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Historic visit by Arab League
The University’s close links with the Arab World have been highlighted by a unique visit.
In April, a delegation of fourteen Arab League ambassadors to the UK visited the University as part of an official trip to Scotland.
The meeting brought the ambassadors together with staff from the University’s Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Department, as well as around thirty representatives of Scotland’s diverse Arab community.
Topics discussed included the significant contribution Scottish Arabs make to the civil, cultural and political life of Scotland, year abroad schemes in Arab countries, and options to develop further the University’s links with a rapidly changing Arab world.
This event was jointly organised by the Scottish Arab Federation and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh.
It was a great pleasure to welcome to the University ambassadors from fourteen of the twenty-two Arab countries to discuss connections past, present and future between the university and the Arab world. We hope this historic meeting will be the catalyst for more fruitful exchanges and links in the future.
Professor Hugh Goddard
Director of the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World
Arabic expertise
The Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre is committed to encouraging a better understanding of Islam and Islamic Culture through ground-breaking research and innovative outreach projects.
The Edinburgh Centre is part of a unique network of Centres at prestigious universities around the world; four in the UK and the USA (Edinburgh, Cambridge, Harvard, Georgetown) and two in the Middle East (Cairo and Beirut).
In addition, the University’s Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) department is one of the leading institutions of its kind in the UK and the world.
It has one of the UK’s largest concentrations of expertise on the Arabic-speaking world, bringing together around 20 full-time members of staff active in a wide variety of fields.
Over 70 per cent of its research activity has been classified as world-leading. Areas of study include Islamic history and philosophy; modern Middle Eastern history, politics and cultural studies; and the study of Persian, Arabic and Turkish languages and literature.
This article was published on May 4, 2012