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“Language Learners as Ethnographers: A Case Study on A Pedagogical Approach to Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence”
Full text linkDespite the extensive theoretical models and frameworks for Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), pedagogical approaches to teaching culture remain underexplored. This study examined the effectiveness of integrating a pedagogical framework—the OSEE framework developed by Deardorff (2000)—within a language classroom context. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through audio-recorded reflections, a questionnaire, an interview, and a final project video presentation in a single-case study design. Data analysis followed Miles and Huberman’s (2014) model of qualitative analysis, employing a funneling approach tailored to each research question: the first applied Chen and Starosta’s ICC model (1996;1999) the second used deductive thematic analysis to connect findings to existing literature; and the third investigated challenges in implementing the OSEE framework, using it as a guiding structure for analysis. Findings indicate that despite challenges the subject faced when implementing the targeted framework, incorporating OSEE did help the case study participant develop perspective-taking and perspective transformation towards targeted cultural products and practices—key aspects in ICC development. The study also highlights the positive effect resulting from active cognitive, affective, and behavioral engagement with OSEE framework on helping the study participant display signs of developing third place towards targeted cultural phenomena
Mechanical Characterization and Modeling of Rat Myocardia under the Influence of Epirubicin
No full textCancer remains a predominant health challenge that is responsible for a significant portion of global morbidity and mortality. Epirubicin (EPI), a chemotherapeutic anti-cancer drug, has shown remarkable efficacy in combating various malignancies. However, it is known to have undesirable side effects on the heart, collectively referred to as cardiotoxicity. This research investigates the adverse effects of chemotherapy on cardiac contractility through an in vitro examination of the mechanics of healthy and infarcted animal heart tissues. Electrically stimulated slices of rat ventricular tissue were tested using an isometric force measurement tissue bath. The tissue slices were subjected to uniaxial stretching, allowing the measurement of both active and passive tensions at varying preload levels. The uniaxial tension data were utilized to determine the stress-strain response of the tissue material. Subsequently, a hyperelastic constitutive model was fitted to the stress-strain data, providing us with material parameters for both healthy and infarcted cardiac tissues. Additionally, optical flow, a non-contact imaging technique, was employed to measure tissue specimen deformation during contraction. This process computes the deformation gradient of the tissue, ultimately enabling us to derive the full-field strain. The results show statistically significant evidence that EPI reduces the active tension by up to 71.7%. Similarly, there was statistically significant evidence that the passive tension was different between the two groups. Additionally, material calibration revealed that EPI increased the stiffness of the myocardium. Further results indicate a reduction in the magnitude of the myocardial strain after EPI administration. These findings indicate that EPI impairs cardiac contractility substantially, which is quantified by the reduction in active tension and myocardial strain. The observed increase in tissue stiffness, evident by the constitutive modeling, further confirms the notion of compromised contractility of the myocardium
Evolving Skills and Stakeholder Dynamics: Investigating the Transformative Influence of Generative AI on Egyptian Public Policy
Full text linkSince its public release in November 2022, OpenAI\u27s Generative AI (GenAI) has been met with varied responses, from widespread individual adoption to institutional caution. This phenomenon is evident among Egyptian public policy makers, where some institutions quickly embraced GenAI, while others have been slow to integrate it. The adoption of GenAI among these professionals is influenced by multiple factors, with institutional factors and budget constraints being the most significant. The varied adoption creates a need for new skills and the enhancement of existing ones. This uneven adoption is hypothesized to cause two main issues in Egyptian public policy: a policy communication gap and information asymmetry. To test this, the researcher used the Delphi method, an iterative process that allowed for the validation of data through repeated engagement with participants. The findings confirmed that a potential policy communication gap could arise from the varied adoption of GenAI, driven by underlying information asymmetry. Additionally, the research revealed a public administration brain drain is already occurring and may intensify as professionals independently reskill for GenAI. The findings ultimately suggest that Egyptian public policy making is vulnerable to fragmentation, potentially led by the interests of GenAI-integrated organizations rather than serving the public good
The Philosophy of Selling Community: Developer Narratives and Resident Experiences of Privacy and Community in Gated Communities in Cairo
