NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
NU-Q
Year In Review
2018
NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
TABLE OF CONTENTS

              INTRODUCTION
              Letter from the Dean                                       2

              HIGHLIGHTS
              NU-Q Opens Robotic Newsroom                                6
              Qatar Emir Visits NU-Q                                     7
              Visitors and Events                                        8

              ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH
              Academics                                                 18
              Equipping Industry Leaders                                19
              Storytelling in a Digital World                           21
              Research                                                  22
                      Faculty Research                                  24
                      Student Research                                  27
              Faculty Appointments                                      28

              STUDENT LIFE
              Student Life                                              32
              Pushing Boundaries Through Film                           33
              Global Media Experience: Witnessing the World of Media    35
              Broadway Producers and NU Alums Work with NU-Q Students   37
              Student Recognition                                       38
              Convocation                                               39
              Graduation                                                40

              OUTREACH
              NU-Q Evanston Partnership
                     Evanston Visitors 2017–18                          45
              Media Coverage                                            46
              Community Outreach
                     Partnerships                                       48

              APPENDICES
              Appendix 1
                    Joint Advisory Board                                54
                    Leadership                                          54
                    Faculty                                             55
                    Staff                                               56
              Appendix 2: Scholarly Activities
                    Books and Other Monographs                          58
                    Book Chapters                                       58
                    Journal Articles                                    59
                    Conference Papers                                   60
              Appendix 3: Creative Work
                    Communication Program                               64
                    Journalism and Strategic Communication Program      65
                    Liberal Arts Program                                65
NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
INTRODUCTION

LETTER FROM THE DEAN
Settling In, Stretching Our Wings, Moving Ahead

      Just over seven months after moving into its new        scholars, journalists, and public officials, including     from government, industry, and education came          Program. Outreach activities were many, including
      building, the NU-Q community returned to begin          His Excellency Sheikh Saif Al Thani, director of           to propose new collaborative programs, television      participation in two DFI film festivals and a special
      the 2017–18 academic year and to witness the            the Government Information Office; Al Jazeera              productions, and various joint efforts, some now       session of the Qatar Media Industry Forum with
      delivery of a dramatic three-story media wall and       journalists and executives; and others helped engage       in the planning. Our first-ever executive education    panels at the school and in West Bay, Doha featuring
      the opening of a robotic newsroom as a 500-seat         a continuing conversation where the blockade’s             program, led by Professor Craig LaMay, was             journalists from Time, Buzzfeed, and local media.
      events hall was also completed. What had been a         consequences were debated and discussed. What              launched this year on a pilot basis with seminars on   As always, there were two sessions of the Al Jazeera
      mostly-empty space at the time of move-in was           was a threat months earlier, to the country and the        Sport, Media, and Business wherein leading experts     lecture series.
      utterly transformed into a lively, engaged, and         school, became a creative challenge for expression         from our faculty and outside authorities engaged
      energetic community fulfilling our architect’s          and scholarship.                                           participants from media industries, strategic          This report offers images and detailed information
      promise that the building was “an instrument                                                                       communication, and sports management. Later in         rendering a portrait of NU-Q in 2017–18, a year
      to be played.” What a propitious way to begin           In early fall, we witnessed an electrifying visit to the   the year, we recruited a director of executive and     of new beginnings, discovery, and continuity. As
      our 10th year of operations. NU-Q welcomed its          school by the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Tamim            graduate education.                                    dean, I have an expansive and appreciative view
      largest freshman class to date while the overall        bin Hamad Al Thani, who arrived with a crew                                                                       of these multifaceted activities, and I am grateful
      student body grew by a healthy 17.7 percent with        from the CBS 60 Minutes program. The Emir’s visit          It was a time to assess and appreciate longstanding    to our leadership, faculty, and staff on the home
      53 percent being Qatari citizens and others hailing     and several by Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint            NU-Q programs, including the Journalism and            campus at Northwestern University whose efforts
      from 25 countries. As the student body grew, new        Hamad Al Thani, CEO of the Qatar Foundation,               Strategic Communication Residencies (JRs)              benefit us greatly. Likewise, we greatly appreciate
      positions were added to the faculty and staff,          heralded several hundred other guests, visitors,           that take junior journalism majors to 10-week          the indispensable vision, leadership, and support
      both to serve the academic programs and to meet         and delegations from across the globe. Famed               internships at some of the world’s leading media       of the Qatar Foundation. Within NU-Q, our
      building operation needs. Constrained in borrowed       broadcaster Fareed Zakaria engaged in a public             and communications companies while a group             Joint Advisory Board (JAB) plays a pivotal role.
      space in the Carnegie Mellon in Qatar building for      interview while Oscar and Emmy-winner Sharmeen             of top communication students have two-quarter         And also important is the collective work of our
      eight years, the school could now stretch its wings,    Obaid-Chinoy addressed the graduating class.               academic residencies under the Evanston Exchange       NU-Q leadership team, faculty, staff, and outside
      grow, and move ahead. Central to the way forward        Adding continuity were addresses by Middle East            program. Other students go to the home campus          advisers. Most of all we exist because of and for our
      was nurturing, supporting, and advancing the work       analyst and commentator Rami Khouri and futurist           for the annual Undergraduate Research and Arts         students, who are highly motivated, engaged, and
      of the people of NU-Q while transitioning from one      Jeffrey Cole, frequent visitors to the school, as well     Exposition and the Global Engagement Studies           productive women and men. As we completed the
      venue to another in a coherent, supportive way. A       as workshops conducted by the Pulitzer Center, and         Institute program among others. The Global Media       academic year, there was much to celebrate, much to
      raft of faculty-staff and student committees, part of   other programs ranging from the NU-Q Institute             Experience led students to top media firms and sites   contemplate, and a chance to reflect on the decade
      the school’s shared governance, took on challenges      for faculty and staff as well as Wildcat Welcome,          in New York City for the fifth consecutive year.       of effort from fall 2008 through spring 2018 as our
      ranging from community building, outreach,              Wildcat Week, Research Week, and the annual                Service learning programs took students to Phnom       transformational school has grown and prospered.
      innovation/futures lab, and pedagogy/teaching,          Provost’s Delegation. Other special visitors included      Penh, Cambodia, as others did independent study,       This sets the stage for 2018-19, when we will fully
      adding a dynamic human “moving in” element              the Medill School’s national advisory committee            language study, and research projects in Sri Lanka,    celebrate and critically assess these very good years.
      that has pushed the school forward on a dynamic         and a delegation of visiting journalists and think-        Cyprus, and Morocco. Others benefited from             The year ahead will witness the opening of our
      trajectory.                                             tank analysts. Colleagues and students from across         international travel grants.                           long-awaited Media Majlis at NU-Q, Qatar’s first
                                                              Education City visited the building as we hosted a                                                                university museum, and other activities, programs,
      The year will be remembered, of course, for             session for Education City’s Teaching Week and a           Within the community, the faculty, staff, and          and innovations. The challenge continues and our
      navigating the Gulf crisis, the blockade of Qatar,      pilot taping of the new Doha Debates series as well        students have never been more engaged with new         excitement abounds.
      which was met with resilience and resolve both          as a gathering of health and medical officials and         curricular offerings, research projects, and colloquia.
      within the school, across Education City, and           experts who convened to learn about NU-Q’s health          Major support came from the Qatar National
      throughout the country. In the midst of this national   communication research. Visitors from the home             Research Fund, Doha Film Institute (DFI), NU-Q
      solidarity, we were determined that the blockade        campus were many, including President Morton               internal research fund, and others. Grants funded
      with all its challenges not interfere with NU-Q’s       Schapiro, who led the graduation delegation, as            an innovative summer course in media ethics. Our
      journey forward. The growth of the student body, a      well our new Provost Jonathan Holloway, who                Media Use in the Middle East longitudinal research
      new admissions recruitment strategy, stable faculty     made no fewer than three trips, bringing with              project across seven countries produced its fifth
      and staff, and successful searches for new positions    him other university leaders. Faculty members              published study and interactive website. We also
      are evidence we were not deterred. The blockade,        from the Schools of Communication, Medill, and             published a Five-Year Retrospective in May, released
      which put NU-Q at the crossroads of geopolitics         Weinberg also graced our precincts as did visiting         during our annual Qatar in Evanston week, a time
      and higher education, was also a stimulus for a         students. Such events as the Creative Media Festival,      when we showcase the work of the school on the
      curricular response in the classroom, where it was      inspired and led by two Northwestern graduates,            home campus. Faculty and student grants numbered
      an instant case study. It inspired both faculty and     one a Broadway producer, resulted in multiple              27 while faculty research productivity numbered
      student research efforts—and was the subject of         projects and activities while the annual Studio            188 including books, monographs, articles, films,
      the school’s first Creative Media Festival, whose       20Q film night played to a full house of 500 in            and other deliverables. A book on Global Media
      theme was “Borders and Boundaries.” It also             the Events Hall. An original theatrical showcase           Disruptions in the Gulf was also produced by
      stimulated thoughtful storytelling in the form of       led by Professor Ann Woodworth garnered an                 Northwestern, NU-Q, Qatar University, and Rutgers Everette E. Dennis
      student journalism and documentary films. Many          overflow crowd in the Black Box theater. Others            colleagues as part of the National Priority Research Dean and CEO

