Dear visitor of this website,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Cairo Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CILAS). My name is Karim-Yassin Goessinger. I am founder and director of CILAS. I set out to create CILAS in an effort to contribute to the reinvention of higher education in Egypt.
CILAS blends the liberal arts with Cairo’s rich and dynamic social context. The liberal arts are subjects or skills that are considered essential for a citizen to know in order to take an active part in civic life. The aim of liberal arts education is to produce a virtuous, knowledgeable and articulate person.
Liberal arts education recognises and exposes students to the different forms that good thinking, truth and evidence take. It nurtures a wise appreciation of the complexity of the world. In today's world, one needs to be able to interpret changing global conditions, mobilise resources effectively and guide teams of diverse people. Students at CILAS are challenged and supported to cultivate these skills.
Offering a yearlong, English language study programme, CILAS enables students from diverse backgrounds access to liberal arts education. CILAS is located in Islamic Cairo in the neighborhood of Al-Ghuria. In employing Discussion Based Learning and a student-teacher ratio of six to one, CILAS serves as a learning environment that is conducive to critical thinking, self-reflection and civic engagement.
At CILAS, students complete coursework in the fields of Arts, Culture, Social and Natural Sciences. A core curriculum provides students with the intellectual foundation to engage in analytical discussions, creative inquiry, collaboration and debate. In addition, students complete thematic coursework, engage in community service and apply their acquired competencies during development-related capstone projects.
I hope you find the information on this website useful. Should you have questions or comments please do not hesitate to write to me.
Sincerely,
Karim-Yassin Goessinger
Founder and Director
