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Time ripe for prominent chairs in Arab varsities
Gulf governments cannot enter the global village and compete on the world scale if their best and brightest science graduates emigrate.
- By Joseph A. Kechichian, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 23:42 November 12, 2008
As we enter the winter conference season throughout the Gulf region, with political gurus descending onto luxury hotels to offer pearls of their yearly wisdom, it may be useful to ask whether promoters are receiving anything worthwhile. Similarly, what are the real rewards that Gulf executives secure, when they establish "chairs" in foreign universities?
Of course, listening to and learning from differing views is eminently reasonable, and one can only conclude that the upcoming Business Forum 2008, which will feature - among others - such a luminary figure as Rudolph W. Giuliani, will add value. Given that the latter is rather well known, and because his condescending perceptions of Arabs and Muslims are renowned, one wonders what this gathering will achieve. Before long, we will have another "Dialogue" in Manama, and a slew of well-meaning follow-up meetings in Doha, which specialises in such affairs.
Parallel to these symposia, Arab governments set up various chairs in Western institutions of higher learning - the latest being the Sultan of Oman Chair of Oriental Studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands - to improve academic perceptions further.
We all remember the ugly characterisations that followed the creation of the Shaikh Zayed Al Nahyan Professorship in Islamic Religious Studies at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as the announcement that followed the establishment of the King Faysal Chair of Islamic and Arab Studies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Critics insisted that foreign governments, in these cases the UAE and Saudi Arabia, should not be allowed to exercise any rights, or "understandings," to fill these appointments.
Even if innocent proponents of these chairs entertained the mere thought of influencing members of any board of trustees, few understood how internal academic dynamics granted university professors the kind of powers that Gulf rulers seldom enjoyed. In the event, well-meaning foreign leaders were blamed for being naive, but still hoped that over the long term, such chairs would encourage objective research on their countries.
At the risk of sounding alarmist, the time may be ripe to introduce radical thinking in how best Gulf financial resources are allocated, precisely to secure sorely needed research that indigenous officials crave.
First, it may be time to establish prestigious chairs in Arab universities, rather than squander resources overseas that only gather disdain. Several universities, including the University of the UAE in Al Ain and Sultan Qaboos University near Muscat are genuine centres of learning.
Significant strengthening
These can and should be significantly strengthened by adding prominent chairs that will be filled by scholars who will help their students and, through various outreach activities, local societies. Regular conferences held by scholars at home will surely enhance their interactions, enhance various universities' standings through scholarly publications, and allow chair holders to represent their institutions and countries at international events.
If it is deemed that Gulf universities are young and do not have the required academic depth to host such chairs, there are several other regional candidates, especially in Egypt and Lebanon, that enjoy a healthy track record. The American University in Cairo and its counterpart in Beirut, as well as the remarkable Lebanese American University, are beacons that need careful nurturing. Several Arab leaders currently serving in the higher echelons of local governments are graduates of these institutions. Imagine if the Zayed or Qaboos or Faysal chairs were at AUC, AUB or LAU. Imagine the significance of such chairs for the region as a whole.
Second, it may also be time to empower local scientists, by creating research environments that will allow for the free conduct of pertinent research. Dr Ahmad Zewail, the Linus Pauling Chair Professor of Chemistry at the renowned California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy (the use of high-speed cameras to monitor chemical reactions at a scale of an infinitesimal second).
Needless to say, his native Egypt did not offer ideal conditions to conduct such research, but Cairo must do so if it wishes to retain brainpower. The same goes for Lebanon and many other Arab countries, where the best and brightest hop on the first plane out after earning a degree.
Simply stated, Arab governments cannot enter the global village and compete on the world scale if their scientists emigrate. Therefore, it is essential that entire teams be established at local universities, to stop the hemorrhaging, and graft vital academic initiatives.
Finally, and if leading foreign scholars are indispensable in the short term, Arab universities should lure the best and brightest from elsewhere to these shores. Why should first-class research be conducted only in Cambridge or Leiden or Pasadena? Why couldn't it also occur in Cairo, Beirut, Dubai, or Muscat?
If we have the vision to dream of great accomplishments, then we can surely achieve them, and, in the process, we will not have to squander resources on those who preach. One earns respect and the easiest way is to empower indigenous capabilities.
Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.
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