University of California Education Abroad Program

Led by Associate Professor Juan E. Campo and Continuing Lecturer Magda Campo

Based in Cairo and includes weekend excursions within Egypt.  Excursions may include exploring the Giza Pyramids, trips to local fish, produce, and spice markets, and a weekend trip to Alexandria to visit the Wadi Natrun Monasteries and Greco-Roman archaeological sites.

All students will take "Introduction to Egyptian Colloquial Arabic" for 2 UC quarter units.

 

Excursions:  Giza Pyramids and lunch at Filfila restaurant, Cairo City tour (Ibn Tulun Mosque, Muhammad Ali Mosque), evening musical/dance performance.

 

Excursions:  Egyptian Museum, Museum of Islamic Art, Mu`izz Street, Khan al-Khalili & Fishawi's Coffee House, spice market, fruit and vegetable market.  Weekend trip (one night, two days) to Alexandria to visit Wadi Natrun Monasteries, Greco-Roman archaeological sites, Anfushi fish market, Alexandria Library.

 

Excursions:  Coptic Cairo and Ben Ezra Synagogue; Iftar dinner.

 

Excursions:  Iftar dinner, evening cultural event, City Star Mall and Food Courts. 

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In this program you will take the following required three courses, totaling 9 UC quarter units.  You may be able to petition these courses towards various departments, beyond the UCEAP subject area designations listed below, on your home campus.  See “Course Equivalents” note below.

 

This course combines a lecture format with excursions to historical and contemporary sites linked to Egyptian culinary culture, as well as hands-on practice in the preparation of Middle Eastern recipes. Students will have daily reading assignments, a midterm and final exam, and keep a food journal on historical, cultural, social, and ecological aspects of Egyptian and Middle Eastern cuisine. The goals of the course are to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the importance of food in religious and cultural life in Egypt and the Middle East, knowledge about the historical origins of foods that have become part of Euro-American cuisines, and skills for conducting culinary research and preparing Middle Eastern dishes.

 

You will write a 10-12 page paper based on topics covered in class or drawn from excursions to field sites in Egypt.  The paper must focus on foods or foodways in Egypt and the Middle East.  It may be historical, literary, or address topics in the contemporary period.

 

This course introduces students to Egyptian Colloquial Arabic spoken in the city of Cairo. It emphasizes acquisition of listening and speaking skills while living in Egypt, and topics related to our class on Religion, Food, and Culture in the Middle East. During class there will be drills and exercises to activate the vocabulary they have learned as homework. A DVD video will be watched at home and in class to guide students in their conversation. To activate the vocabulary, you will be paired to converse with another student and share the conversation with the other students in the course. Conversations will also continue outside the class, and  you will be immersed in the culture of the language.

 

Juan E. Campo, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, specializes in the comparative study of Islam, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia.  He is also director of the UCSB campus office of the Education Abroad Program.  He teaches courses on Islamic tradition; religion, politics and society in the Persian Gulf region; Islamic mysticism; modern Islamic movements; Islam in South Asia; as well as introductory courses on the study of religion.  Since 2000 he has co-taught a course on Food, Religion, and Culture in the Middle East with Magda Campo. His research has taken him to Egypt, where he has lived for more than five years, including two years as the Study Center Director of the UCEAP Study Center at American University in Cairo, and to India, where he served as Study Center Director of the UCEAP Study Centers in Delhi and Hyderabad from 1998 to 2001.  Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey, Singapore, and Thailand are other countries where he has conducted research.  Professor Campo’s most recent book is the Encyclopedia of Islam, a one-volume reference work intended for students and the general public.  It received a "Best of Reference" award from the New York Public Library in 2010.  He is also the author of The Other Sides of Paradise:  Explorations in the Religious Meanings of Domestic Space in Islam, which won the American Academy of Religion’s Award for Excellence in 1991.

 

Magda Campo is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (from 1985 to present).  She is also affiliated with the Linguistics Department at UCSB.  Magda obtained a B.A. from Cairo University and M.A. in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language from the American University in Cairo.  She is fluent in Arabic, French, and English.  Her teaching specialization is Arabic language, but she also teaches Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, and co-teaches Food, Religion, and Culture in the Middle East with Juan E. Campo.  She co-authored “Women, Gender and Food Preparation:  Central Arab States, Egypt, and North Africa” for the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures and “The Arabs as Seen through Their Cuisine” (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press).  She has won outstanding faculty member awards from the UCSB Residence Halls Association and the Office of Residential Life (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004).​

 

As a UCEAP participant, you will be supported by your UC faculty leader, the UCEAP Systemwide Office, and the University of California, which includes a network of study abroad offices at every UC campus. Drawing on UCEAP’s worldwide resources, your faculty leader will guide you academically, culturally, and logistically, with strong support from UCEAP staff in California.

Studying abroad with UCEAP, the official UC study abroad program, allows you to enjoy exceptional value and perks! Often, the expenses of participating in UCEAP programs are less than those of non-UC study abroad programs. The cost listed in the chart below include: 1) program fees that are paid directly to UCEAP in the current year, and 2) an estimate of the amount needed to cover your personal living expenses abroad. Recreational travel and entertainment are not included.

 

If you receive UC financial aid, it will be repackaged and customized to the cost of your UCEAP program. In other words, the amount of your financial aid package will take into account the estimated TOTAL COST of this experience, as it is estimated below.

 

These expenses are estimated for the current year. Amounts are subject to change due to potential changes to UC fees, exchange rate fluctuation, etc.

 

 

Your Program Fees: 

Estimated Personal Expenses: