In other regions of the world, higher education as a field of analysis has attracted considerable attention from historians, psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists. However, institutions of post-secondary education in the GCC states have only recently started to garner similar interest. Higher education in the Arabian Peninsula dates back thousands of years – Mecca, Tarim in the Hadhramawt, and the island of Qeshm on the peninsula’s edge were all important centers of learning – but modern-style universities emerged only in the 1960s. Studies of how universities in the GCC region work are necessarily at an early stage. At a policy level, the term “knowledge-based economies” is foregrounded, although reality often falls short of expectations due to such factors as low primary and secondary school standards. In faculty and administrative recruitment, terms such as “world-class university” indicate high aspirations, but politics and the economics of high educational demand cause institutions to fall short. The considerable expenditure on the education sector as a whole and the concomitant debates on reforming otherwise underperforming educational systems has been important for wider debates on innovation and sustainability. Moreover, the growing numbers of foreign institutions establishing branches in the Gulf, providing a ready-made shortcut to international accreditation, has led to important debates among many scholars concerning academic freedom. In addition, higher education is significant to understanding broader political and economic processes of human development, public culture, and identity. Critical inquiry into these processes is indispensable for understanding the underlying logic of education in the GCC as these states continue to bolster existing national and private universities and seek out foreign academic institutions from Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Policymakers consider training a local workforce an important goal to reduce dependence on expatriates. Nationalization is now a clearly stated policy where job advertisements are meant exclusively for Gulf nationals. Yet “world class” higher education necessarily transcends national and regional boundaries. Scholars who study in schools and universities recognize that they are more than institutions seeking to impart knowledge. They also are locales for meaning-making, social transformation, and global engagement. This workshop seeks to identify research questions to contribute theoretically and empirically to the field. We seek to explore the ways in which higher education in the GCC states can help in the rapid processes of social change; what are the major convergences and divergences across GCC as to their vision and investment in higher education; the ways that higher education is still considered a threat to “heritage,” and varying approaches to these questions within the GCC and in its regional and global relations. The workshop aims to expand knowledge on these questions and to map out key processes and patterns. It will focus on the 3 perceptions, ideas, and strategies around cultural and political symbolism and the geopolitical environment in which decisions about higher education are carried out.