Saudi king breaks ground for new coed university http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/21/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-University.php RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah laid the cornerstone Sunday for a new coed science and technology university the government hopes will attract students from around the world. "We hope that the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology will be a lighthouse for knowledge and a bridge connecting civilizations and nations to exercise a sublime humanitarian message," the king told the more than 1,500 dignitaries and academics who attended the ceremony, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. KAUST will be the first public university in the kingdom to educate both male and female students. Saudi Arabia has long enforced a strict Islamic lifestyle in which men and women are segregated in public, including at schools, universities, restaurants, lines outside international fast food outlets and bank branches catering to customers. Currently, there is only one private coed university in the country. "I pray to God to make this university a house for wisdom, a forum for scientists and a ray that lights the road of the coming generations with science," SPA quoted the king as saying. KAUST Interim President Nadhmi Al-Nasr told al-Riyadh newspaper on Saturday that the university will open in 2009 with 500 male and female students. It was not immediately clear whether the two sexes would attend classes side-by-side or be separated into groups. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, who was in charge of developing KAUST, said the university will look beyond national borders to become "an international university that extends its hands and opens its doors to all talented scientists, distinguished researchers and promising students from the kingdom and from all the countries of the world."
i bet tuition is free. theyll probably have a really strong, chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering, programs.
Lord, have mercy Talk about a terrorist target. Same with Dubai of the UAE. This is the only way that region will ever join the rest of the world- change from within. Let's hope it succeeds, at least partially- CF
A small step, but considering where it is, perhaps not so small. It depends on how it's run. If the classes are seperated by the sexes, then I'm not too impressed. (to put it mildly) D&D. How About We Keep it Civil. Let's work on it. (Impeach Bush!)
Two important things about this. 1. The obvious gender equity in the classroom is a step forward. I wouldn't put too much faith in this since the Saudi government has taken small piecemeal reform before and it hasn't really led to much. 2. The more important thing is the goal of improving higher education in the Middle East. The ME is absolutely atrocious when it comes to teaching science and technology. Countries with double digit unemployment should have no business importing its entire oil infrastructure and paying them tons of money. But because the science and technology fields are so god awful, the only way to fill in the void is to look abroad. Hopefully, this can encourage more higher education which can help lower unemployment and create a society exposed to academia which is an excellent antidote to extremism when done properly. As it stands, most Saudi funded universities have an overarching religious overtone that basically eliminates any hope of academic freedom. Hopefully that changes.
Why would anyone especially girls go here? I would be scared someone will bomb the place. I am sure some Muslim is thinking: How dare women have equal rights to man that is unthinkable.
What gave Blacks the courage to sit at a lunch counter in the South in the 1950's? You have to start somewhere. D&D. How About We Keep it Civil. Let's work on it. (Impeach Bush!)
Why would they target this particular university over any other Middle Eastern university having coed universities? Generally, the terrorists target foreign aggressors rather than their own population.
sounds like a step in the right direction. i was in mexico city recently and met a scottish couple in their late 50's/early 60's. the man was an architect who designed museums all over the world. he was working on one in guadalajara and was visiting mexico city before leaving. he also looked exactly like sean connery (we were hoping he would call us "dirty bastards" or tell us he wanted "swords for $600". super-interesting dude. anyway, he was recently working on an anthropology museum in saudi that is ironically being build by osama's oldest brother, who is funding all these kind of projects - schools, universities, museums, sciency-stuff. the scottish guy said bin laden is really trying to bring education and cultural-type stuff to saudi.
I'd guess the families that send their daughters to this university are probably not the same families that practice honor killings...
