MU | F e a t u r e s
A
t first, Cairo is like any other
city. People mill about
crowded sidewalks. Buses
creep through dense
traffic. Graffiti decorates
apartment buildings and
walls. Quickly, however, you start to notice
differences. Instead of grass, medians are
sand. Traffic lanes, by cultural acceptance, are
mere suggestions. Surreally, the Great Pyramid
of Giza rises over Cairo’s southern skyline.
Such were the sights when we arrived in
Egypt for January session 2016. For 15
days, 20 MU students, two professors, a
professor’s close friend and an alumni couple
explored monasteries, attempted to read
behavior as originated by Alfred Korzybski.
Lasser, assistant professor of religion,
examined the intersections of psychoanalysis,
religion and ideology in our globalized world.
Both classes work great on the road,
says Lahman, because “they’re all about
assumptions. Justin and I both wanted for
students to know conversations across
cultures and dialogues about culture and
faith are difficult, but the subject matter
you’re learning will help you through this
conversation.”
And these cultural conversations were
difficult. During our visit, Egypt was
preparing for the fifth anniversary of the
Our Manchester education, which teaches us to
appreciate and respect other cultures, is a valuable tool
in situations that affront Western sensibilities. It helped
to prepare us for what we saw.
hieroglyphic reliefs, cruised the Nile, rode
camels, considered the engineering marvel of
ancient obelisks and stood at the lip of Saint
Anthony’s Cave, a 1,200-step climb up the
Red Sea mountains.
Egypt is, in a word, breathtaking.
Between adventures, the group divided
to meet in their respective classes, Mary
Lahman’s General Semantics and Justin
Lasser’s Rethinking God. The course taught
by Lahman, professor of communication
studies, explored human interaction and
mental behaviors through correct language
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Photo by Clay Lomneth