Kazziha is AUC’s Walking Encyclopedia
Reporter: Darin Hany (@HanyDarin)
Photographer: Vereena Bishoy
Renowned professor of Middle East Studies Walid Wassel Kazziha has been teaching at AUC for as long as anyone can remember; earning near legendary status among his students and colleagues alike.
Kazziha first came to Cairo from Beirut in 1972 as an adjunct professor after receiving a Ford Foundation grant to author a book about revolutionary transformation in the Arab World.
An American University in Beirut (AUB) graduate, Kazziha had later gotten a Master’s degree from Edinburgh University followed by a doctorate from the school of Oriental and African Studies at London University in 1970, all in political science.
“I worked in Beirut but the civil war was incoming, so when I received the grant I came to Cairo,” he explained.
The 1970s were among the most dramatic and turbulent years in Middle Eastern history, as the Arab world’s most charismatic leader and Egypt’s late President Gamal Abdel Nasser had passed away at the beginning of the decade, the Palestinian issue was at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanon was on the verge of a bloody civil war, Great Britain was withdrawing from Arab Persian Gulf states after a rule of over 150 years, and the first oil price hike was realigning economic ties.
Even though Egypt was about to enter a decisive war with Israel, Cairo proved to be an oasis of safety and security in the Middle East.
“At AUC it is more suitable for me and my family,” he explained.
Kazziha first joined AUC in 1972 as an adjunct professor, then got promoted after four years to become an associate professor, although normally professors get promoted after six years.
It was exceptional, he says of the experience. In 1979, he became a full professor.
He took a two-year leave of absence to teach at the University of Calgary in Canada in the late 80s, before returning to AUC.
Since then, he has come to be known for his Middle East Specialization at AUC, like Political and Social Thought, or International Politics of the Middle East and others, but his first passion was not always to be found in academia.
He had been immersed in politics ever since he was a student because of the civil war in Beirut at the time and the prominence of the Palestinian cause, and this seamlessly came through in his courses.
“I was very moved by the the Palestinian issue at a very early stage, so I had a sense of commitment toward the cause,” said Kazziha.
This gave him the impetus to seek to join groups like the Arab Nationalist Movement, and aspire for a political career.
But the region was in turmoil and Kazziha felt that the “second best kind of service to my political ideas was pursuing a career in academia”.
“I wanted to be in touch with the younger generation and leave an influence through Academia,” he explained.
Whether it was a matter of fate, or the good fortune of those young minds who would eventually take classes with him, Kazziha gravitated toward AUC, an institution that he believes excels at inclusivity, offering a wide range of services and opens room for diversification like no other in Cairo.
“It has a multicultural set, where there are students and faculty who come from different countries and there is a margin of freedom which is quite high compared to other places,” he said.
Kazziha believes that the most rewarding thing about his job is when he finds the chance to convey his experiences to his students, in hopes of helping them in their academic or professional careers.
“What a teacher imparts to students, is not only the knowledge, but also imparts to them values they use in life and principles that they live by, and in that respect I hope I might have had some impact,” Kazziha said.
As a person with so much experience and having met so many scholars of different nationalities, with different political ideologies, Kazziha’s students believe his history to be his unique selling point.
“For me, the most thing I loved about Kazziha is that he is a primary source, he doesn’t hear the things, he is an actual book, he would tell us stories from history that actually happened to him,” Mahmoud Aziz, a Political Science Senior explains.
His students find him awe-inspiring because of the amount of information he has grasped from many influential figures like the renowned historian Albert Hourani; they believe Kazziha has witnessed many historical events that shaped politics as we know it today.
Aziz describes Kazziha as “a sea of knowledge”.
One of Kazziha’s former students, Farida Hossam who is an AUC alumna, shared with The Caravan a memorable class, where he told them about the time when he was a student in Damascus, and happened to meet the late Gamal Abdel Nasser.
“Kazziha witnessed Gamal AbdelNasser’s charismatic character first handed and all I could think of is wow, this man needs to write an autobiography about his life as soon as possible,” clarified Hossam in awe of Kazziha’s stories and experiences.
His students believe that the way he conducts his classes is unique really on storytelling as an approach to keep students engaged and make the material more absorbable.
He also encourages students to be critical of the world around them, to analyze and criticize every piece of information that they grasp, so they can build their own set of beliefs, opinions and critiques.
“He has a revolutionary soul and will always push you to challenge the world around you,” said Alia ElSoudany, one of Kazziha’s former students, Political Science and Economics senior.
For many students, Kazziha is one of the reasons why they chose to specialize in Middle East studies, because of his passion about the Arab world.
“In every single class, in each of his courses, he would talk about Palestine, the detailed history of its colonization, and how one day he’s looking forward to witnessing a free and liberated Palestine,” explained Political Science senior Farida Yehia.
To many Kazziha is “a walking encyclopedia” and that the material he offers in class “is unparalleled”.
