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Georgetown (GU-Q) and Northwestern (NU-Q) universities in Qatar marked 10 years of collaboration with their Media and Politics program while celebrating the program’s largest graduating cohort of 21 students.
Launched in 2014, the Media Politics program embodies cross-disciplinary collaboration within Education City. Capitalizing on both institutions’ expertise in media and communication and international politics, it delivers a specialized media and politics curriculum, with a total of 148 students completing the program (62 NU-Q students earning a minor and 86 GU-Q completing certificates) since inception.
In highlighting the influence of the program, Marwan M. Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar, said, “As we mark a decade of Northwestern’s first joint program with Georgetown, it is inspiring to see how it has grown to serve as a model for collaboration among Education City partner universities under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation’s multiversity. This has contributed to our vision of NU-Q as a multidisciplinary community of evidence-based storytellers focused on the Global South.”
Safwan Masri, dean of Georgetown University in Qatar, emphasized the importance of the program in training the next generation of global leaders, saying, “As Georgetown and Northwestern mark 10 years of academic partnership in Qatar, I want to emphasize that our pioneering collaboration constitutes a unique feature of Education City, contributing to its exceptional global ethos. Through our joint program in Media and Politics, we strive to advance student learning in critical areas of scholarship and practice, in the spirit of understanding and tolerance, so desperately needed in this dangerously polarized world.”
As part of the program, students from both schools complete six courses in media studies and politics, as well as a capstone project or thesis, before presenting the culmination of their work to the community in an awards ceremony in the spring semester during their senior year. This year’s ceremony featured 20 e-portfolios, reflective essays, videos, and theses addressing various topics at the intersections of media and politics. Examples include the media’s impact on female political participation, alternative media, bedouin arts and identity, art and politics through the eyes of Banksy, and many others.
Associate Professor Fırat Oruç, Director of the Media and Politics program at GU-Q, thanked the founders and administrators of the program over the years, saying, “This program would not have been possible without all of our tireless faculty mentors, and of course, our program founders, the dynamic duo of GU-Q Professor Mohamed Zayani and Northwestern Qatar Associate Professor Joe Khalil, along with GU-Q Assistant Dean for Curricular and Academic Advising Christine Schiwietz, and associate professors Scott Curtis and Banu Akdenizli from Northwestern Qatar, among many others.”
Banu Akdenizli, associate professor and chair of the Media and Politics Minor Committee at Northwestern Qatar, underscored the importance of the program in the context of the evolving landscape of media and politics, saying, “Our program not only equips students with a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationship between politics and mass media but also fosters interdisciplinary perspectives essential to navigate today’s complex global issues.”
Akdenizli added, “The collaboration between faculty has been instrumental in shaping the quality of student projects, reflecting the depth of our partnership’s impact on academic excellence and interdisciplinary learning.”
The Media and Politics program is the first of many academic, research, and co-curricular collaborations between Northwestern Qatar and GU-Q. The two schools also jointly offer a minor in Africana Studies, as well as the Doha Seminar, which was launched by Northwestern Qatar in 2014 and co-taught with GU-Q since 2019. Faculty and students also collaborate on joint research projects.