American Universities Abroad

Across the globe, American-style and liberal arts universities are being established. However, these universities operate in a distinctive dynamic that must learn to bridge one culture with another, and leadership of such institutions must by its nature focus on such complexities and tensions. Throughout the chapters of this book, this unique element of these universities will be better understood through the stories and experiences as presented by their presidents, provosts, and other academic leaders.

Across the globe, American-style and liberal arts universities are being established. From the first, the American University of Beirut, established in 1866, to the liberal arts institutions being established in Saudi Arabia, Ghana, and elsewhere in the twenty-first century, there is a clear sense of the global desire for the American approach to higher education as a way of counteracting traditional, more narrowly defined university educations. However, these universities operate in a distinctive dynamic that must learn to bridge one culture with another, and leadership of such institutions must by its nature focus on such complexities and tensions. Throughout the chapters of this book, this unique element of these universities will be better understood through the stories and experiences as presented by their presidents, provosts, and other academic leaders.

PrefaceTed Purinton and Jennifer SkaggsIntroduction: Understanding American and Liberal Arts Universities Around the World: Across Borders, What Is the Essence?Ted Purinton and Jennifer Skaggs1. Achieving Liberal Arts Education Transnationally: Where From, How, and Where To?Richard A. Detweiler2. ". . . To Save Us All": Lessons from the American University in Cairo, a Community of Learning in Revolutionary TimesLisa Anderson3. AUN as a Development University-Preparing Nigerian Students for the Challenges of the CountryMargee Ensign4. Identity and Mission in a Pluralistic Nation: The American University of BeirutPeter Dorman5. Study Abroad, Abroad: Leading the Global Liberal Arts in ParisCeleste Schenck and Scott Sprenger6. American University of Sharjah: A Young Institution Aiming to Become a Research UniversityBjörn Kjerfve7. BISLA and ECOLAS: Hubs of the Liberal Arts in EuropeSamuel Abrahám8. Should Higher Education Be Vocationalized? The Role of Liberal Arts Education in Hong KongKa Ho Mok9. Trends in Liberal Arts Education in JapanJunko Hibiya10. From Hardship to Success: Building the Lebanese American UniversityJoseph G. Jabbra11. Achieving Diversity and Excellence without the US InfrastructureMary Merva12. Experiential Learning, Cheese, and Chocolate: Connecting Curriculum and PlaceSara Steinert Borella13. Greek Lessons: The American College of Greece in the Greek Economic CrisisDavid G. Horner14. Greece's Constitutional Provision on Private Higher Education and ACG's Open University AffiliationThimios Zaharopoulos15. Forman Christian College: The Rebirth of a Liberal Arts University in an Islamic StateJames Tebbe and Joseph Jones.16. Adapting the Liberal Arts Model to Create Ethical and Entrepreneurial Leaders for Africa: The Case of Ashesi University College, GhanaMarcia A. Grant17. IQRA "READ": Making the Case for Effat Liberal Arts EducationHaifa Reda Jamal Al-Lail18. Merging Local Customs with the Liberal Arts in Central AsiaAndrew Wachtel19. Adapting Liberal Arts and Sciences as a System of EducationJonathan Becker and Susan H. Gillespie20. America and American Universities Abroad: Toward a Public Diplomacy Research AgendaKyle A. Long21. New Perspectives on Legitimacy for American and Liberal Education: From Marginalization to Disruptive Innovation?Kara A. Godwin