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS
NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS

NU-Q OPENS ROBOTIC NEWSROOM

     At the dedication ceremony of NU-Q’s Newsroom,      The Newsroom features four main areas—news
     a live, choreographed show was presented to         desk, social media set, modular video wall, and
     guests, including Her Excellency Sheikha Hind       an area for a talk show.
     bint Hamad Al Thani, vice chairperson and
     CEO of Qatar Foundation; Jonathan Holloway,         The news desk is a glass table that can seat up
     Northwestern University provost; and fellow         to three presenters and features an interactive
     members of the university’s Joint Advisory Board.   backdrop displaying a variety of content. The
                                                         social media set has a screen that displays live
     Using robotic cameras, live feeds from different    feeds from multiple social media platforms, such
     locations, smart data visualization, and modular    as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
     reporting, the demonstration portrayed how the
     Newsroom’s different areas work as one unit to      The 18-screen multipurpose video wall streams
     run a complete show.                                news channels, weather reports, graphics, data
                                                         visualizations, maps, and live feed coverage
    “The real story here is not simply the physical      from events. And the talk show area serves as
     properties of this extraordinary space, perhaps     an informal area where students can practice
     the most advanced newsroom of its kind in the       interviewing multiple guests in a contemporary
     world today,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and     setting.
     CEO. “It is the work that is and will occur here,
     the instruction that takes place, the people who
     are educated and trained—and what they do with
     the resources here in their future careers.”

                                                                                                            QATAR EMIR VISITS NU-Q
                                                                                                            His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
                                                                                                            visited Northwestern University in Qatar in
                                                                                                            connection with an interview being conducted for
                                                                                                            the CBS program 60 Minutes.

                                                                                                            The interview, which began in a car driven by
                                                                                                            the Emir, continued when they arrived at NU-Q,
                                                                                                            where they were met by students, faculty, and
                                                                                                            staff. Accompanied by the CBS film crew, the Emir
                                                                                                            toured the building, including the Newsroom,
                                                                                                            which had opened a week earlier.

                                                                                                            During his visit, His Highness met with students,
                                                                                                            faculty, and staff, who shared their thoughts on
                                                                                                            the new building, the programs offered, and their
                                                                                                            future aspirations and ambitions as the CBS team
                                                                                                            filmed the encounters.

