Youth reconnect with history

Most UAE students seem out of touch with ancient world history with a prevailing notion of the irrelevance of this field of study. Speaking at last week's Teaching the Ancient World Conference organised by the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, Jeffrey Szuchman, Professor of Global Studies, Zayed University, said at the start of the current semester "over 60 per cent of the students could not name a single person associated with ancient Rome," or place its dates correctly.

He said as a professor of global studies he had no expectations that students have any prior knowledge of ancient history as he might have in the West. This "appears to be the by-product of an environment in which knowledge of the ancient world is undervalued, including the ancient societies of the UAE".

Citing a recent journal published by ZU titled Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, he said more than 90 per cent of ZU faculty members acknowledged "cross-cultural student-related classroom challenges".

"This is a future-oriented society," said Szuchman, with the various ambitious development projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi accommodating the future needs of the country.

New programme

However, thanks to student demand, ZU will introduce a new major in Emirati Studies in its College of Humanities and Social Sciences in autumn 2010, said Szuchman.

The programme will consist of courses on Emirati history and culture, anthropology, archaeology, museum studies and tourism. "It is a response to demonstrated student demand for courses like these."

Szuchman told Campus Notes that the museum projects on Saadiyat Island, 500 metres off the coast of Abu Dhabi, are the most visible aspects of a nationwide increase in heritage and cultural tourism projects. Many of these are devoted exclusively to Emirati culture and heritage. Graduates of the new programme will be able to contribute to these projects.

Similarly, the existing three-course Global Awareness sequence — mandatory for every student in their first three semesters — is "among the university's first efforts at fostering a generation of intellectually aware and culturally sensitive citizens of the world".

History repeating itself

Szuchman said people tend to think of the UAE as having only recently become involved with world affairs which is simply not the case.

"This region of the world has been actively involved in economic, political and cultural interactions with Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe for thousands of years." He said if students can get an appreciation for the UAE's place in the world over a span of history, then they will be able to contribute to a well-rounded vision of the country's place today and in the future.

Citing relevance as the key factor for gaining student interest in ancient world history, he said students are witnessing a period of extremely rapid urbanisation and changes wrought by globalisation that are very similar to those experienced by people in the ancient world.

"If students can see that several cultures throughout time and in different parts of the world were caught up with the same questions, issues or dilemmas they are experiencing, then the course can be very rewarding for them."