JANUARY 2016 ISSUE 15
A M o n t h ly M a g a z i n e o n K n o w l e d g e a n d D e v e lo p m e n t b y t h e M o h amm e d B i n R a s h i d A l M ak to u m F o u n d at i o n
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54 flashes / JANUARY 2016
Dr E r i c F o u a c h e
Mapping a path to
knowledge in the
region Dr Eric Fouache, vicechancellor of Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, talks about non-Anglophonic education’s unique appeal, his plans for the region and building bridges between Arab culture and the Occident
As the head of the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, please outline the history of your institution here and the success it has had in attracting students? We opened in 2006 as Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, an Emirati university supervised by ADEC (“Abu Dhabi, Education Council”) with the aim of being the main French, Francophone and European platform for higher education and research in the region. We opened in 2014/2015 a continuous training centre and we are accelerating our research development policy. The University is in its mature phase with around 900 students from 77 different nationalities: 25% of our students are UAE Nationals, 15% are French. We are a multidisciplinary university teaching in French and English humanities, mathematics, law and economics, opened through research and continuing education to the Emirati society. As such, we fully participate in the economic and cultural development plan of the government of Abu Dhabi, which funds and supports our university.
How successful has been the experiment to export a French institution in its globality to the Middle East? This is definitely a success. In a context where almost all the present universities in the Emirates are Anglophone, our difference distinguishes us and attracts top students. All Bachelor degrees, except Science, are taught in French and we have a foundation year entirely dedicated to the teaching of French as a foreign language. These courses are very popular for our Emirati students, who represent 25% of our students.
www.mbrf.ae
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More broadly, what we seek to combine for our students at Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi is the triple knowledge of French, English and Arabic. If they are taught in English, as is the case in Master’s programme or in the mathematics and physics undergraduate courses, they are made to learn French as a foreign language, or learn another language if they have already mastered French. Today 50% of our students receive an education in French and 50% are taught in English.
Have you developed any special curriculum or subjects that are suited to the region? Some of our Masters are specifically focused on the interests of the UAE, such as the Master in History of Art and Museum studies. In the region, most of our programmes are rare, even unique: French law, Humanities and Social Sciences in French, Master of Urban Planning, and Master in Communication Management. We also opened a management DU in Sports Management with FIFA.
What are your views about the role of universities and academic institutions in helping countries like the UAE transition to a knowledge-based economy? In the development of this knowledge society, the presence of Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi helps maintain a healthy diversity of the academic ecosystem. The definition of norms and standards must not result in a single intellectual education mold. Trilingual students (Francophone, Anglophone, Arabic) taught in French in an international context are a plus for the public and private sector in the UAE, and the rest of the world. As expected, 40% of our alumni are employed in the UAE, and 60% in the rest of the world.
How is Sorbonne University helping implement Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 as a centre for Higher Education? Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, with its French, Francophone and European identity, participates in the construction, in Abu Dhabi, of a higher education and research hub that is internationally recognised. The priority of Paris Sorbonne University is to have a network across the UAE with a main partner, which is the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. 56 flashes / JANUARY 2016
This does not exclude the similar partnerships with Ankabut network, with the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi, with the Urban Planning Council and the Masdar Institute. 60% of our students are from the Middle East and therefore we also have to develop a network of regional cooperation, as shown by our membership to the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). For example, we organized in Abu Dhabi, for the first time in November 2015, the 8th conference of Rectors and Presidents of Francophone Universities in the Middle East under the aegis of the AUF. We have also signed an agreement with Saint Joseph University in Beirut. We also are signing agreements with foreign universities in the Middle East, as was the case last June with Laval University in Quebec City. It is too early evaluate the network, but it is clear that inter-university regional cooperation is our development tool to help us meet with success the objectives of the 2030 plan.
How is the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi discharging its role as a bridge between the Middle East and Europe? We are certainly, as per Abu Dhabi government’s decision, a bridge between East and West, between the Arab and the French cultures, and even between European and Western cultures. Remember that Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi delivers exactly the same courses as in France and the same degrees as our Parisian partners in a mixed and secular university. From a total of 900 students, 25% are UAE nationals, 15% are French, 75 nationalities are represented and 60% of all students are from all over the Middle East. The fact that all these communities live together in complete harmony is a remarkable success and a message of optimism to contemporary societies. Beyond our academic activities, we welcome a rich and varied program of concerts, conferences and exhibitions devoted to the links between the East and the West.
As a research scholar in environmental archaeology what are your key findings from this region? I am a geoarchaeologist. It is a discipline that studies the environment to answer the questions of archaeologists. This may be the study of major changes elements of the landscape, the moving of watercourses, vegetation changes,
Today 50% of our students receive an education in French and 50% are taught in English
Dr E r i c F o u a c h e
water resources, variations of shoreline, etc. This may be the study of the environmental impacts of human development. It can also be retrieving information from sediments that fossilised archaeological remains, whether for dating the establishment of these sediments or understanding the process of their implementation. In the last 20 years, the Middle East has been one of the most active research areas because of the presence of a dense network of international teams, in which France is very much present. Besides the Oriental Institute of Archaeology in Cairo, the Oriental Institute of Archaeology in Beirut, France has opened a new institute in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. Meanwhile, CEFAS, which was based in Sana’a, Yemen, is relocated to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and then to Kuwait. Whether understanding the different routes used by early hominids in their exit from the African continent, the role of climate variability in human-environment interactions, or whether certain aspects of the Neolithic era led to irrigation systems and agriculture in oases, many tracks for very specific research in the Middle
East are still open field! I personally continue research in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Omani, Emirati, French, Italian, American and Japanese teams.
www.mbrf.ae
Dr Eric Fouache
What are your views on the climate change and the recently concluded Paris deal on fossil fuels emissions? How will it impact countries like the UAE? Our Master of Law and Sustainable development, Master in Urban Planning, and Master in Environment: Dynamics of Territories and Societies have followed with great interest the COP21 (the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference) discussion. The UAE was among the first countries in the world, despite being an oil producer, to worry about investing in sustainable development and implementing a sustainable plan to prepare for the post-oil global economy. The achievement of an international agreement can only help the UAE to make its efforts and research investments in this area visible. JANUARY 2016 / flashes 57