You can rely on stereotypes and headlines to learn about Islam, or you could live in the epicenter of the Islamic world and learn from Muslims themselves. You can speculate why most countries in the Middle East aren't democratic, or you can observe firsthand three countries in the throes of democratic transitions and backslides. You can pray for peace in Israel and Palestine - or you can also find out how to work for peace.
During this semester you will live in Cairo, a developing world megalopolis, pulsating with energy, people and life. At the heart of the Arab World, Cairo is, in the words of the medieval traveler Ibn Battuta, um al dunya, "mother of the world".
You will be encouraged to experience another culture from the inside, studying Arabic, navigating your way around the city and interacting with Egyptians on a daily basis. You will develop relationships with your neighbors and Egyptian university students. You will for a season become an urban person, and learn to be comfortable negotiating a foreign metropolitan landscape.
You will also experience what it means to live in community in a new way. Removed from familiar social, relational and religious support systems, all the while being confronted with some of the most challenging issues facing the world today, you will need resources – and the program is deliberately structured to facilitate those resources. First in the Program Directors, all four of whom have lived in the region, and in the case of Heather and Jim collectively for more than 30 years. Second, in the Egyptians whom you will meet, and whom you will find strikingly friendly, helpful and generous. And thirdly in each other – lasting friendships are made through this program.
The program runs every other spring semester. The next time it will be offered is Spring 2025. For more information, email ocp@westmont.edu.
Satisfies GE: Thinking Historically, major/minor credit in History or Religious Studies
You and your fellow students will study the historical, textual, and cultural foundations of Islam and then compare these with the living reality of Egyptian, Turkish and Palestinian societies. You will spend most of the semester in Egypt, a country that is 90% Muslim and, in many eyes, the center of Sunni Islam. You will also visit Palestine and Turkey, two other majority Muslim countries, to give you some broader feel for Islam in practice.
You and your fellow students will engage with the Egyptian church, both current and past. You will study the evolution of Christianity from an opposition movement to the religion of empire, and thence to protected, subordinate and marginalized minority. Attention will be given to the interaction between theological developments and cultural and political developments. You will learn more about the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Through meeting with different Christians living in the Middle East today you will be challenged to consider afresh what it means to be a part of the global body of Christ.
Satisfies GE: Understanding Society, GE: Communicating Cross Culturally and major credit History International Track
You and your fellow students will study the modern history of Egypt: its transition from a Kingdom occupied by Britain into an independent nation state. You will study what it means to be a modern nation, and how a nation simultaneously lives out and fails to live up to its values and its identity before, during and after a revolution.
Satisfies GE: Thinking Globally, major/minor credit Political Science, and major credit History International Track
You and your fellow students will study some of the dramatic political changes in the Middle East which have taken place since 2011 and will consider if the “Arab Spring" is or is not an appropriate name for these changes. You will study the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of both Israelis and Palestinians. We will ask together where we can find hope for peace, what we can learn about the struggle for influence and resources in the region, and what this may mean for us as Americans and Christians.
Satisfies GE: Foreign Language, major credit History International Track, and major credit Political Science International Security & Development Track
You will study Arabic throughout our time in Cairo, both in a formal class room setting and through daily opportunities to practice.
We will also offer second semester Arabic II on your return to Westmont, which may be of particular interest to Political Science and History majors on the international track.
The majority of the semester you will be residents of Cairo and in relationship with Egyptians – Egyptian neighbors, professors, worshipers and, eventually, friends. You will live in apartments and put down some roots. You will study Islam, the Egyptian church, and Arabic, together with the society and politics of Egypt.
We will also spend 10 days in Istanbul.
We complete the semester with 23 days in Israel/Palestine. We will spend Holy Week in the Old City of Jerusalem. We will engage with multiple viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Program ends late April.
PROFESSOR HEATHER KEANEY is an alum of Westmont who spent twelve years between 1999 and 2011 living and teaching in Cairo at the American University in Cairo and at the CCCU’s Middle East Studies Program (MESP). Professor Keaney is enthusiastic about helping students place the events that make headlines in the Middle East within their historical and cultural context in order to reveal their human dimension. She hopes students will come to share some of her love and passion for the place and its people.
Heather and Jim led the Westmont in Istanbul and the Westmont in Cairo program on all four previous iterations.
JIM WRIGHT was born in Devon, England, and after studying law at Cambridge University he worked for a multi-national corporate law firm in London and Dubai. He left this to study cross-cultural and Biblical theology in the UK before arriving in Egypt in 1993. He spent 18 years in Egypt, initially studying Arabic and then working as a corporate lawyer. His life in the region convinced Jim of the strategic importance of the Middle East. His interaction with students from the Middle East Studies Program of the CCCU over the years convinced him of the strategic importance of American Christian College students for everything from regime change to climate change. Jim left the law and joined Westmont in 2011 in order to align these two convictions.
Heather and Jim led the Westmont in Istanbul and the Westmont in Cairo program on all four previous iterations.
HANNAH EARLY-BAGDANOV is a Westmont alum and an alum of Jim and Heather's Westmont in Istanbul program.
Hannah is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Notre Dame in the department
of Political Science. She grew to love the Middle East through her time in Israel/Palestine
studying Arabic, doing research on local governance and conflict, and participating
in the daily rhythms of a city where peoples, cultures, and histories intermingle.
Hannah is committed to helping students feel confident navigating everyday life as
guests and learners in the region.
JOSEPH EARLY-BAGDANOV graduated from Westmont with a degree in Religious Studies in 2014 and Western Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2021. He now teaches Late Antique Philosophy and Church History at Pacifica Christian High School and is eager to introduce students to the rich and varied history of their faith. As an alum of Jim and Heather's Westmont in Istanbul program and having lived in the region on several occasions, he believes that American Christianity must reckon with its temporal diversity (the church through time) and geographical diversity (the church spread out). He hopes that Westmont in Cairo would be fertile ground for such a reckoning.
The cost of the program will be standard Westmont tuition, fees, room and board. There is no program fee, but you will be responsible for the cost of round trip airfare from the USA to Egypt.
Students are allowed to apply their financial aid awards from the college—both need-based and merit-based awards—toward the program’s cost.
In addition to the general qualifications above, the following are requirements that must be met, with or without reasonable accommodation, in order to complete all essential elements of the program. All participants must be able to:
No longer accepting applications for Spring 2023. For more information about the program, contact Professor Jim Wright at jwright@westmont.edu.