Full text linkGated communities have become a global urban form with diverse impacts on their inhabitants. In recent years, Cairo has been expanding to the edges, and land that has always been a desert is now rapidly transforming into new cities that people are leaving their homes in the center of the city to move to seeking seclusion, security, privacy, and sense of community. Despite the tension proven between privacy and community, developers attempted to sell both concepts to coexist in gated communities in different manners to express their unique brand. Both concepts are defined differently by each developer, resulting in different approaches in their marketing strategies and design implementations. Therefore, this research attempts to study the nuanced applications of developers and ways that they express the two concepts and study how residents perceive these spatial configuration and elements. This leads to the overarching questions of this study “How do developers in Cairo\u27s gated communities market and design for privacy and community to coexist, and how are these strategies perceived and experienced by residents?” with the underlying hypothesis being by marketing privacy and community, developers set the physical stage, but residents’ adaptations show that placemaking emerges through negotiation rather than fixed design. A comparative analysis is done to the design guideline keywords and their design applications used by four of the top developers in Cairo. This analysis allowed a nuanced lens for understanding the implementation of the two most important parameters sold in gated communities. Residential evaluation of the application tools is further studied through their feedback in surveys and interviews. The analysis of marketing narratives, spatial layouts, and resident feedback revealed two central themes: control and ownership. While developers employ tools such as gates, green buffers, and fences to market privacy and community, residents reinterpret these features in ways that often blur boundaries between inclusion and exclusion. This highlights that placemaking in gated communities is not predetermined by design but negotiated through everyday practices. The findings suggest that developers should integrate flexibility and feedback loops into design and management processes, ensuring closer alignment between promises and lived experiences. Future research can build on this by examining how resident practices and external forces reshape the meaning and use of these privatized spaces
The Effect of The Socioeconomic Variety in Greater Cairo on Transport Mode Choices
Full text linkIn the last decade, Egypt has experienced a noticeable upgrade in its infrastructure investment, implementing a lot of transport projects, especially in the Greater Cairo region. In a city with over 20 million residents, variations lie in socioeconomic elements like income, age, gender, and neighborhood, which shape people’s choice of mobility modes based on their culture and lifestyle. The questions then become: whom are these new projects targeting? What are the barriers to using these services? And is there any willingness to change commuting habits if conditions changed? This thesis investigates how the socioeconomic variety in Greater Cairo metropolitan region influences the transport mode choices for individuals, using online surveys and semi-structured phone calls from 394 respondents across different neighborhoods. After categorizing respondents into 5 different social groups, the results showed that the primary motives for mode preferences were safety, comfort, and convenience, regardless of gender. Also, it showed that there was a tendency towards changing the commuting mode among four social groups: vulnerable, poor, lower, and upper-middle groups, with the change varying to private cars, better public transport mode, and ride-hailing applications. Though 60% of affluent people still preferred using private vehicles, some of them indicated a conditional shift towards an enhanced public transport service, and 40% indicated they would shift directly if a better alternative is present. Additionally, the thesis proposes a comprehensive model that enables transport leaders to consider multiple social and economic dimensions, thereby supporting their decision-making process. Lastly, the thesis offers both short-term and long-term solutions to enhance social cohesion in the transport sector
Trajectories of Egyptian Women in the US
Full text linkThis thesis aimed at studying and analyzing the experiences of highly skilled Egyptian migrant women living in the US both who migrated as adults and those who migrated as children with their families. It analyzed their backgrounds prior to the migration decision, the migration decision and their legal status, the role of the family in their journey and their challenges within the social context of their workplaces. The study utilized a qualitative ethnographic lens. The study is based on ethnographic interviews with 15 highly skilled women living in the US, most of whom are concentrated in Indiana and Michigan. The research of this thesis contributes to the sectors of gender and feminist theories that addresses the experiences of highly skilled women while using Bourdieu’s theory of capital and habitus, focusing on the concept of transnational habitus, in analyzing the experiences of the women participants. The thesis covered the experiences of highly skilled Egyptian women in three main domains/ stations on their migration trajectory the visa status, the family life and workplace dynamics
Between Borders and Bodies: Sovereignty, Universality, And The Crisis of Enforcement in International Law
Full text linkAtrocities such as genocide and war crimes persist not despite international law, but within its very structure. Although international law is designed to protect humanity, it repeatedly fails to do so due to its inability to enforce its most fundamental norms. In the absence of enforcement, the law exists—but merely stands still. This failure stems from the structural contradictions embedded in the system—specifically, the tension between the principles of sovereignty and universality. As a result, international law has become a selective, politicized, and ineffective framework. Incidents such as the Rwandan genocide and the civil wars in Syria and Sudan demonstrate the extent of this malfunction. Even with the evolution of international law’s tools and enforcement mechanisms, these instruments have operated inconsistently, highlighting the selectivity and politicization that affect both the enforcement of rulings, as in the ICC and ICJ, and decisions regarding intervention as seen in the Responsibility to Protect principle. In contrast, Islamic law has offered governing principles that enhance accountability. The very definition of sovereignty in Islam, along with the Caliphate governance system—as opposed to the state-consent-dependent model—have fostered communal responsibility and entrenched decentralized authority, embedding accountability within the collective. Thus, comparative studies can help reimagine enforcement models in international law—models that are capable of combating impunity. Reconceptualizing the two core principles of international law—sovereignty and universality—may offer a path toward empowering the system
