In Tunisian and Egyptian universities, scholars face a growing Islamist resolve to remake their countries on the basis of religious principles. Both Tunisia and Egypt face questions that could affect higher education across the Middle East and North Africa: Can their new Islamist governments spread conservative religious values and also create…

Since at least the early 1990s, Arab governments have made women's participation in higher education a priority. Across the region, young women fill the crowded lecture halls and bustling courtyards of universities. On many campuses, they outnumber men. But women's increased participation in higher education does not necessarily translate into…

On the first day of the author's American-government course he often plays a little trick on the students. He throws one of them out of class. The plan is to stop the student at the door, ask what is politics, ask why he (or she) is obeying, and encourage a more energetic discussion of authority and politics at a university. Two years ago, in the…

As protesters across the Arab world demand an end to autocratic regimes that have drained universities of resources and suffocated critical thinking, scholars see some hope of an Arab renaissance and a new opening for American involvement. From the ancient Library of Alexandria to a new Islamic-arts museum in Qatar that holds 700-year-old…

With more than a dozen American universities opening branches and campuses on the Persian Gulf, the oil-rich emirates of the Arabian peninsula are threatening to dethrone cities like Cairo, Baghdad, and Beirut as the academic centers of the Middle East. Wealthy, safe, and relatively stable, these emirates are vying to become the new intellectual…

The author recently served on a five-member international review panel for Saudi Arabia's National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment. The panel's mission was to evaluate the Arab Open University against the commission's accreditation criteria to determine if the university should be eligible for King Abdullah's national…

Discusses how many Middle Eastern students, pressured by their parents and in the face of growing hostility on American campuses, are abandoning their studies to return to their home countries. (EV)

The Supreme Court ruled that Jews, Arabs, and people from other ethnic groups could file discrimination charges under the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Filing suit under the 1866 law allows complainants to sue for monetary damages and without the strict time limits set by the 1964 statute. (MLW)

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This March 26, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Going Over the Falls" (Brady, John N.); (2) "Lessons in Departmental…