From a rationale of multiculturalism and a based on systemic approach grounded in the Arab-Islamic tradition, this book integrates history, education, science, and feminism to understand the implications of culture in social change, cultural identity, and cultural exchange.

Given what we already know about the position of women in the academy, what is so significant about the account of women represented in this book? Lessons from colleagues in Western universities provide important models for understanding some aspects of gendered identity of women scholars; however, a deeper understanding of educational experiences for women in countries such as China, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, may potentially offer innovative insights to our current understanding of gender within education.

On the Outskirts of Engineering: Learning Identity, Gender, and Power via Engineering Practice falls at the intersection of research about women in sites of technical practice and ethnographic studies of learning in communities of practice. Grounded in long-term participation on student teams completing real-world projects for industry and government clients, Outskirts provides an insider look at forms of engineering practice—the cultural production of engineer identity, of the ways that gender is made real in such sites of practice, and of power relations that emerge in response to enculturated practices that organize everyday life. Outskirts contributes to understanding cultural obduracy and the movement of some men and most women to the outskirts of engineering.

The book introduces the development of science education in the Arab Gulf states and presents a critical analysis of current issues and concerns in educational research in science education. The key purpose is to provide some perspectives on the state of science education in Gulf and to share experiences with international scholars about the impact of the innovations and reforms implemented in science education in Arabian Gulf. But Science Education in the Arab Gulf States also intends to present new visions and to make suggestions and recommendations about the contribution of science education to prepare students in the knowledge age. The volume is organised into three main sections. The first section addresses the current practices and challenges in science education in some of the Arab Gulf states. This section sheds critically the light on the challenges and problems that hinder or constrain the implementation of innovations in science education. The second section analyses the science educational reforms and innovations that are being implemented in the Arabian Gulf. This section presents experiences and research with using new approaches to teaching and learning in science classrooms in some of the Arab Gulf states. The third section discusses the socio-cultural issues that have impacted on shaping and reshaping the science education in the Arabian Gulf. This section focuses on exploring the socio-cultural factors that influence engagement and non-engagement in science education. It also explores how socio-cultural issues and contexts guide the reform of science education in the Arabian Gulf and presents various examples of how we can respond to cultural issues.

The first decade of the 21st century witnessed an explosion in scholarly and public interest in women and Islamic cultures, globally. From misguided media representations, to politically motivated state manipulations, to agenda-driven Islamist movements, to feminist and international NGO projects – the subject and image of Muslim women has become iconic and riveting. This volume unpacks the representations, motivations, agendas, and projects by focusing on the advances in scholarly research on women and Islamic cultures in the first decade of the 21st century. The editors of the pioneering Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures bring together leading scholars, discipline by discipline, to critically analyze state of the art research on women and Islamic cultures from 2003-2013. Editors for this volume include Suad Joseph, Marilyn Booth, Bahar Davary, Hoda Elsadda, Sarah Gualtieri, Virginia Hooker, Amira Jarmakani, Therese Saliba, and Elora Shehabuddin. Contributors include Suad Joseph, Azza Basarudin, Heghnar Zeitlian Watenpaugh, Amira Jarmakani, Sajeda Amin, Kamran Rastegar, Robina Mohammad, Annika Rabo, Ahmed Ragab, Vannessa Hearman, Bahar Davary, Michelle Hartman, Hoda Elsadda, Nerina Rustomji, Amaney Jamal, Vickie Langohr, Hania Sholkamy, Zayn Kassam, Rachel Rinaldo, Samar Habib.

Synthesizing the results of the extensive research on women and gender done over the last twenty years, Margaret L. Meriwether and Judith E. Tucker provide an accessible overview of the scholarship on women and gender in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Middle East. The book is organized along thematic lines that reflect major focuses of research in this area—gender and work, gender and the state, gender and law, gender and religion, and feminist movements—and each chapter is written by a scholar who has done original research on the topic.

Social science from Western countries continues to have the greatest global influence, but the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil. In sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria andKenya produce 75% of academic publications. In South Asia, barring some centres of excellence in India, social sciences as a whole have low priority. These are a few of the findings from World Social Science Report, 2010: Knowledge divides. Produced by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) and co-published with UNESCO, the Report is the first comprehensive overview of the field in over a decade. Hundreds of social scientists from around the world contributed their expertise to the publication. Gudmund Hernes, President of the ISSC, Adebayo Olukoshi, Director of the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), Hebe Vessuri, Director, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), and François Héran, Director of Research, National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED), France, are among the experts who presented the Report during its official launch at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 25 June 2010.