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS

VISITORS AND EVENTS

     Analyzing International Coverage of the Gulf Blockade
     This year’s Qatar Media Industries Forum—           own countries, they also believe that there had
     International Media and the Blockade—had            been biased reporting of the blockade from other          Innovation at MIT’s Media Lab
     local and international journalists analyzing the   GCC countries.
     blockade imposed on Qatar.                                                                                    The founder and chairman emeritus of MIT’s         “The one thing I realized throughout the years is
                                                         Al-Mudahka suggested that trust in media has              Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte, an inventor,        that the telecommunications industry does not
     Due to the interest in the topic, the forum was     fallen and that national newspapers, in particular,       thinker, and angel investor who has pushed the      work in the interest of people,” said Negroponte,
     held at two locations, in Doha’s business center    are guilty of focusing only on positive news when         boundaries of connectivity and communication,      “yet we are reaching a time when I believe
     and on the NU-Q campus. The panel included          their readers would actually benefit more from            shared his thoughts on the evolving world of        connectivity should be a human right.”
     Gulf Times Editor-in-Chief Faisal Abdulhameed       how different organizations and individuals are           digital information with students, faculty, and
     al-Mudahka; Borzou Daragahi, Middle East            adapting to new challenges.                               staff at Northwestern University in Qatar.          A combination of serendipity and years of
     correspondent for BuzzFeed; and Vivienne Walt,                                                                                                                    hard work gave Negroponte a chance to pitch
     foreign correspondent for TIME magazine, with       Al-Mudahka also discussed the demand by the               MIT’s Media Lab, which helped drive the multi-      this concept to the Pope, who became an avid
     NU-Q Professor Banu Akdenizli moderating the        blockading countries that Qatar close the Al              media revolution, was established by Negroponte     supporter and partner. With the Pope’s support,
     discussion.                                         Jazeera network.                                          as a center for research and innovation, and the    the United Nations Security Council may vote to
                                                                                                                   intersection of art, science, and technology. Since change the international rights regarding access
     During the discussion, the panel explored           “Al Jazeera will never close,” he said, “It is our soft   then, the lab has developed hundreds of original    to Internet connectivity.
     whether the media has the responsibility to help     power. If you close Al Jazeera, you close Qatar.”        ideas and produced research on new technology,
     improve communications between opposing                                                                       including touch-screen sensitivity and flat panels, “My hope, and this is truly a hope, is that there is
     factions during such a crisis like the blockade.   As part of the forum, NU-Q published a report,             long before they were introduced to the market.      a 50 percent chance that the UN might declare
                                                        International Coverage of Qatar During the                                                                      connectivity as a human right in a resolution,
    “It would be better,” Daragahi said, “if the tech-  Blockade, featuring coverage of Qatar beginning            Negroponte, known for his philanthropic work,        which will be interesting because human rights
     nology platforms take a little bit more responsi-  the week of May 21, 2017, when the Qatar News              founded the One Laptop Per Child organization, are free and all you have to do to qualify is be
     bility. Whether you are talking about the realm of Agency was hacked and distributed false quotes             which designs, develops, and distributes low-cost human, and that really does change the landscape.”
     civic, governmental, or corporate responsibility,  from the country’s Emir, and ending the week               laptops for children around the world, with a
     in all cases, there is a compelling argument to    of September 25, 2017, following the United                mission to empower them through education.
     be made that there is a measure of responsibility  Nations General Assembly in New York.
     that needs to be measured up to.”
                                                        With the intent to inject hard data into a sometimes
     The panel discussed recent findings from NU-Q’s    subjective discussion, the study analyzed
     annual Media Use in the Middle East survey,        articles from 20 of the largest English-language
     which reported that while the majority of people publications based in the United States, the
     in the Middle East region trust the media in their United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS

                                                             Covering Climate Change                                   Fresh News Platforms for
                                                             NU-Q welcomes journalists from the Pulitzer               “Generation Z”
                                                             Center on Crisis Reporting each year—with                 As part of the Al Jazeera Speaker Series, project
                                                             a different issue highlighted. This year, three           leaders for the program “Sadeem” gave students,
                                                             journalists presented their experiences reporting         faculty, and staff a preview of the online reality
     Unique Challenges in the                                on climate change issues worldwide.                       show that is designed to tap into the young
                                                                                                                                                                              Futuristic Storytelling
     Business of Sports                                                                                                generation of Arab digital influencers.                Through VR
                                                             Eli Kintisch, a contributing correspondent for
     The connection between business, law, and media         Science magazine and author of Hack the Planet:                                                                  A second Al Jazeera startup—Contrast VR—was
                                                                                                                       Through a series of weekly challenges, contestants
     was the topic of discussion with author of The          Science’s Best Hope—or Worst Nightmare—for                                                                       also showcased to the NU-Q community as part
                                                                                                                       build on their digital presence and compete to
     Business of Sports and professor at Fordham             Averting Climate Catastrophe, discussed his                                                                      of the Al Jazeera Speaker series. The initiative
                                                                                                                       develop engaging content for multiple platforms
     University Mark Conrad. Examining the elements          work covering the Arctic; Ako Salemi, an award-                                                                  is focused on bringing attention to stories from
                                                                                                                       and vie for the title of the region’s next “digital
     that make the sports industry unique, Conrad            winning photojournalist from Iran, spoke about                                                                   remote and underreported areas through the
                                                                                                                       superstar.” They also receive mentorship from a
     listed several reasons, including its talent-oriented   the impact of climate change on Iran’s desert                                                                    use of immersive technology including VR and
                                                                                                                       panel of judges, including Egyptian motivational
     nature, exclusive governance through leagues or         landscape and the region surrounding; and Janice                                                                 360-degree cameras.
                                                                                                                       speaker Kareem Esmail, Algerian popular online
     federations, exclusive broadcasting rights, and         Cantieri shared details about the impact of rising        satirist Zarouta Youcef, and Kuwaiti fashion
     strong relations with governments.                      sea levels in Kiribati, an island in the South Pacific.                                                          Zahra Rasool, editorial lead for Contrast VR,
                                                                                                                       blogger Ascia Al Faraj.
                                                                                                                                                                              and Ousama Itani, project lead, shared their most
     An additional area which sets sports organizations “The dilemma of climate change is that it is                                                                          recent work from the network’s newly launched
                                                                                                                       Mohamad Zaoud, head of digital growth and
     apart is the loyalty formed between audiences/      caused primarily by first world countries, but                                                                       immersive media studio. Showcasing the future of
                                                                                                                       business development for Europe, the Middle
     viewers and their team, which he said also makes disproportionately affects the developing world,                                                                        storytelling—using cutting-edge technology and
                                                                                                                       East, and Africa, along with NU-Q alumna
     the industry more powerful. “Sports fans will       and as a result, the people of Kiribati have been                                                                    techniques—they presented a recent 360-degree
                                                                                                                       Omaima Es-samaali, associate producer for
     root for their team year in and year out, no matter victimized as climate refugees,” Cantieri said.                                                                      documentary I am Rohingya, which centered
                                                                                                                       engagement at Al Jazeera, explained how they
     how bad it will be, hoping it will be better next                                                                                                                        on the day-to-day experience of refugees in
                                                                                                                       expect “Sadeem” to be the biggest digital contest
     time,” he said.                                     Accompanying the journalists was Tom Hundley,                                                                        Bangladesh.
                                                                                                                       in the Arab world.
                                                         Pulitzer Center senior editor, who has almost four
     Conrad also deliberated about media law in the      decades of experience as a foreign correspondent                                                                     “Our mission,” Rasool told the group, “is to
                                                                                                                       “The new generation of digital news consumers
     coverage of sports, pointing to new trends in       for the Chicago Tribune.                                                                                              take viewers directly to the front lines of real,
                                                                                                                        are native storytellers—they use their personal
     sports coverage disseminated over the internet,                                                                                                                           pressing news stories through the development of
                                                                                                                        accounts to create stories about their daily
     as well as the increasing media attention to social                                                                                                                       immersive media content and 3D technology.”
                                                                                                                        experiences,” said Zaoun. The program will
     issues attached to sporting events. During his
                                                                                                                        move away from politics and news and explore
     visit, the professor also conducted workshops for                                                                                                                        Those attending the session also experienced VR
                                                                                                                        a new territory of communication that will bring
     students.                                                                                                                                                                storytelling through live demonstrations using
                                                                                                                        together youth from across the region who have
                                                                                                                                                                              Google headsets. “The immersive content really
                                                                                                                        the talent and creativity to create engaging visual
                                                                                                                                                                              brings a story to life and increases the effect it
                                                                                                                        content and stories.
                                                                                                                                                                              has on the viewer,” said Amal Barakat, an NU-Q
                                                                                                                                                                              student.

