The Second Global Enlightenment Forum

The Adam Smith Institute and University College Bahrain are delighted to welcome you to the Second Global Enlightenment Forum on Saturday, the 9th of May.

​​​The Global Enlightenment Forum is an annual series of whole-day academic conferences centred around the origins, growth, proliferation and application of Enlightenment thought and philosophy to the non-Western world.

As modern academia continues to discover the global roots that found some of history's most important philosophical movements, we wish to tease apart the intellectual heritage and impact of the Enlightenment vis-à-vis its other regions. This spans the breadth and depth of intellectual canon: philosophy, literature, science, history, economics and politics will be discussed.

2026 marks 250 years since 1776, an inflection point in the intellectual history of classical liberalism and Enlightenment thought. The Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. As such, we want to explore the heritage of Enlightenment in the founding of the United States of America.

But we also want to explore the roots and reception of classical liberalism in the Middle East and the Islamic world, realms underrepresented in the scholarship and popular thought of Enlightenment.

​We want to ask the following questions:

​How did the Arab, Persian and Ottoman regions absorb, react to and influence Enlightenment thought and philosophy in the 18th and 19th centuries?​Why has the Middle East taken a divergent path in intellectual history?​In what ways were Enlightenment thinkers and actors indebted to non-Western thought?​To what extent, and through what means, can "Enlightenment values" be applied to contemporary contexts in the Middle East?

​To help us discuss, we have a line-up of esteemed thinkers to give presentations and talks that educate, direct and stimulate discussion. They will be presenting new research of primary sources and reorienting our understanding of the Enlightenment through new frames of thinking:

​[Keynote] Professor Fitzroy Morrissey (Abdullah Saleh Fellow and Tutor in Arabic; Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Law, University of Oxford), on The Arab Enlightenment and the Renewal of IslamDr Richard Johnson (Senior Lecturer in US Politics & Policy, Queen Mary, University of London), on The Origins and Meaning of the Declaration of IndependenceDr Elisabeth Drayson (Lorna Close Fellow, University of Cambridge), on A debt disavowed: the hidden Islamic roots of the European EnlightenmentProfessor Eric Chaney (Associate Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford), on Enlightenment Lost? Religion and the Rise and Fall of Islamic ScienceProfessor Nouh El Harmouzi (Professor of Economics, Ibn Tofaïl University; Director of the Arab Centre for Research), Topic to be announced shortly

​Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from, question and network with the speakers of the Forum as well as the attendees, who will represent multidisciplinary backgrounds ranging from academia and research to journalism, business and politics. The Forum is free to attend and breakfast, lunch and frequent catered breaks (tea, coffee, biscuits, pastries and cakes) are provided.

​Register for attendance by signing up here. Attendance is upon a confirmation basis; once you have been reviewed and accepted, you will receive an email confirming your attendance.

​The Forum is hosted in the historic Senate House of the University of London. For more information about the venue, see here: https://www.london.ac.uk/about/history/history-senate-house

​We look forward to you joining us. If you have any questions about the Forum, please email jasper@adamsmith.org who will assist in any way.