After three years and a lot of refurbishing, the American Culture Centre (ACC) in Cairo re-opened this week with the promise of expanded services for subscribers who join in person or online. The ACC was closed as part of the pandemic precautionary measures adopted by the American Embassy in Cairo.
Next the reopening, Donna Wiss, ACC’s new director, told Dina Ezzat from “Ahram Weekly” about its expanded program.
For ACC’s new director Donna Wiss, last Monday’s event was more a relaunch than a reopening. According to Wiss, the ACC now offers more — in terms of English language titles and resources, opportunities for members to improve their conversational English and IT skills, and access to scholarships and internships — than it did in the past.
Online services have become central to ACC, said Wiss. The shift in emphasis started with Covid restrictions when ACC opted to keep in touch with subscribers and allow more subscribers to join, online. The strategy has allowed ACC to reach out way beyond those living in Cairo, let alone those who can come to Garden City during the center’s 10-4 weekday working hours.
The ACC venue, located in the well-guarded compound of the American Embassy in Cairo, is “a space to connect… in a cross-cultural environment” says its new director. According to Wiss, feedback to the center’s online reach out has been impressive, with subscribers particularly keen to join the conversation club and access the library of close to 3,000 titles of e- and audiobooks and dozens of documentaries and films. That almost everything is being made available online, and everything, including the subscription, is free, is bound to significantly increase the number of online subscribers beyond the current 5,000, as well as the number of people who go to ACC and use its well-equipped space.
The center, Wiss explained, works around themes that are of interest to its audience. To mark International Women’s Day in March, for example, the center dedicated considerable time to discussions and documentaries on women’s issues. Ongoing attention is also being paid to the issue of climate change, not least because Egypt was the host of COP27.
Despite titles on the bookshelves that include, among other disciplines, literature, history, science, and psychology, Wiss said that subscribers tended to be most interested in programs that help advance business and technology skills. To better cater to this demand, especially from younger people, ACC is working to develop partnerships with the American University in Cairo and with Egyptian universities and other cultural organizations.
The reopening, says Wiss, has been accompanied by a member survey, with subscribers canvassed for their wish lists so their expectations can be incorporated into ACC’s programming.
As director of ACC, Wiss says she is hoping to introduce more aspects of American culture to an Egyptian audience and to learn more about Egyptian culture and the delights of its cuisine.
ACC in Cairo, one of 600 cultural centers that the American government operates around the world, was inaugurated in the 1990s.
