The Magda al-Nowaihi Graduate Student Award in Gender Studies
A collaborative enterprise of the Magda al-Nowaihi Committee and the Institute for Gender and Women's Studies. The Magda Al-Nuwaihi Committee was founded and chaired by Dr. Samia Mehrez, Associate Professor of Arabic Literature from 2003-2006. The current chair is Dr. Robert Switzer, Associate Professor of Philosophy.
The award was named in the memory and in tribute to the lasting contribution of Magda al-Nowaihi to the work of Arabic Literature in general, and Gender Studies in particular. It was established in 2003 to fulfill al-Nowaihi's visionary dream of a regional and lasting commitment to the field of Gender Studies that she firmly believed would further enhance AUC's prestigious record as a leading institution in the Arab World. Magda al-Nowaihi was an alumna of the American University in Cairo (BA in English Literature in 1978) and Associate Professor of Arabic Literature at Columbia University, who passed away in 2002.
The award is designed to recognize and honor AUC graduate student theses that focus on gender issues in any discipline. An annual award ceremony is held in the spring semester to commemorate Professor al-Nowaihi's contribution to the field and to celebrate the award-winning thesis. The winning theses are published in the MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies.
The Magda al-Nowaihi Award has brought together some of AUC's most distinguished faculty, whose research and teaching focuses on gender related issues in their respective disciplines. Their commitment to the al-Nowaihi Award has generated unprecedented interdisciplinary dialogue between them and has allowed them to explore pertinent issues outside their immediate fields thanks to the outstanding theses submitted yearly to the committee. The Magda al-Nowaihi Award has also helped highlight the increasing number of theses in Gender Studies at AUC that are truly at the cutting edge of their disciplines. Their publication in the MIT EJMES is a testimony to their quality as well as the serious work undertaken at AUC in the regionally expanding field of Gender Studies.