Sorbonne University to open in Abu Dhabi
Sorbonne University to open in Abu Dhabi
The French arecoming to the UAE, and while they're not bringing any culinary treats with them, they will however be bringinga beacon of French education and values. Rania Habib reports
In October 2006, the Paris-Sorbonne University - Abu Dhabi will open its doors, in what was hailed as a true revolution by the president of the Paris-based institution. "We didn't choose Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi chose us," said Jean-Robert-Pitte, president of the Paris-Sorbonne University.
"We are very proud. We want to make the Abu Dhabi Sorbonne a place for inter-cultural dialogue and create lasting peace using the best tools that globalisation has to offer. Our Abu Dhabi campus will be one little French stone in the building of society."
The Abu Dhabi branch of the Sorbonne represents the first time the 750-year-old university has expanded beyond France.
The subjects are ...
Specialised in the humanities, the Sorbonne will offer a wide range of subjects, and will have eight main majors: archaeology and art history, French and comparative literature, geography and urban planning, history, information and communication, languages and civilisations, music and musicology, and philosophy and sociology.
French professors from the Paris campus will be assigned to teach at the Abu Dhabi branch. The Abu Dhabi Sorbonne will use the Abu Dhabi University campus temporarily until the final campus is built. Two hundred students will be admitted for its first school day next October 7.
To be completed in ...
The permanent Abu Dhabi Sorbonne campus will however be completed during the 2007-2008 academic year, and will be situated in University City, at the Khalifa D Area outside Abu Dhabi.
A French university in Abu Dhabi is meant to attract any francophones or non-francophones from the region to study.
"We are very grateful to Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the Education Council, who wished to have a French university in the UAE, just like his late father Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan did," added Pitte.
"This is a big honour for our university and for France. The UAE asked us to come here to set up the Sorbonne, and we have to do our best. We cannot disappoint you."
The CAMPUS
- The new facility will be designed to capture the famous dome of the Paris university in a modern style.
- Students will enjoy state-of-the-art facilities, including 45 fully equipped classrooms, three lecture theatres and a large library.
- With time, the Abu Dhabi Sorbonne will expand, and 1,500 students are expected to enrol within three years.
The EDUCATION
- The Abu Dhabi Sorbonne will deliver the Paris Sorbonne University bachelor's degree, and will follow the new European system of higher education, the Licence Masters Doctorate (LMD) system.
- The undergraduate portion (licence) consists of a three-year degree; the graduate portion (masters) will be a two-year degree, followed by a multi-year doctoral programme.
- "The diplomas are valid and recognised in France and anywhere in Europe," said Jean-Robert-Pitte, president of the Paris-Sorbonne University. "Also, at the end of any semester, students can leave the Abu Dhabi branch and continue at the Paris Sorbonne or other universities in Europe, thanks to agreements with other universities."
The FEE
- The cost for one year of study at the Abu Dhabi Sorbonne is expected to be around Dh60,000, and the school year will be divided into two semesters.
- Half the 200 students who will be admitted in October will enter the university on full or partial scholarships, and when the university expands in the future, scholarships will be granted on a competitive basis.
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