Kuwait Times

Published Date: March 09, 2009

KUWAIT: The American University of Kuwait (AUK), in collaboration with Dartmouth College, will convene a conference of international scholars and educators from March 10 to 12 to discuss the rapidly evolving state of higher education in the Arabian Peninsula. With a focus on how institutions are incorporating and adapting various higher education models, the conference, "University Development and Critical Thinking: Education in the Arabian Peninsula for a Global Future," is the outgrowth of a 2007 worksho
p on liberal education, sponsored by AUK and held at the Rockefeller Foundation's Study and Conference Center at Bellagio, Italy.

Sheikha Dana Nasser Al-Sabah, Chair of the Board of Trustees at AUK, will commence the event with opening remarks followed by the patron of the conference Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs. Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, will give his keynote speech at the university as a center of human development.

Leaders and educators from the United States and across the GCC will participate in the conference. They will address questions on what new universities need in order to thrive, what challenges they face, how trustees, presidents and government officials exercise leadership in the complex realm of higher education and how the American liberal arts curriculum can be adapted to the cultural traditions and communities of the Arabian Peninsula.

American educators will, in turn, address what their universities can learn from these adaptations and how they can be used in broadening the scope of US colleges and universities

A partial list of institutions sending representatives to the conference includes Kuwait University, the University of Bahrain, the Qatar Foundation, Zayed University (UAE), the University of Nizwa (Oman), the Lebanese American University, United Arab Emirates University, the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (London), the Council on Islamic Ideology (Pakistan), the University of Sharjah, and the Teagle Foundation (New York).

The conference is co-organized by Dale F. Eickelman, the Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of Anthropology and Human Relations at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Clifford Chanin of the Legacy Project in New York. Eickelman also serves as the Relationship Coordinator for the Dartmouth College-American University of Kuwait Project.

The American University of Kuwait is the first private liberal arts institution in Kuwait. It is dedicated to providing students with knowledge, self-awareness and personal growth experiences that will enhance critical thinking, effective communication and respect for diversity. It works closely with Dartmouth College to provide a wide-ranging liberal education to students from across the Gulf nations while remaining grounded in the region's culture and based on the American model.

Dartmouth College, renowned for its focus on undergraduate liberal arts education, was founded in 1769. Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, it is a member of the Ivy League. Dartmouth works with AUK on a range of collaborative projects that benefit both institutions.