This March, Ahmedabad University hosted the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts at their campus in Gujarat, India. Leaders from four institutions met to discuss how the higher education structure, teaching methods and leadership priorities are aligned with our changing world. Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India, The Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts Established in 2024, the Collaborative is a cross-continental partnership between the University of Edinburgh, the University of Global Health Equity (Rwanda), Vassar College (USA), and Ahmedabad University (India). The collaboration aims to help higher education institutions integrate liberal arts content into their programmes while navigating a rapidly evolving educational landscape. Universities operate in very different national and social contexts, yet many of the challenges we face in the global context are very similar. Collaborations such as the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts create opportunities for institutions to learn from one another while bringing diverse perspectives to shared questions about technology, society, and the future of education. Professor Peter Mathieson Principal and Vice Chancellor, the University of Edinburgh Education in a changing environment The Collaborative identified the need to examine how institutions will adapt to changing geopolitical and technological environments. “While a future is certain, the type of future we will find ourselves in is increasingly uncertain,” said Professor Liz Grant, who visited Ahmedabad for the meeting earlier this year. Professor Grant has been the Assistant Principal (Global Health) at the University of Edinburgh since 2014, focusing on improving global health and education.“Universities have a responsibility to be at the forefront of defining and designing the knowledge, skills, systems and jobs required in the future, and an onus to shape those who will lead – many of whom pass through higher education. Our recent convening of the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts… provided a space to consider this responsibility and to plan exchange.” – Professor Liz Grant, Assistant Principal (Global Health)The sentiment was shared by other leaders within the Collaborative. Professor Pankaj Chandra, Vice Chancellor of Ahmedabad University, said “Preparing students for the age of artificial intelligence requires more than adding technical modules. Institutions must cultivate intellectual agility as a defined outcome.” Professor Elizabeth Bradley, President of Vassar College, expressed urgent need for reimagining higher education, saying that “humanistic technological change requires intentional educational design.” The Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts at their first meeting in 2024. Convening in Ahmedabad At their meeting in Ahmedabad, the Collaborative were tasked with a shared problem statement:“How – in a world of political and socio-cultural divisiveness, unstable power relations and waning trust – do we equip students with multidisciplinary perspectives, critical thinking, intellectual agility and job skills fit for a changing global marketplace?”Over several days, the group discussed local approaches to the shared global problems and the importance of being explicit about their values. “We looked at the pressures facing graduates in a world where agentic and generative artificial intelligence is daily redefining skills and jobs, where societal cohesion is unravelling, and planetary boundaries are being breached,” said Professor Grant. “We recognised that it is no longer enough for universities to create and curate knowledge; universities need to be able to broker new ways of knowing and doing.”Professor Chandra emphasised that we have not arrived at the final institution, and that higher education institutions must grow and change with the changing demands.The group agreed that to best support their students and to continue to contribute positively within the world, higher education institutions need to adapt to the changing environments. “Professions have become fluid,” said Professor Grant. “Our teaching, learning, and use of knowledge must also be fluid to deliver the global social good.” The courage to be future-confident and competent is determined in good part by a scholar’s experience of how they are treated as individuals and communities, how they learn in their education system, and how they are listened to. Professor Liz Grant Assistant Principal (Global Health), the University of Edinburgh Liz Grant speaking at the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts meeting in Edinburgh in 2024. The future of higher education As the technological and geopolitical environments continue to change, the four institutions aim to be the heart of training for new jobs and skills – supported by the shared knowledge of the partnership. “The Collaborative is helping us invest in the intellectual, social, and emotional agility that will be necessary for the workforce of the future,” said Professor Grant. Only by working together across continents, across each of our countries’ deep histories of knowledge – wrapped up in our tangible and intangible cultural heritage – and across the disciplinary boundaries can we prepare for the jobs and skills and ethical decision making of a new global economy. This is the gift of this Global Collaborative. Professor Liz Grant Assistant Principal (Global Health), the University of Edinburgh “We left committed to share.” More information Learn more about our partnerships and the Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts. The Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts Our partnerships with the United States of America The University of Edinburgh and Vassar College partnership More information about the meeting in Ahmedabad Publication date 23 Apr, 2026
