With more than a dozen American universities opening branches and campuses on the Persian Gulf, the oil-rich emirates of the Arabian peninsula are threatening to dethrone cities like Cairo, Baghdad, and Beirut as the academic centers of the Middle East. Wealthy, safe, and relatively stable, these emirates are vying to become the new intellectual…

As protesters across the Arab world demand an end to autocratic regimes that have drained universities of resources and suffocated critical thinking, scholars see some hope of an Arab renaissance and a new opening for American involvement. From the ancient Library of Alexandria to a new Islamic-arts museum in Qatar that holds 700-year-old…

Dubai has long competed with its wealthy Persian Gulf neighbors to become a regional hub of higher education. Yet its Knowledge Village, a collection of nearly 20 foreign-university campuses and local educational institutes, has been overshadowed by Qatar's Education City, which is home to the branch campuses of a number of high-profile American…

Qatar's Education City, perhaps the world's most diverse campus, is almost entirely unknown in the United States, but represents the next step in the globalization of American higher education--international franchising. Aided by technology such as online libraries, distance learning and streaming video, U.S. universities offer--and charge tuition…

The status of English as a first foreign language is discussed as well as the reasons why the standard of English and the extent to which it is spoken in Syria do not match its official status. The use of English within the educational system is examined with particular reference to secondary and university levels. The manner of determination of…

Imam Yahya Hendi came from afar--the occupied Palestinian Territories--to become, in 1999, the first full-time Muslim chaplain serving at a university in the United States. He is now the chaplain at Georgetown University. Rumee Ahmed, appointed earlier this year as Brown University's first Muslim chaplain, had a significantly shorter trip, moving…

"An Introduction to Complexity Pedagogy: Using Critical Theory, Critical Pedagogy and Complexity in Performance and Literature" offers readers an introduction to the basic concepts of complexity science and how they might be applied in the teaching of composition, creative writing, performance, and literature. The book builds on Critical…