» About Gulf Studies Center
» Vision
» Goals
» Activities

  
About Gulf Studies Center
The Gulf Studies Center at the American University of Kuwait seeks to enhance the understanding of the Gulf region and encourage informed scholarship in all academic disciplines.  The Center also works to promote dialogue and understanding between Gulf Countries and the West.  This is achieved through publications, lecture series, and academic conferences; cooperative programs with other universities and institutions; and the Gulf Studies Certificate Program and the Gulf Studies Minor.  The Gulf Studies Certificate Program is designed for, but not limited to, students from abroad who will spend a semester at AUK studying and researching Arabic and the Gulf region.
  
Vision
The Gulf Studies Center vision is centrally shaped to enrich and foster academic and intellectual understanding of the political, economic, security, social, educational, and environmental issues relevant to the Gulf region through different activities. The GSC promotes communication, collaboration and dialogue using its media and education provider. The Center is also devoted to facilitating dialogue among scholars specialized in Gulf affairs, both within and outside the region.
  
Goals

1. Enhance public as well as professional knowledge and understanding of the GCC.
2. Become a significant body at AUK, attracting to its activities, audiences from campus and outside. 
3. Invite scholars, politicians, media specialists and academics involved in Gulf affairs to share their ideas and submit their contributions to GSC.
4. Provide Fulbright Visiting professors with different opportunities, services, and resources that will help enhance their research and understanding of the GCC.
5. Promote communication and cooperation among AUK students, along with circulating information about the Gulf region through a series of lectures, seminars, and workshops the GSC holds and hosts.

  
Activities

1. Lecture series that focus on issues of culture, politics, gender, and religion of the Gulf region. It also features foreign and local scholars and policy makers who specialize in the Middle East and the Gulf States.  Past Speakers include Jerry L. Bacharach, Maimouna Al-Sabah, Dr. Gregory Gause, Dr. Masouma Al-Mubarak and Dr. Rola Dashti.
2. Administration of the Fulbright Program at the American University of Kuwait, hosting U.S Fulbright scholars and students while they conduct in-country research.
3. Hosts and organizes an annual conference on themes related to the politics, economics and society in the Gulf.
4. Cross-cultural exchange, such as the Middle East Partnership Initiative, where select AUK students participated in MEPI’s Study of U.S Institutes for Student Leaders’ from the Middle East and North Africa.