John Meloy’s Full Circle Back to AUC
By: Maya Abouelnasr
@EmEn1125
John Meloy, the new Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HUSS), is no stranger to Egypt. Or AUC.
In the 1980s, while at graduate school at the University of Chicago, he took a leave of absence and came to Egypt to further explore his interest in Egyptian archaeology.
During this period of five or six years in Egypt, Meloy took part in excavations and taught English as a second language at the American Cultural Center in Alexandria.
“They [the American Cultural Center’s English language program] had six-week terms. So, I could teach for six weeks or 12 weeks or 18 weeks and then, if an excavation came along, I could easily stop, go off and excavate,” Meloy said.
Meloy was also accepted during this period into the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) program at AUC, where he was enrolled for the next four years.
It was during this time that he developed an interest in Islamic archeology and history, particularly the history of the Mamluks and the late medieval period.
When he returned to the US to complete his graduate studies, Meloy switched his emphasis within anthropology from archaeology to Islamic history.
He went on to get a master’s degree and PhD from the University of Chicago in 1990 and 1998, respectively, before joining the American University in Beirut as a professor in the Department of History and Archaeology.
There, he also served as the chair of the department and director of AUB’s Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies, as well as associate dean in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 2010 to 2016.
Back full circle at AUC as the newly appointed dean of HUSS, Meloy says he is excited to start this new chapter of his career and contribute to the university.
“I’m interested in helping HUSS be more effective at what it does and raising its profile and visibility. I think that the emphasis on lifelong learning is really what will allow students to become the leaders of tomorrow. Like, presidential candidates in the year 2040,” Meloy told The Caravan.
He added that this specifically relies on collaboration, cooperation and communication to allow professors to reach their academic objectives while also aiming for students to maximize the output of their education.
“I think the disciplines that we offer at HUSS are really essential for teaching. It’s not just a matter of learning information that you need to know, but rather learning how to know what you need to do in order to solve problems that might come up in the future,” Meloy added.
Past, present and future all come together in Cairo for Meloy who noted that a number of changes are evident from the last time he lived and studied in this bustling city.
“I lived in Garden City and Mohandeseen and so, I felt pretty comfortable getting around Cairo. What’s been different is [the geographical transition to] New Cairo, which, of course, is a very recent development,” Meloy said.
A tone of sentimentality could be detected in Meloy’s voice when speaking about the old Tahrir campus.
“This [New Cairo] campus, I’m really blown away by the beauty of the gardens and architecture, so the campus itself is spectacular. The Tahrir campus, though, is very lovely and very charming. I certainly like the fact that it’s an urban campus and surrounded by all the activity of Cairo,” Meloy added.
He further noted that he looks forward to this new chapter of his experience at the new campus and in Egypt, which includes improving his Egyptian Arabic.
“I studied Arabic here and then I went to Lebanon and everyone speaks English. So, I kind of learned Lebanese Arabic,” Meloy said.
“Now, I come back here and everything is all kind of mixed up. So, I’m trying to kind of establish my Egyptian Arabic.”
