University News & Insights

A few evenings ago, I found myself in a surprisingly deep conversation with my 11-year-old, trying to explain the verb “to be.” What started as a fairly innocent grammar discussion became something much harder to articulate. The more we explored it, the more I realised that “being” isn’t a simple concept at all. In fact, it may be one of the hardest things to explain, and perhaps even harder to practise. In education we often talk about what people do. We build curricula around skills, we set outcomes and assessments, we track performance. All of that matters. Action is necessary. Doing gives us agency. It’s how we participate in the world and how we make change possible. But I worry that we don’t give nearly enough attention to the deeper questions of being. Who are our students becoming—not just in terms of careers, but as people? Are they learning to act with intention, or are they simply reacting to the pressures around them? This is where wanting comes in. So much of what we do is driven by what we think we want. Increasingly, those wants are shaped by forces most people never really notice. Social media, advertising, even parts of our educational culture. They all have a way of influencing desire without necessarily building awareness. Coming back to that conversation with my son. To be, to do, to want: they’re not just verbs, they’re deeply human questions. And in a world where AI can do more and more for us, I think education must focus even more on what it means to live with intention, to act from within rather than be pulled from without. At Euro University of Bahrain, as well as preparing students for employment, we’re also helping them to develop clarity of mind, purpose in action and the self-awareness needed to navigate a noisy world. Not every student will articulate it in philosophical terms, and they shouldn’t have to. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦.

In a time of deep interconnection and fast-moving change, the value of a university education lies not only in the degree it confers, but in the perspectives it cultivates. As our economies and societies become more globally intertwined, the ability to think beyond one’s immediate context is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. This is where global education has particular relevance. At its core, a global education is about perspective. It challenges students to examine issues not only from a local or regional viewpoint, but from a broader, comparative lens. This doesn’t mean abstract internationalism. It means enga ging with ideas, case studies, and academic frameworks developed in different contexts—and asking how they apply to one’s own environment. For example, in a business class, students might explore governance models from the UK, the US, and the Gulf, and ask why they differ—and what can be learned from each. In legal studies, examining both common and civil law traditions encourages a deeper understanding of one’s own system. In computing, applying international data standards or using globally adopted tools prepares students for workplaces no longer limited by geography. At Euro University of Bahrain, through our academic partnership with the University of London, we offer programmes designed by leading UK institutions. But the delivery is local, in-person, and contextualised. Students are part of a classroom community here in Bahrain—learning from faculty with international experience and global academic training, while also understanding the realities of our region. Degrees should not be transactional. They should not be seen as checkboxes to be acquired quickly. A university education should stretch how a student thinks, challenge what they assume, and prepare them for complexity. It should open doors not only to jobs, but to ideas. The skills students gain in this environment—critical thinking across cultures, adaptability in uncertain conditions, and the ability to work within multiple frameworks—are increasingly valuable in the labour market. Employers operate in cross-border networks, even when headquartered locally. Whether it’s a Bahraini bank building AI tools with European partners, or a logistics firm navigating African and Asian markets, the expectation is clear: graduates must be globally competent, not just locally prepared. It’s easy to speak of globalisation in abstract terms. But in education, it’s a practical question: are we preparing students to contribute meaningfully in a world they will inherit—a world more diverse, more complex, and more interconnected than ever before? At EUB, our commitment is to ensure the answer is yes. Not by sending students abroad, but by bringing global education here—into our classrooms, our curriculum, and our conversations. In doing so, we help shape graduates who are not only career-ready, but world-ready.