ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: We live in an era where everything is possible and nothing is certain. The changing nature of societal expectations has lead institutions of higher learning to respond to local, national and global pressures by re-shaping their academic programmes and practices. In the Middle East, the response can be observed in the proliferation of “American-style”, liberal-arts-oriented independent undergraduate colleges and universities. However, a contradiction remains in that while forces external to higher education are dramatically reshaping it, institutional traditions and a misunderstanding of the “liberal arts” has meant that higher education has remained essentially the same. This paper examines the purpose of the “Liberal Arts” in the light of the “industry logic” and the “social institution logic” perspectives to explain how the Liberal Arts can best serve both views.