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS

     Qatar’s Communication                                                                                                                                                 Exploring the World
     Strategy                                                                                                                                                              Through VR
     His Excellency Sheikh Saif bin Ahmed Al Thani                                                                                                                         The only way to know the truth is to see it
     called for principled communications, greater                                                                                                                         with your own eyes. That is what Julia Leeb, a
     government transparency, and willingness to cope                                                                                                                      filmmaker and photographer, said as she shared
     with external scrutiny during a forum at NU-Q.           U.S. Muslims Struggling                               Building Bloomberg News                                her experiences working in some of the most
                                                              in Trump Era                                          Identifying gaps in financial reporting was what       dangerous places in the world.
     As the director of Qatar’s Government Commu-                                                                   led to the creation of Bloomberg News, its co-
                                                              Award-winning journalist and author Lawrence
     nication Office since it was established in 2015,                                                              founder and emeritus editor-in-chief Matthew           Leeb has documented political upheaval in the
                                                              Pintak addressed the rise of violence and hate
     Saif is at the forefront of Qatar’s efforts to craft a                                                         Winkler said in a special conversation at NU-Q.        Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Syria,
                                                              crimes towards American Muslims, the increase
     modern strategy for communication based on the                                                                 Winkler shared how his career at The Wall Street       Libya, and Afghanistan, and produced virtual
                                                              in skewed media coverage, and the shift to the
     free flow of information, while respecting local                                                               Journal primed him for the future of financial data.   reality and 360-degree content about remote
                                                              far-right in American governance.
     values and traditions.                                                                                                                                                regions, including Transnistria in Moldova, and
                                                                                                                    With a small team of reporters, Bloomberg              the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. Photographs from
                                                              He spoke in particular about the effect of 2016
     “Sticking to our principles is most important to                                                               competed against media organizations that had          her visits to North Korea were published in her
                                                              United States presidential elections on minority
      us,” he said. “Put simply, the office’s role is to                                                            hundreds of staff reporters and solid reputations      book North Korea: Anonymous Country.
                                                              groups. “American Muslims have pushed back
      coordinate communication strategies across each                                                               in the market to produce a combination of
                                                              against the negative narrative for many years . . .
      ministry and communicate the facts and engage                                                                 market news, company updates, and other news “I identify stories that are not trending,” explained
                                                              however, the rise of Donald Trump and the rise
      externally whether in Qatar or elsewhere.”                                                                    stories. It quickly became an indispensable source Leeb. “Through 360-degree technology, I can
                                                              of ISIS was in many ways the perfect storm,”
                                                                                                                    for business news. “We were the internet before     bring other people’s reality to life so anyone
                                                              said Pintak, who has written about Muslims in
     Saif added that since the blockade, a focus on                                                                 there was an internet, because we were 24/7, real around the world can see what it is like, without
                                                              America since 1980. There is some good news,
     engagement and dialogue have been the key                                                                      time, and we did everything. We did the shortest    being manipulated.”
                                                              however. “People are speaking out about the
     to moving forward. He said that while other                                                                    stories and the longest stories,” said Winkler.
                                                              discrimination they have faced, and as a result,
     ministries “continue to intensively engage with                                                                                                                    As one of ELLE magazine’s top 80 international
                                                              there has been a groundswell of support for
     media, we remain clear that we do not fear the                                                                 He also shared the attributes that he thinks        characters and Refinery29’s most inspiring
                                                              American Muslims,” he said. Statistics from a
     boycott, and we are willing to sit at the table and                                                            makes a news source trustworthy. Calling it         women    in Germany, Leeb gave students advice
                                                              recent study showed a rise in tolerance among
     build a dialogue.”                                                                                             the “Five Fs,” he said that to “stay in the news    on the challenges she faced as a woman in
                                                              Americans toward Islam as a religion.
                                                                                                                    business you want to be the first word, the fastest hostile environments and as an outsider trying to
                                                                                                                    word, the factual word, the final word, and the     connect with complete strangers.
                                                              Pintak is a member of the Content Advisory
                                                              Board for the Media Majlis at Northwestern            future word.”
                                                              University in Qatar and the founding dean and
                                                              professor of the Edward R. Murrow College of
                                                              Communication at Washington State University.

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
HIGHLIGHTS

     Fighting Fake News
     International columnist and commentator, Fareed
     Zakaria, discussed implications of a post-fact
     world, fake news, and the role of social media in
     shaping opinions and influencing news consump-
     tion, during a public conversation at NU-Q.               U.S. Foreign Policy
                                                               Myths Debunked
     “There’s a great danger that we are entering a
      world enabled by all these technologies that we          In a lecture designed to complement NU-Q’s
      love . . . technologies that make no real distinction    minor in Middle East Studies, Elizabeth
      between truth and falsehood. In fact, it is easier for   Shakman Hurd, a Northwestern professor of
      a falsehood to go viral than a truth, because what       political science and religious studies, said U.S.
      virality is really dependent on is the sensational       intervention on foreign soil involves bringing
      nature of the news. And, by definition, a lie is         economic, religious, and political change to align
      more sensational than the truth,” Zakaria said.          the countries with U.S. interests. She refuted three
                                                               myths on how U.S. foreign policy intersects with
     He also underscored the importance of an ed-              religious interventionism.
     ucation in the liberal arts to help in evaluating
     the truth, saying that it “teaches students how to         On promoting free religion, Hurd explained that
     think and it teaches them how to write. These are          the U.S.’s intervention in religious freedom is
     two extremely important skills for personal and            used to shape the political and economic fields
     career development, and you would be surprised             in other countries. On the second myth, Hurd
     at how many people don’t know how to think                 explained that the idea of requiring a “flourishing
     logically—to build constructive arguments and              free religion” to liberate societies is rooted in U.S.
     influence people.”                                         international relations to get countries to support
                                                                American objectives. The final myth—using
                                                                religion to predict political behavior—Hurd said
                                                               “does not predict political behavior. It is absolutely
                                                                sociologically untenable to make this claim.”

