How does one even attempt to capture who Maged Atiya was? The scientist with a successful academic and practical career? The businessman who built a flourishing company? The intellectual, who bridged the gap between Isaiah Berlin’s…
In memory of Maged Atiya. At times in life, you may find yourself changed by a single person that has very little in common with you, very little do to with you and has most likely…
Democracy and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions are constantly discussed. The debate centers on whether democracy is possible, or if it is doomed to authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. As we reflect on the…
What is Coptic Orthodox Christian Identity? We often hear that “we are the descendants of the pharaohs” in Coptic communities and this is often the way we begin to characterize our identities. But if one…
Who we are The Coptic Canadian History Project (CCHP) is a not-for-profit public history and community outreach organization. It serves as a forum to bridge the gap between public archives, immigrant communities, and academic scholars, and…
Because if we don't do it, someone else will.
A church that imitates the state will likely also inherit its corruption. The immigrant churches did nothing to counter such deviations, and in some cases unintentionally furthered them. A people living in economic security and cultural freedom chose to inherit the flaws created by a repressive society. The man who hailed Shenouda as “King of the Copts” in 1977 was wrong at the time, but prescient about the things to come. Sooner or later new generations outside Egypt were bound to ask the question of what it means to be a Copt and seek their own path and their personal answers. They are beginning to ask for a different deal from the one their parents accepted from Shenouda. Their passions and support for Egyptian Copts still burn, but they are unlikely to accept a shushing in a church basement.
I thought a lot about whether or not I should venture on the topic of what it means to be a Copt. What kind of expertise do I have to dare to go there? What sort…
A few weeks ago during a dinner conversation with my wife, we contemplated what our 2 year old toddler would think of herself as she grows up. Would she think of herself culturally as an American,…
In general, I don’t think tattoos are attractive, and sure never expected that I would get one. I mean, I just turned 65, and I had never gotten a tattoo in all those years, so it…