the event.

Join us for a presentation from Maha Elsaid, Professor of American Studies at Cairo University, and Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Mills College.

In this presentation Maha Elsaid will tell her story of how despite all the restrictions imposed on academics and academic research she was able to push the boundaries through her research and teaching, and create progressive enclaves within a highly restrictive, security-controlled institution. Not only did she introduce new disciplines and radical research topics into Egyptian academia, defying the discourse of ‘university status and tradition’, she also managed to enable her students to critically understand the world and empower them with the language to deconstruct hegemonic discourse. Her activism goes beyond the classroom as she was able to empower women across campus as she initiated the first anti harassment unit in a public university in the Middle East, and managed to paint the Cairo University dome orange.