Legal Paradoxes of Transition: Transitional Justice and The Rule of Law Between Nürnberg and Saddam Hussein Trials
Full text linkABSTRACT
This thesis critically examines the legal paradoxes embedded within transitional justice (TJ) discourse, using the Nürnberg and Saddam Hussein trials as case studies to interrogate the complex relationship between justice and the rule of law in TJ discourse. It highlights the inherent tension between forward-looking societal reforms and the pursuit of backward-looking justice, challenging the foundational assumptions of TJ as a universal tool for justice and peace. It also questions the validity and credibility of transition as a phase between the past and the future. It contends that TJ, driven by Western liberal epistemic foundations, functions as an exclusionary project, imposing a pseudo-transition rather than an authentic justice process. The thesis critiques the flawed premise that TJ mechanisms inherently promote justice, revealing instead how these mechanisms contradict the rule of law due to political motives and international interventions. As a result, the discourse on TJ fosters an illusory state of transition, wherein only the bare minimum of justice is achieved, undermining its ability to meet its essential requirements and secure genuine societal healing. This ultimately transformed the TJ process into a systemic tool for the institutionalized injustice and perpetuation of violence.
KEY WORDS: Transitional Justice, Legal Paradoxes, Rule of Law, Pseudo-Transition, Nürnberg and Saddam Hussein trials, Institutionalized Injustice
Formulaic Sequences: Teacher and Student Perceptions and Teaching Strategies
Full text linkFormulaic Sequences (FS), common word combinations stored and used as single units, are crucial for achieving oral fluency yet remain underrepresented in pedagogical materials. This study explores this gap by examining teacher and student perceptions of FS and the teaching techniques within an online Egyptian EFL context. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, data were gathered via teacher interviews (n=4), student questionnaires (n=100), a student focus group (n=4), and classroom observations. Results indicated that teachers unanimously perceived FS as essential building blocks for fluency, accuracy, and learner confidence, and they utilized a spectrum of techniques ranging from explicit instruction to incidental exposure and technology-assisted recycling (e.g., voice notes, ChatGPT). Students highly valued FS for improving their speaking skills and exam performance, often associating their use with achieving a ‘native-like’ ideal, which emerged as a powerful motivational factor. However, students also reported that they had not received much clear instruction on FS in the past, leading to challenges in retention and appropriate use.
A key finding was some students’ avoidance of FS due to fear of being misunderstood by interlocutors. The study underscores the need to bridge the theory-practice divide by advocating for more systematic, context-sensitive FS instruction that moves beyond native-speakerism standards and instead focuses on intelligibility and communicative competence. It also calls for enhanced teacher training on FS instruction, curricular integration, the development of shared instructional frameworks while respecting teacher autonomy, and a balanced approach that combines explicit focus with meaningful communicative practice while leveraging AI for FS reinforcement and recycling
The Impact of Violent Content Media Exposure on Behavioral Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Media Engagement
Full text linkThis study explores how repeated exposure to violent content in films, television series, and video games may influence behavioral outcomes among Egyptian media consumers. Drawing on the General Aggression Model, Social Learning Theory, and Cultivation Theory, it examines how individual interpretation, emotional involvement, and narrative absorption mediate the effects of media violence. It also considers how personality traits shape audience responses, specifically aggression, empathy, and narrative immersion.
A mixed-methods approach was adopted. A structured survey of 200 Egyptians aged 18 and above assessed media exposure, aggression, empathy, narrative engagement, and behavioral outcomes. In parallel, a content analysis of Egyptian films and series (2019–2025) aired on streaming platforms and internationally popular video games analyzed how violence was depicted in frequency, intensity, justification, and emotional tone. SEM was used to test both direct and mediated effects.
Findings indicate that participants high in aggression and low in empathy showed stronger engagement with violent media. This engagement helped link exposure to increased aggression and lower prosocial behavior. Content analysis revealed that violence was often framed as justified or consequence-free, reinforcing aggressive thinking through cultural and narrative cues. The study calls for collaboration among educators, regulators, and mental health professionals, and encourages further research into how cultural context and emotional engagement shape media effects across different age groups in non-Western societies