INTRODUCTION

On 24-25 February 2005 Aga Khan University (AKU) organised a two-day conference on Higher Education in Developing Countries: With a Focus on Muslim Contexts. The conference was held at The Congress Centre, 28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS.

In recent years, higher education has started to regain its importance in academic and policy discussions both in developed and developing countries, including those with substantial Muslim populations. A series of reports have been written in the last decade on the state of higher education in developing countries. A study of these reports shows that there is a broad similarity among the issues faced by higher education in these countries. With differing intensities the issues revolve around vision, mission, openness and independence, funding, human resources, governance, teaching materials and approaches and research. With some notable exceptions, 'in most of the developing world the potential of higher education to promote development is being realised only marginally' (Higher Education and Developing Countries: Peril and Promise, World Bank/ UNESCO, 2000).

AKU is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of whose priorities is the improvement of higher education in the Muslim and developing worlds. Through its Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) AKU is therefore seeking to create an intellectual platform for scholars and policymakers to engage in deliberations about the future of higher education in Muslim contexts. The endeavour reflects AKU's belief that universities themselves will have to play a central role in the reform of higher education.

While the conference focused on higher education in developing countries, and within them the Muslim contexts in particular, it is important that the subject be explored within a global context. Thus, philosophical, pedagogical and organisational insights and experiences from around the world will be relevant in this exploration. A frontierless intellectual engagement to understand higher education in specific contexts were a key factor in the conference deliberations.