A Seminar at the University of Bahrain Stresses the Importance of the Roles of Universities in Innovation

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Ali Al Sabbaq)

 

May 27, 2023

 

A scientific seminar at the University of Bahrain stressed the importance of universities’ roles in cultural innovation in the Arab world. It highlighted the need to develop pioneering universities capable of graduating entrepreneurs and intellectuals.

 

The seminar, organized by the Cultural and Social Committee, at the College of Arts, University of Bahrain was attended by Prof. Odeh Al- Jayyousi, Head of Innovation Department at the Arabian Gulf University, Dr. Dheya Abdullah Al-Kaabi, Associate Professor of Narratives and Literary Criticism at the University of Bahrain, and Aisha Al-sada, Head of the Cultural Programs and Awareness Department at the Bahrain Authority for culture and antiquities.

 

The seminar, moderated by faculty member in the Department of Mass communication, Tourism and Fine Arts Dr. Samar Adel Al-Abiyuki, was titled “Universities and Cultural Innovation in the Arab World: Towards a Roadmap for Sustainable Cultural Development”.

 

Prof. Al- Jayyousi noted that the constant desire to learn is an essential part of innovation, so it is necessary for universities to teach students how to learn for life. He stressed that “Reasoning must be adopted in all sciences, because it is the starting point for innovation.”

 

For her part, Dr. Dheya Al-Kaabi spoke about the digital cultural innovation in Arab universities, reviewing the experience of the folklore course at the University of Bahrain as a model.

 

Dr. Al-Kaabi pointed out several reasons that motivate the digital transformation of the folklore course, the most important of which are the weakness of the digital Arabic cultural content, and the lack of digital archiving of many Arabic folklore materials that will become extinct once their narrators pass away. She mentioned that one of the basic learning outcomes of this course is that students will individually or collectively produce documentaries of a certain kind of Arab popular narratives.

 

For her part, Aisha Al-sada, Head of the Cultural Programs and Awareness Department at the Bahrain Authority for culture and antiquities, spoke about culture as one of the forms of soft powers affecting the progress of communities. She pointed to the roles played by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities in promulgating legislation and legal protection, spreading knowledge and awareness, and sustaining cultural activity. She reviewed the innovative cultural initiatives the Authority regularly organizes, and the projects and events it is keen to hold and involve Bahraini students in. At the end of her initiative, she called for involving as many students as possible in the initiatives organized by the Authority.

 

The seminar was attended by distinguished guests, including the Dean of the College of Arts, Dr. Abdulaziz Muhammad Bulaileh, who spoke about the importance of practicing innovative roles of the universities, and the need to benefit from the heritage for the future. Dr. Al- Jayyousi agreed with Dr.  Bulaileh and stressed the importance of going beyond the traditional role of the university, which is limited to providing the labor market with employees and professional cadres, to their pioneering role represented in graduating students who can start projects that can compete in the market.

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