Professor by Day, Comic Book Artist by Night

By: Farida ElSirgany
@FSirgany

Mahmoud Shaltout leads a double life.

By day, he manages a promising career as Assistant Professor Shaltout at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology where he’s been teaching a wide range of courses such as Scientific Thinking, Current Health Issues, and Creative Thinking and Problem Solving.

But as the night nears, he dons his cape and cap – his creative cap, that is – and becomes Mac Toot.

Shaltout has been drawing comics ever since his father gave him his first Tintin book at age seven.

“I knew from a very young age that I wanted to do comic artistry as a living, as well as teaching. So, I started to practice feverishly, trying to hone and develop a style of my own,” he said.

His art style was heavily influenced by the manga Lupin Sur by Monkey Punch and the Franco-Belgian style of Hergé’s Tintin. This can be seen through his long-running original characters, Nuzly and Lobna, who he uses to comment on various aspects of Egyptian culture and social life, straddling between the humorous, like food ads during Ramadan, and the critically serious, like tackling sexual harassment.

But Shaltout’s interest in teaching came from his parents – his father was a doctor and his mother was a psychology professor, both having taught at Kuwait University.

He said that his parents were very supportive of both of his passions and gave him the freedom to choose his own path. His mother was the one who suggested he pursue both comics and academia as careers.

“At the time I couldn’t understand it. For me it seemed a bit unattainable, but I guess I’m doing it now, so she had foresight in that respect,” he said.

With parents like his, and a passion for learning, it is no surprise that Shaltout was an ‘A’ student with a strong academic focus.

“While I was growing up, I just fell in love with the academic environment. Whenever I’d look at my teachers or my professors I
would think ‘One day I’m going to be where you’re standing’,” Shaltout said.

Wanting to combine his interest in both biology and psychology to study public health, he pursued a Bachelor of Science
in public sciences with a concentration in environmental biology. This was soon followed by a Masters in environment and public health, then a PhD in public health from the University of Salford.

“I started doing research that was more about people. It examined food hygiene habits of students living in university accommodation. And then for my PhD, I started to focus on obesity which was also an interest of mine,” he described.

People and their welfare are two very important issues, he says, which is why he quickly admits that the highlight of his experience revolves around students.

“When I know that something I said made an impact on someone years and years later or made them think or process, even if they didn’t come to the same conclusion as me, that to me, is very rewarding,” he said.

Shaltout’s energy and enthusiasm is infectious, his students tell The Caravan.

“In my opinion, Dr. Shaltout feels more like a friend or a big brother which makes him much more effective as a professor,” said Mohammed Ahmed, an Accounting senior who has taken Shaltout’s Scientific Thinking class.

Shaltout generally manages his time between his two passions in accordance with each semester. He focuses more on his academic work and teaching during the fall and spring and uses most of the summer and winter for his comics.

“Life is too short to spend it doing something you don’t like. I am fortunate enough to be doing two things that I absolutely love. They are both my job but primarily they are both my passions,” he explained.

Shaltout finds that in times of difficulty, both teaching and artwork are a form of catharsis.

During the pandemic, Shaltout channelled his frustration into completing Corona bel Bechamel which is his creative take on how the events of 2020 came to pass through a Jumanji-like game called ‘Yalahwi’ (Oh My God).

He also used the extra time to complete illustrations for Lisa White’s Rooted in the Body, a book which explores how certain
Arabic vocabulary and expressions are rooted in the names of body parts.

“Broadening your horizons helps you get a different outlook on things, it helps you meet different people. It could relieve you from stress. There is nothing but positives that could come out of diversifying your hobbies and interests,” he explained.

Shaltout has worked closely with the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) at AUC for multiple projects including their academic integrity campaign by creating short comic strips they used for ads.

“So, they [art and teaching] merge often. And Rooted in the Body was a product of this. The CLT introduced me to Lisa White who was writing the book and that began our four-year collaboration on it. So, AUC really expanded my network as a comic artist,” he said.

That expansion gives Shaltout the opportunity to foster an understanding that art and teaching are not as separate as they appear, which is why he regularly uses comic strips to communicate ideas in his classes.

“I liked that he uses a lot of visuals in his teaching. I think it’s part of being an artist. For example, he’d bring books to the workshop and give a lot of constructive criticism,” said Monica Magdy, an Architectural Engineering Sophomore.

Magdy participated in Shaltout’s Workshop in the 2019 Author’s Challenge, a yearly competition to strengthen writing culture on campus organized by the Undergraduate Research Program.

Faculty members host a series of workshops throughout the academic year on short stories, podcasting, spoken word poetry, script-writing, and graphic novels. These are geared to nurture and enhance student writing skills and guide them as they produce a final draft by the end of the workshops.

Magdy recalled that Shaltout’s diversified interests made him a more well-rounded teacher because he could draw on knowledge from many fields.

Bridging art with education, particularly with challenging topics, has earned Shaltout praise among his colleagues.

“I believe Mahmoud is a rare breed of comic strip artist within the mainstream of Egyptian comics when it comes to the themes he chooses to work on,” says Youssef Ragheb, an Associate Professor of Drawing and Experimental Comics at the department of Visual Art.

Ragheb points to the characters Shaltout is most known for – Nuzly and Lobna – and highlights how they are portrayed in a 1960s psychedelic/ hippie fashion but thrown into modern day issues to create tension in a lighthearted manner to ensure that the reader remains intrigued and able to grasp the comic’s message, which goes beyond mere entertainment.

“As an academic teaching public health and critical thinking at AUC, the influence of his field of expertise is quite obvious on his art when it comes to the themes he tackles, from environmental issues all the way to sexual harassment,” Ragheb added.

Shaltout is now working on a project that combines his love for science and art by creating a comic that looks at the impact of climate change in rural desert communities like the Wahat El Bahariya oasis. The project is funded by the United States Forest Service and will also feature a short film.

Rooted in the Body is sold at the AUC Bookstore and Corona Bel Bechamel can be found through this link. For updates on Shaltout’s work, see his twitter, @mac_toot, and Instagram page