For those of us who are fascinated by the ancient history of Egypt it seems normal that the subject is taught in universities worldwide, but this may not be true for today’s students (and their parents paying the tuition bills). Does the subject have a relevance beyond mere knowledge of what happened in the past? As a long-time teacher of ancient Egyptian history to large audiences at Columbia University and author of a textbook on the subject, Professor Marc Van De Mieroop, Columbia University, will reflect on this question.