When I sat down with Computer Science professor Zvi Kedem, a member of one of the AD Coordinating Groups charged with designing the curriculum, I didn’t expect to find out much about the new campus. The interview began slowly and awkwardly as I tried to ascertain just how much (or little) Kedem knew about the project. It turns out that he knew a lot and I knew we were getting somewhere when, about ten minutes in, he told me, “Look, I’m not a PR person for NYU Abu Dhabi.”

The following reports are based on my interview with Kedem, my interview with Graduate Student Senator Steven Jean who recently traveled to Abu Dhabi, and tips from students and faculty. My requests for interviews with top Abu Dhabi administrators have gone largely unanswered, aside from Hilary Ballon, associate vice chancellor for NYUAD, who agreed to answer emailed questions. I sent those questions Wednesday and have yet to hear from her.

Some background about the UAE, Abu Dhabi, and our campus there after the jump.

Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, a filthy rich country whose wealth is based mostly in oil. AD has a population of about 900,000, the large majority of whom are non-natives. Kedem estimates the native population to be less than 20 percent. This makes for a very rich populace – the GDP per capita in the UAE is the third highest in the world (behind Luxembourg and Norway).

So Abu Dhabi has begun to use its vast wealth to start accumulating culture. Saadiyat Island, where NYUAD will ultimately find its home, will be the hub of this culture. A branch of the Louvre will open there. A Frank-Gehry designed Guggenheim will open there. And, of course, a big American university will open there.

What makes NYU’s presence particularly notable, said Kedem, is that “the kind of universities they have there [in the Middle East]…are either some…offshoots of American universities or local universities.” But they don’t have any serious liberal arts colleges until now.

And NYUAD will be much more like a traditional liberal arts college than NYU. There’s a reason that Sexton hired Swarthmore President Alfred Bloom to be the President (excuse me, Vice Chancellor) of NYUAD – Bloom knows how to run a small liberal arts university. The classes will be small, the student-faculty ratio will be small, and the campus will be a close-knit community. The first class will only be 100 students, eventually they hope to grow to hold 2,000 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Kedem expects them to try to grow the campus even more in the future, but “nobody is talking about more than 4,000″ students.

And don’t forget, NYUAD is not another study abroad site. It will grant NYU degrees without requiring students to ever study in New York (though they will be required to study abroad either in New York or at another of the NYU study abroad locations). NYU students will also be able to study abroad in Abu Dhabi. And though there will be coordination with NYU-NYC, NYUAD will have a separate admissions program.

Next: admissions.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Ioan Barbulescu.