                                                               In concluding her lecture, Hurd pointed out the
                                                               importance of understanding how these myths
                                                               are affecting people’s understanding of religious
                                                               freedom, and the ways in which they are shaping
                                                               political agendas worldwide.

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NU-Q Year In Review 2018 - Northwestern University in Qatar
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

ACADEMICS

     A refined curriculum, revamped course offerings,        themselves to become more adaptable in newsroom
     and the inauguration of an executive education          environments,” said Mary Dedinsky, director of the
     program are among this year’s outcomes                  Journalism and Strategic Communication Program.
     stemming from NU-Q’s commitment to develop
     and support a burgeoning regional media industry.         Short five- and nine-week courses experimented
                                                               with the top-of-the-line equipment, which
      Northwestern has provided media-focused                  includes robotic cameras, live-feeds, smart data
      undergraduate programs on its Qatar campus               visualization, and modular reporting—learning
      since 2008. Each year, it refines and improves           to incorporate these advanced tools in their
      its programming through updated curriculum               reporting. The classes introduced students to the
      programs and new course offerings. This year             latest platforms of journalistic content including
      incoming students were required to take a set of         shooting and editing 360-video, producing audio
      courses that provided them with a comprehensive content for podcast packages, developing media
                                                                                                                      Northwestern University Professor Candy Lee speaks at an executive education session.
      introduction to the industry. Some courses               design and graphic features, writing sports copy,
      examined the impact of media on institution,             and conducting news assessment.
      culture, audiences, and communities, while other
      courses provided insights into storytelling principles. Another new course this year that equips
                                                               students to stand at the forefront of a changing
      Similarly, sophomores were required to take a            industry is a three-part studio class, Media           EQUIPPING INDUSTRY LEADERS
      cornerstone course, Ways of Knowing, which               Performance Technologies. The course was
      challenged students to question how knowledge            designed by Northwestern University Professors         Building on its expertise in the area of strategic             “With media mega-events like the World Cup and
      is constructed. The course focuses on one topic          Eric Patrick, Stephan Moore, and Chaz Evans,           communication and media, NU-Q inaugurated                       the Olympics moving their competitions from
      with faculty from various disciplines including          who teach animation, sound design, and media           its Executive Education Program this year                       North America and Europe to Asia, including
      science and technology, history, political science,      entertainment in the School of Communication’s         with three masterclasses, all focusing on sport                 Qatar, these changes have also changed the job
      and narrative design, demonstrating the methods Department of Radio/Television/Film.                            communication.                                                  of sport journalists, and given rise to new and
      by which their respective fields address the issue.                                                                                                                             critical forms of sports journalism that don’t keep
                                                               Drawing upon their expertise, they demonstrated        NU-Q’s executive education programming                          score, but rather cover the role sports play in
      This year the students compiled and analyzed             to students in Doha how new technology can             is in response to an expressed need that has                    social and economic development, and in shaping
      evidence on the topic of climate change. “The            produce modern works of art. In three studios          been relayed to the University over the past                    international human and civil rights norms,”
      purpose of this course is to prompt students             and an audio edit suite fitted with fully-             several years. The development of the sport                     LaMay said.
      to question their assumptions and investigate            professional consoles, students delivered final        communication masterclasses is the result of
      numerous areas of research in their effort to            projects that featured image mapping, bio sensors,     extensive contacts between NU-Q and leaders in  At the second session, Fordham University
      collect conclusive evidence,” said Hariclea              and cutting-edge audio production.                     the media industry and government officials in  Professor Mark Conrad analyzed legal concepts
      Zengos, senior associate dean and director of                                                                   Qatar, as well as a market study, commissioned  that govern international sports on issues such as
      the Liberal Arts Program.                               “I often say, not jokingly, that the computer           by NU-Q.                                        transparency, corruption, doping, athlete’s rights,
                                                               keyboard is the 21st century folk instrument.                                                          and anticorruption by engaging with interactive
      Further elevating its efforts to produce well-           What we produce in these classes comes directly        To launch its executive education program, NU-Q case studies which inspired discussion and debate.
      equipped students, NU-Q capitalized on the               out of the capabilities of digital technology,” said   offered three industry-specific masterclasses
      cutting-edge features of its new building. A fully- Moore, who instructed sessions in interactive               focusing on sport media, marketing, and law.    The final session of the program was led by
      automated Newsroom was opened in a ceremony sound for live events using Ableton Live, a                                                                         Northwestern Professor Candy Lee, an expert
      attended by Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint             software music sequencer and digital audio             The first session began with an introduction    in sport marketing, event management, and
      Hamad Al Thani, vice chairperson and CEO of              workstation.                                           to media sport and its evolution in the         promotion.
      Qatar Foundation, and other members of the                                                                      modern world with NU-Q Professor Craig
      university’s Joint Advisory Board.                       Widening its offerings to the community outside        LaMay, a Northwestern University scholar,       The classes also featured local guest speakers
                                                               of the Education City campus, NU-Q opened its          who is currently on leave from his position as  including falconry expert Laura Wrede, general
     “The space opened up new opportunities for                doors to Qatar-based professionals seeking to          associate professor at Northwestern’s Medill    secretary of the Qatar Football Association
      students to be prepared, more than ever, for             begin or enhance their careers—a first step in its     School. The masterclasses are part of a broader Mansour Al-Ansari, and from Oola Sport, its
      the media’s digital future. Students now have            goal to offer more executive education courses.        NU-Q program on sport, communication, and       design and product development director, Amina
      the opportunity to experiment with the latest            A series of masterclasses—grouped under a              leadership that LaMay is designing.             Ahmadi.
      emerging technology in the industry and challenge        certificate program, “The Changing Business of

18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    19
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

