Samia Serageldin was born and raised in Egypt, educated in Europe, and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1980. She holds a M. S. in Politics from the University of London, and is a writer, a political essayist, an editor and literary critic. She is the author of an autobiographical novel, The Cairo House (Syracuse University Press, 2000), tracing political developments in Egypt over the past three decades, including the rise of Islamism and Sadat's assassination. She has contributed essays and served as consulting editor on a book on globalization and international terrorism, In the Name of Osama Bin Laden, (Duke Press, 2002). A part-time instructor at Duke University, she is the author of papers on topics including Arab American writing and gender and Islam in Egypt. Since September 11 she has been active as a speaker in various public forums on Islam and on international events.