Portuguese department, faculty of Al Alsun has celebrated the International Day of the Portuguese language on 5th May by graduating the faculty 1st batch at the level of Middle East.
The graduation came in conjunction with the momentum of Egyptian- Portuguese relationships with the visit of the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to Egypt on 12th – 15th April 2018, during his visit he stressed that Portuguese language department in Aswan University is confirming the historical relationships between Arabs and the Iberian Peninsula.
It should be noted that establishing a department of Portuguese language was the result of Aswan University initiative in the International Day of Portuguese Language on 5th May 2015. Since its foundation, the Portuguese language of Aswan University receives a number of visiting professors from Brazilian, Portuguese, African and Asian universities. The department is keen on participating in cultural and touristic development of the surrounding society through cooperating with Aswan Cultural Palace in holding several events of which the most distinguished was holding a Brazilian Folklore Celebration on 19th February 2017 which has resulted in activating the Brazilian and Portuguese touristic movement in Egypt as it reached about 30000 tourists in 2017. Moreover, it has participated in the International Forum for the African Popular Cultures with a paper on African Literature written in Portuguese in addition to lectures on woman’s literature. The department has positively participated in the last four years in enhancing the academic relationships with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries CPLP through organizing annual Cultural Days for these countries in the presence of delegations from Portugal, Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique. In the same context, memoranda of understanding have been signed with Brazilian and Portuguese universities. Moreover, Portuguese Language Department participates in many academic forums; the last participation was in Jawaharlal Nehru University celebrating of Aswan University Portuguese language experience by honoring the department chairman Dr. Maged Al-Gebaly on 9th March 2018 with the Indian University Shield.