                                                                                                                  STORYTELLING IN A DIGITAL WORLD
                                                                                                                  Deeply embedded in the culture of Northwestern’s      The site—Q-Taa’leam—provides viewers
                                                                                                                  Medill School of Journalism is the philosophy         with information on educational reforms, sex
                                                                                                                  of learning by doing. While this is felt in           education, the ratification of degrees, the
                                                                                                                  every course where students produce practical         country’s performance on international tests,
                                                                                                                  applications for knowledge acquired within the        and special needs education. It provides content
                                                                                                                  classroom, it is best put into practice through       through informative videos, statistics, articles,
                                                                                                                  the journalism and strategic communication            and infographics.
                                                                                                                  residency program.
                                                                                                                                                                        “Students learn how to adapt vast, complicated
                                                                                                                  The 10-week residency places Journalism and            topics into easy-to-understand, accessible
                                                                                                                  Strategic Communication Program juniors                multimedia pieces, like broadcast news reports,
                                                                                                                  alongside industry professionals at top media          AJ+ style videos, and data animation graphics,”
                                                                                                                  organizations to learn real world lessons in media     said Paschyn. “It’s all about how to convey the
                                                                                                                  production. Students at NU-Q have interned at          information in a way that is compelling to the
                                                                                                                  USA Today, The Washington Post, AJ+, Forbes            reader/viewer, textually and visually.”
     Sport and Sport Communications”—responded             like the 2022 FIFA World Cup—the local media           magazine, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting,
     to a growing national sports sector in Qatar,         sector will have to transform as well. NU-Q plans      Ogilvy & Mather and Al Jazeera English                The students shot and edited video stories,
     with an increased need for strategic media and        to be at the forefront of good sports media by         (London), Brookings Institute, and Teneo Blue         conducted reporting for feature articles, created
     marketing expertise by offering masterclasses in      educating journalists on media law and ethics in       Rubicon.                                              visual elements, and designed a communications
     the areas of media, marketing, and law.               the region,” said LaMay.                                                                                     strategy to promote the website.
                                                                                                                  Before leaving for their residencies, students take
      The classes were led by scholars in their respective As NU-Q approaches its 10th year anniversary,          five-week courses that strengthen their ability       “Our results showed that there has been a
      fields: Craig LaMay, NU-Q associate professor;         the school continues to provide a rigorous           to work under strict deadlines in a newsroom           significant amount of progress in the education
      Mark Conrad, an associate professor at Fordham academic experience, equip students for an ever-             or corporate communications setting. For the           sector, but they also shed light on the lingering
      University’s Gabelli School of Business; and Candy changing industry, and extend its reach within           students enrolled in the Advanced Online               obstacles and issues that need to be improved,”
      Lee, a Northwestern University professor in the        the region. Its operations throughout the year are   Storytelling course, this means developing and         said NU-Q junior Ghalya Al Thani, who
      Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated         driven by the demand for continuous growth and       designing a website.                                   completed her residency at the New York office
      Marketing Communications.                              improvement in the industry and have resulted                                                               of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to
                                                             in a confident new generation of leaders at the      In preparing for the class, Professor Christina        the United Nations.
     “Part of Qatar’s sport strategy is to situate itself as forefront of a changing media landscape.             Paschyn combs through local news reports to
      a major player in global sports governance. The                                                             find a topic that becomes the issue students          Students interested in working in broadcast news
      country realizes that with such decisions—like                                                              investigate over the five weeks. The website that     environments attended a similar course focused
      making beIN Sports one of the largest sports                                                                students developed this year addresses concerns       on the techniques of electronic news gathering,
      media operators or hosting large-scale events                                                               surrounding Qatar’s educational system.               in-house package production, and reporting.

20                                                                                                                                                                                                                           21
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

RESEARCH

     Northwestern University in Qatar continued to         Also produced this year was a five-year retro-
     build on its research eminence this year. Research    spective of the study, providing valuable insight
     conducted by the institution, faculty, and students   on the media landscape in the Middle East from
     are providing valuable insights and data for          2013 to 2018.
     future scholarly work.
                                                           Another institutional study, “Health Information
     NU-Q launched its fifth annual survey of media        and Monitoring Among Qatari Adolescents,”
     use and public opinion, Media Use in the              provided in-depth analysis of how Qatari youth
     Middle East 2017, illuminating the evolving           acquire health information and monitor their
     communication platforms in the region. The            own lifestyles using digital platforms. The study
     longitudinal study drew from interviews with          assessed results from interviews with more than
     more than 7,000 subjects residing across              1,100 Qatari teenagers, aged 13–20 years.
     seven nations and investigated attitudes and
     opinions about issues such as free speech, online     Klaus Schoenbach, lead researcher, NU-Q
     privacy, bias, and credibility. Its findings were     professor, and former senior associate dean,
     cited by numerous publications and media              collaborated with George Anghelcev, associate
     outlets including Fast Company, Radio France          professor in residence at NU-Q; Ellen Wartella,
     Internationale, Al Jazeera English, Forbes Middle     Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor
     East, and Al-Fanar Media among others.                of Communication, professor of psychology
                                                           and professor of human development and social
     “At a challenging time in the region and around       policy at Northwestern University; and Salma
      the world, we offer these findings as impartial data Mawfek Khaled, assistant professor and survey
      for use in much-needed, considered discussion and researcher at Qatar University’s Social and
      understanding of the current media environment,” Economic Survey Research Institute.
      said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO of NU-Q.

                                                                                                               “Our study found that Qatari teens are turning        academics from neighboring world-class
                                                                                                                to the internet to find solutions, cures, and        universities on campus: Virginia Commonwealth
                                                                                                                understand symptoms; however, the judgment           University in Qatar, Texas A&M University
                                                                                                                and skills are often lacking to know how to assess   at Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar,
                                                                                                                and deal with the abundance of information they      Georgetown University in Qatar, Weill Cornell
                                                                                                                come across online,” said Schoenbach.                Medicine-Qatar, University College London
                                                                                                                                                                     Qatar, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
                                                                                                               Research colloquia and workshops are held
                                                                                                               frequently throughout the year at NU-Q to             The Annual Research Conference, the Qatar
                                                                                                               provide a platform for exchanging ideas and           Foundation’s flagship research event built to
                                                                                                               equipping faculty with support. Research in the       advance the nation’s ambitious research agenda,
                                                                                                               topics of digital diplomacy, American gothic          also showcased NU-Q student and faculty work
                                                                                                               literature, the effects of innovation in Hollywood,   in its presentations, poster sessions, and panels.
                                                                                                               philosophical arguments for open immigration
                                                                                                               policies, political narratives surrounding natural    By empowering faculty and students to conduct
                                                                                                               disasters, and journalism ethics were presented       investigations into their own interests, NU-Q is
                                                                                                               on a monthly basis.                                   adding a diverse range of statistical and empirical
                                                                                                                                                                     data to research in the field. A major pillar of the
                                                                                                               Research from the school also contributes             school’s mission, research at NU-Q strengthens
                                                                                                               to Qatar Foundation’s efforts in the area by          its connections to Qatar, empowers the Qatar
                                                                                                               participating in the Qatar Faculty Forum, an          Foundation’s mission, and continues to carry
                                                                                                               Education City wide seminar that convenes             Northwestern University’s research mission.

