Navigating The Academic Landscape: An Insight into Ingy Higazy’s Life
Edited By: Hend Elsagheer
Photo Taken By: Rayaheen Sam Qatena
Immersing herself in one discourse after another, her curiosity and everlasting quest for knowledge guide her down the rabbit hole into a world of books and the written word.
From exploring the realms of journalism to taking a deep dive into the intertwined nature of politics and urban life, Ingy Higazy carved herself a place in the different realms of academia at a fairly early age.
At 29, Higazy holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is currently an adjunct assistant professor teaching Master of Arts courses in the Middle East Studies program at AUC. She already spoke and presented her work at various international conferences, including the Association for Political Theory, and the Middle East Studies Association. She was also a visiting research fellow at the Mediterranean Center for Sociology, Political Science and History at Aix-Marseille Université in Marseille.
For her, a life in academia always seemed to be the right space to reside in. From an early age she excelled in her studies and found comfort within a book’s pages, yet nothing fascinated her more than history encoded within everything that surrounded her.
“I remember in grade four, they made us do an autobiography, and a section was dedicated to ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I wrote a teacher. I think that a part of how I responded was because I really liked my teachers,” said Higazy.
Education consumed and shaped a considerable portion of her life, having been in the cycle from 1997 to 2023.
Being raised in a household with a fellow academic undoubtedly paved the way for her future in academia, as her father was a professor, giving her the space to observe what that life could look like.
During the ever-shifting political climate in Egypt, around 2012, Higazy pursued her interests further by applying to AUC, double majoring in Political Science and History, and minoring in Arab and Islamic Civilizations.
Higazy expressed how, at that point, she knew the future she envisioned for herself, that she would pursue a career in academia, and that she would continue her education by pursuing a Ph.D.
She applied for the Honors program in Political Science for her senior year and attended conferences abroad to showcase her research projects. She also joined AUC Times as a reporter and editor and then worked her way up to managing English editor.
“In my first two years of university, I wanted to apply, but anxiety got the better of me. But during my junior year, I thought that it was about time, so I applied as a writer,” said Higazy.
She expressed how there was a significant amount of creative liberty at AUC Times, and she focused on the arts and culture section.
Toward the end of her undergraduate studies, she worked at Ahram Online as a reporter, where she also immersed herself in the arts and culture scene.
For eight months before her graduation, Higazy also worked at the AUC Tahrir campus’ law and society research unit, a collective project promoting the systematic and critical study of law and its interaction within society in Egypt. During her time there, she wrote a book chapter on the policing of art and its intersection with the law after 2011.
Before she had to pack up her bags and move far away to embark on the journey of completing her Ph.D., she interned at the independent Egyptian online newspaper Mada Masr, and at GIZ, or “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit” (“German Corporation for International Cooperation”), which focuses on sustainable development and educational work.
Nourhan Tewfik, an AUC alumna, TV and film culture consultant, and one of Higazy’s close friends and mentor said that she and Higazy’s relationship started at AUC, where they both studied within the same political science program, yet were a few years apart.
Tewfik helped pave the way for Higazy’s postgraduate experience in cultural journalism at Ahram Online. Through their working together, Tewfik realized the sheer talent that is laced within Higazy’s work.
“She is a highly sensitive person, with all that the word encompasses. If she is writing a text, then she pours herself into it. In my opinion, this is what defines a good writer,” said Tewfik.
She emphasized how Higazy fully immerses herself in her work. Within the short period of time in which they worked together, she could tell how much was poured into Higazy’s work.
A few months after graduating from AUC she pursued her Ph.D, which took six years to complete and engulfed her twenties. As a part of her Ph.D. program, she had to teach or become a graduate student researcher, but she pursued teaching.
“I remember the first class I ever taught was in January of 2018; it was a global politics class. I got this amazing adrenaline rush before the class, and it went great. You could go into class not feeling great, but once you stand in front of the students, it all just goes away. This was the first time I had ever experienced anything like this,” said Higazy.
To her, teaching was what gave life to academia; given that it’s such a solitary field, teaching offers that sense of connectedness, and there is this constant influx in the exchanging of ideas.
Yasmine Hafez, a Ph.D. candidate at SOAS, University of London, and one of her close friends shared with The Caravan that Higazy is a constant source of inspiration for her.
“Her passion [is deeply] entrenched in her heart and mind [and] in everything she does. [It] really makes her different than anyone I have met. She does what she believes in, and she holds herself in a higher commitment to do so,” said Hafez.
Higazy now works in urban development in addition to her teaching at AUC and working on her research. Her latest research explores urban port infrastructure and the (im)mobility in the Mediterranean Sea with a focus on Egypt and France.
Noura Wahby, assistant professor and Middle East studies director at AUC, described Higazy as a good listener and a critical thinker. This is evident through the way she is able to process information and understand where people are coming from in order to evaluate dominating narratives and dismantle them if needed.
“It was clear from the first time I met her that she is really dedicated to understanding people’s everyday lives, how we function as humans, and why we live the ways we do,” said Wahby.
She explained how Higazy’s ability to hold and create space for people to express their opinions and ideas, whether in academia or otherwise, is what she appreciates most about her and essentially encapsulates who she is.
