The American University in Cairo (AUC) has named Dr. Joel Blecher as the 2023 Bayard Dodge Distinguished Visiting Professor in their department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations. Established in 1987, this program allows the department to regular host distinguished scholars to visit AUC and deliver public lectures to the university community and the wider scholarly and intellectual community of Cairo. Previous appointees have included the late Edward Said, as well as many other luminaries in our field.