22                                                                                                                                                                                                                          23
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

FACULTY RESEARCH

     Individual Faculty Projects: A Selection                                                             Qatar National Research Fund: Research Grants
                                                                                                          National Priorities Research Program (NPRP)
     Media and Communication                           Issues in Islam
     in MENA Countries                                                                                    Media use in the Arab Gulf:                        Content innovation strategies for mobile media
                                                       •   18th century reformism in the Muslim world
     • New global media players in the Middle East     •   West-African Islamic intellectuals             Qatar in a changing region                         in Qatar
     • Digital diplomacy in the Arab Gulf              •   The rhetoric of the Sufi-Salafi controversy    LPI: Everette E. Dennis                            LPI: John Pavlik (Rutgers University)
     • Advertising, marketing, and strategic           •   “Political Islam”                              PIs: Justin Martin, Klaus Schoenbach               PIs: Everette E. Dennis, Rachel Davis Mersey
       communication in the Middle East                                                                   Collaborating Institutions: Doha Film Institute,   (NU-E), Justin Gengler (QU)
     • Religious broadcasting                                                                             Al Jazeera Media Network                           Collaborating Institutions: Northwestern
     • Free speech in the Arab world                   Literature and Writing Studies
                                                                                                          Status: Ongoing; February 2018–February 2021       University, Rutgers University, and Qatar
     • Arab youth and alternative media                • Pedagogy of writing                                                                                 University (SESRI)
     • Turkish entertainment media and Arab                                                               Total Award: $453,000 (QNRF), $30,000 (DFI)
                                                       • Migration and displacement in world literature                                                      Status: Ongoing; October 2015–June 2019
       audiences                                       • American Great Plains Gothic literature
     • Journalists’ use of user-generated content in                                                                                                         Total Award: $726,407
                                                                                                          Qatari Adolescents: How do they use digital
       conflict areas
                                                                                                          technologies for health information and health
     • Sport media, marketing, and governance in       Other Topics
                                                                                                          monitoring?                                        Media use in the Arab Gulf:
       the Arab Gulf
                                                       • Global regulation of speech and press                                                               A longitudinal study
     • Mobile Media Disruption                                                                            LPI: Klaus Schoenbach
                                                       • Media law in the Middle East
                                                                                                          PIs: George Anghelcev, Ellen Wartella (NU-E),      LPI: Everette E. Dennis
                                                       • Everyday life of political violence in Lebanon
                                                                                                          Salma Mawfek Khaled (QU)		                         PIs: Justin Martin
     Women, Media, and Communication                   • History of scientific and medical filmmaking
                                                                                                          Collaborating institutions: Northwestern           Collaborating Institutions: Doha Film Institute,
     in MENA Countries                                 • British imperial history
                                                                                                          University-Evanston and Qatar University           Al Jazeera Media Network
                                                       • Rentierism in the Arab Gulf
     • Women’s meetings and the public sphere                                                             (SESRI)                                            Status: Completed
                                                       • Sociology of migration in the Middle East
     • Depiction of women in Gulf media                                                                   Status: Completed
                                                       • Disaster science and technology studies                                                             Total Award: $849,601
     • Girls’ media culture                            • Vinyl records as “analog artifacts”              Total Award: $268,316
                                                       • Museum studies and non-Western curation in
                                                         the Arab Gulf
                                                       • Conceptualizations of power in understanding     National museums and the public imagination:
                                                         oppression                                       a longitudinal study of the National Museum
                                                                                                          of Qatar
                                                                                                          PIs: Jocelyn Mitchell
                                                                                                          Submitting Institution: University College
                                                                                                          London-Qatar
                                                                                                          Status: Ongoing; August 2016–August 2019
                                                                                                          Total Award: $17,102

24                                                                                                                                                                                                              25
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

     Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP)                                                   STUDENT RESEARCH
     Hashtag blockade: Exploring the digital           Helping oneself by helping who needs:
     landscape of the Gulf crisis                      The discourses and practices of Qatari
                                                       foreign aid to developing countries
     Primary Faculty Members: Jocelyn Mitchell,
     Ibrahim N. Abusharif, Banu Akdenizli              Primary Faculty Member: Hasan Mahmud             Undergraduate Research Grant (URG)
     Status: Beginning Fall 2018                       Status: Completed
                                                                                                        Bonded labor in Pakistan                        Archie to Riverdale adaption
     Total Award: $30,000                              Total Award: $13,483
                                                                                                        Ammar Younas, Neha Rashid, and Zaki Hussain     Achira Bhattacharyya

     Assessing and improving migrant workers’          Cultivating a science-based community
     access to and utilization of health information   and scientific culture in Qatar                  Rohingya refugees’ integration into Malaysian
     and resources                                                                                      society
                                                       Primary Faculty Member: Anto Mohsin
     Primary Faculty Members: Susan Dun,               Status: Completed                                Ibtesaam Moosa, Habibah Abass, and Xiran Liu
     Amy Sanders
                                                       Total Award: $15,000
     Status: Ongoing; May 2017–November 2018
     Total Award: $29,993                                                                               Undergraduate Language Grant Recipients (ULG)
                                                                                                        Abdulla Al-Hor (Spain)                          Hatim Rachdi (Germany)

     Internal Scholarly Research Grants                                                                 Sana Hussain (France)

     The Gulf information war and the role of media    The politics of legitimacy: Wealth, voice, and
     and communication technologies                    nation in Qatar
                                                                                                        NU-Q Entries at Northwestern’s Undergraduate
     Ilhem Allagui and Banu Akdenizli                  Jocelyn Mitchell
                                                                                                        Research & Arts Exposition
     Chicago music from the 1940s to 2010:             Girls talk back: Girls’ media, feminism, and     Beyond the crisis: Integration of Rohingya      Activism through street artists: A look at Banksy
     Southside, Bronzeville, and beyond                female youth in the women’s liberation era       refugees in Malaysia
                                                                                                                                                        Anzish Mirza
     Danielle Beverly                                  Kirsten Pike                                     Habibah Abass and Ibtesaam Moosa

                                                                                                                                                        Terima Kasih (film)
     Caught between nations: Film and the Danish       Privacy in the Middle East: Conflicting          Support for internet content regulation among
                                                                                                                                                        Zaki Hussain and Noof Al-Sulaiti
     expeditions to the Gulf states                    comparative approaches                           citizens of five MENA countries: Lebanon,
                                                                                                        Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the UAE
     Scott Curtis                                      Amy Kristin Sanders
                                                                                                        Jueun Choi                                      Kiln (film)
                                                                                                                                                        Neha Rashid, Ammar Younas, and Zaki Hussain
     Worker health and sport in Qatar                  Legal protection for sustainable business
                                                       models: Could dicta save automated journalism
     Susan Dun
                                                       Amy Sanders

