Sometimes in recent years it has been too easy to forget that Islam and the Middle East once produced some of the most advanced scientific discoveries the world had ever seen. Sharjah's Islamic Museum is worth a visit to jog the too often moribund memory of how our ancestors served in bringing about a greater understanding of the world, the cosmos and ourselves when much of the rest of the world lived in what is termed the “dark ages” when learning and research came almost to a stop. There are, of course, fine modern universities in the Middle East today, particularly in Cairo and Beirut, and now the Kingdom's newly opened Kaust can be added to that list of not only top-notch regional universities but top-notch worldwide educational institutions, as well. As with any start-up institution harboring such ambitions, Kaust still has to clear some stumbling blocks before it will have the capability of truly coming into its own and realizing the vision of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, its visionary founder. Not all of the university's state-of-the-art equipment has been installed and some scholars chosen to do research at Kaust will undertake their initial efforts at foreign universities affiliated with Kaust before moving their studies to the Kingdom. In addition to the scientific experiments to be conducted at Kaust, the university will also comprise something of a social experiment, as well. As opposed to other educational institutions in the country, Kaust will teach both men and women in the same classroom and both male and female teachers will head these co-educational classes. This departure from the local norms of the Kingdom is a clear recognition both of the equal role that men and women can play in bettering the human condition and the importance of allowing men and women to work together for the common good. Kaust is just one institution in a vast region of political turbulence but its role in reminding the local population of its profound role in educating and working with the population of the entire world is immense. __
