The Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) will host its second Gulf Studies Symposium (GSS) on March 13-15 here entitled "Knowledge-Based Development in the Gulf." The GSS is held on a biennial basis at AUK, and brings together local, regional, and international scholars of the Gulf to engage in interdisciplinary discussions on important topics that are timely to both the region and the field of Gulf studies.
The Arab Gulf states increasingly utilize the phrase "knowledge economy" in their development strategies, and emphasize the need to move away from natural resource dependency towards "knowledge-based" development, where knowledge, skills, and innovation drive economic success and competitive advantage, the CGS said in a statement on Sunday.
During the three-day public symposium, leading historians, ethnographers, political scientists, theorists, and educators will draw on their original qualitative research, as well as on their own experiences teaching and/or researching within the Gulf, to address key questions related to knowledge-based development in the region, it pointed out.
The CGS aims to promote greater cultural understanding of and increased intellectual interest in the Gulf, by facilitating free and open academic discourse on a range of issues that both shape and challenge this critical region of the world.
The goal of the CGS is to enable scholars as well as political and civil society actors both within and outside the region to contribute and add value to the burgeoning field of Gulf Studies, while at the same time informing and engaging the general public.