Soraya Altorki was an anthropology faculty member at the American University in Cairo from the 1970s to the 2020s, having studied at AUC as an undergraduate in the mid-1960s. The Saudi Arabian Altorki tells of attending girls' boarding schools in Lebanon and Alexandria, Egypt in her youth, and being the first Saudi woman to attend AUC. She describes students and campus social life in the mid-1960s, noting the restrictions occasioned by living with family, and makes comparisons with AUC students of later decades. She recounts attending graduate school for anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, despite her family’s concerns, mentioning faculty and fellow students there. Alorki tells of her return to AUC in the 1970s as a faculty member, and describes the department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Egyptology (SAPE) over the years, including colleagues in its various disciplines. The development of the anthropology program, its students and graduates, and notable visiting scholars are also addressed. She discusses her teaching and research interests, as well as academic administration at AUC
