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Department

Cairo Papers in Social Science

Program

Cairo Papers in Social Science

Abstract

Tue fundamental determinant of how societies cope with challenges is ultimately found in their human resource base. Nothing is more important than education, in its broadest sense, to the strength of that base. Forming a vital part of any educational system, social science not only helps societies define themselves but also to identify, and indeed generate, possibilities of what they might become. Whether by transmitting or challenging conceptions of the nature of a society's relation to its members or to other societies, or by raising pertinent questions regarding these issues, what is done--or not done--in the social sciences is likely to influence the formation of human capital upon which so much depends. In 1995, in celebration of the American University in Cairo's Seventy­Fifth Anniversary, the editorial board of CAIRO PAPERS decided to devote the publication's annual symposium to an examination of the professional development in modern Egypt of three social science disciplines: Economics, History and Sociology. In the following pages, three of Egypt's most prominent scholars, Dr. Galal Amin, of AUC's Department of Economics, Dr. Raoof Abbas, a historian at AUC's Department of Arabic Studies, and Dr. Ahmed Zayed, of Cairo University's Department of Sociology, first describe and assess the growth of their respective disciplines in Egypt over the past seven decades and then identify concrete current requirements for. strengthening the contributions these areas of inquiry can make of Egypt's national life. Each writer provides a uniquely informative and thoughtful discussion, managing to combine frank analysis of past and present shortcomings in his field with sensitive and perceptive commentary on difficulties that were overcome, achievements that have been realized, and goals that remain to be met. In addition to the descriptive, analytic and prescriptive points they raise, the three essays indirectly, by virtue of their presence in this volume, tell us much about the strength of contemporary social sciences in Egypt.

Publication Date

1996

Document Type

Book Chapter

Book Title

The Development of Social Science in Egypt : Economics, History, and Sociology : Fifth Annual Symposium.

Editors

Galal A. Amin, Raouf Hamed & Ahmed Zayed

ISBN

9774243900

Publisher

American University in Cairo Press

City

Cairo

First Page

18

Last Page

40

Series

Cairo Papers in Social Science 18(3)

Keywords

heritage, Cairo University, teachers, political development, history interest, liberals, nationalist, subject matter experts

Disciplines

Intellectual History | Near Eastern Languages and Societies

Historiography in Egypt in the Twentieth Century

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