TY - CHAP
T1 - Higher Education in the Arab World
AU - Herrera, Linda
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Springer 2007.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Higher education in the Arab region has been witness to a prolific history. Long intertwined with major religious, intellectual, political, social, and economic movements, institutions of higher learning have occupied a central place in Arab societies. The university in the contemporary Arab world can be conceptualized as a global, universal institution located within a region with particular histories and cultures of learning. The Arab region, which contains 5% of the world’s population and consists of 22 member states of the League of Arab States, spans the Southern Mediterranean, Northern and Central Africa, and Western Asia. Arabic is the dominant—albeit not the only—language in the region, and Islam is the majority religion for some 90% of the population, with Christianity accounting for much of the remaining 10%1 The region contains a great deal of diversity, yet despite significant differences, a number of features—including the prominence of numerous pan-Arab political and economic organizations, a shared language, majority religion, political systems, common history, and experience of regional politics—allow for a coherent treatment of the Arab region.
AB - Higher education in the Arab region has been witness to a prolific history. Long intertwined with major religious, intellectual, political, social, and economic movements, institutions of higher learning have occupied a central place in Arab societies. The university in the contemporary Arab world can be conceptualized as a global, universal institution located within a region with particular histories and cultures of learning. The Arab region, which contains 5% of the world’s population and consists of 22 member states of the League of Arab States, spans the Southern Mediterranean, Northern and Central Africa, and Western Asia. Arabic is the dominant—albeit not the only—language in the region, and Islam is the majority religion for some 90% of the population, with Christianity accounting for much of the remaining 10%1 The region contains a great deal of diversity, yet despite significant differences, a number of features—including the prominence of numerous pan-Arab political and economic organizations, a shared language, majority religion, political systems, common history, and experience of regional politics—allow for a coherent treatment of the Arab region.
KW - Academic Freedom
KW - Arab Region
KW - Arab World
KW - High Education
KW - United Nations Development Program
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79958010242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79958010242&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-1-4020-4012-2_20
DO - 10.1007/978-1-4020-4012-2_20
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781402040115
SN - 9789400705623
T3 - Springer International Handbooks of Education
SP - 409
EP - 421
BT - International Handbook of Higher Education
A2 - Forest, James J. F.
A2 - Altbach, Philip G.
PB - Springer
ER -