     Love-45 (feature film)
                                                       Eyes on the Prize: Revisited
     Rana Kazkaz
                                                       Marco Williams

     Youth generated media, movement in Arab
     public life                                       Presence of the Prophet: Eighteenth-century
                                                       Islamic renewal and the Muhammadan way of
     Joe Khalil
                                                       Ahmad al-Tijani
                                                       Zachary Wright

26                                                                                                                                                                                                          27
ACADEMICS AND RESEARCH

FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

     New members of NU-Q’s leadership and faculty         Before entering academe, he served as editor-         James Hodapp
     include a new senior associate dean, a director of   in-chief of Venezuela’s Diario La Verdad,
                                                                                                                James Hodapp was named assistant professor in        Along with four years teaching experience in the
     executive and graduate education, a new director     and freelance writer/stringer for several
                                                                                                                residence and will teach English literature and      Middle East, his experience includes teaching
     of the program in communication, and an addi-        news organizations such as the United Press
                                                                                                                courses in the first-year writing program.           high school English in Hong Kong and serving as
     tional liberal arts faculty member.                  International, Miami’s El Diario, and others in
                                                                                                                                                                     a Peace Corps volunteer and English teacher in
                                                          Venezuela, Peru, and Colombia.                        Hodapp joins NU-Q from the American                  Lithuania.
     Hariclea Zengos                                                                                            University in Beirut, where he served as assistant
                                                          Lugo-Ocando received his PhD from the
     In April, Hariclea Zengos was appointed senior                                                             professor of English since 2014. He has also         Hodapp has a PhD in English from the University
                                                          University of Sussex and an MA from Lancaster
     associate dean, a role which focuses on NU-Q’s                                                             taught at the University of Maryland, Harold         of Maryland, an MA in humanities from the
                                                          University in media studies and international
     academic excellence and institutional improve-                                                             Washington College, and Wilbur Wright College.       University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree
                                                          relations.
     ment. Zengos succeeds Klaus Schoenbach, who                                                                                                                     in literature from American University in
     now serves as distinguished adjunct professor to                                                                                                                Washington, D.C.
                                                          Gregory Ferrell Lowe
     the University.
                                                          Media management expert Gregory Ferrell Lowe
     Zengos joined NU-Q in August 2017 from the           was named professor of communication and
     American College of Greece, where she served         director of the Communication Program this year.
     as associate dean for academic affairs in the
     Office of the Provost. She previously served as      Lowe taught at the University of Tampere in
     associate dean in the School of Liberal Arts and     Finland since 2008 and at George Washington
     Sciences and the director of the English Language    University. He has held visiting appointments
     program and department head for English and          at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences,
     Modern Languages at the College.                     Jönköping International Business School, Texas
                                                          Tech University, The University of Texas at Austin,
     Zengos holds a PhD in English from Tufts             Tallinn University in Estonia, and the University
     University and an MA in English from Clark           of Westminster in London.
     University. She also earned an MEd at Harvard
     University’s Graduate School of Education, where     For more than a decade he acted as senior
     she studied higher education administration, and     advisor for corporate strategy and development
     has a BA in English from the American College        at Yle Finland. His other industry service
     in Greece. Prior to her appointments in Athens,      includes that of president of the European Media
     she was a lecturer in English at Clark University    Management Association, continuity director of
     in Worcester, Massachusetts, and also taught         RIPE International Initiative for Public Service
     English composition at Tufts while completing        Development in Media, and deputy chairman of
     her doctorate there.                                 the World Media Economics and Management
                                                          Conference.
     Jairo Lugo-Ocando                                    His educational background includes a PhD
     Jairo Lugo-Ocando was named director of exec-        in Radio Television Film from The University
     utive and graduate education and professor. He       of Texas, Austin, and a master’s in mass
     will oversee the conceptualization, development,     communication from The Ohio State University,
     and execution of executive and graduate educa-       while his undergraduate degree in radio/television
     tion programs at NU-Q.                               is from Abilene Christian University.

     Lugo-Ocando was a tenured associate professor
     at the School of Media and Communication
     at the University of Leeds and has held
     appointments as a lecturer in journalism at the
     University of Sheffield and as head of the MA
     Global Journalism program.

28                                                                                                                                                                                                                      29
STUDENT LIFE
STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE
                                                                                                                  PUSHING BOUNDARIES
                                                                                                                  THROUGH FILM
                                                                                                                  Studio 20Q is one of several student clubs at
                                                                                                                  NU-Q—and is also one of the most popular.
                                                                                                                  Members of the club host and participate in
                                                                                                                  frequent workshops, training sessions, and
                                                                                                                  networking events throughout the year.

                                                                                                                  While the club contributes to the growing film
                                                                                                                  culture in Doha, its main focus is to provide
                                                                                                                  funding and general support to students interested
                                                                                                                  in producing their own films. Whether they are
                                                                                                                  creating short narratives, documentaries, music
                                                                                                                  videos, animation, or experimental films, for most
                                                                                                                  of the students it’s their first opportunity to have
                                                                                                                  an immersive filmmaking experience outside the
                                                                                                                  classroom.

                                                                                                                   Using the grant provided at the beginning of
                                                                                                                   the year, the students bring their ideas to life
                                                                                                                   by shooting, editing, and producing the films
                                                                                                                   throughout the course of the year. At the end
                                                                                                                   of the Spring semester, they host a red carpet
                                                                                                                  ‘premiere’ event showcasing their work.

                                                                                                                  This year five student films that explored identity,
                                                                                                                  mental illness, friendship, tradition, and the urgent
     In addition to academia and research, student         in Qatar’s local film culture, and regularly hosts     need for societal change were screened at the event.
     life on Northwestern’s Doha campus is vibrant         workshops, training sessions, and networking
     and alive through clubs, athletic teams, student      events with local filmmakers. Members this year        Where Are You Right Meow? is the first animated
     housing, and international trips.                     learned how to submit grant applications, refine       film to have been funded by Studio 20Q. In the
                                                           pitch strategies, how to work on a film set, and       style of Japanese hand-drawn images, the story
     Life for students at NU-Q begins with orientation,    how to distribute films to festivals.                  explores the concept of what it means to be home.
     where several Northwestern traditions are                                                                    Terima Kasih follows a single mother and a schizo-
     incorporated—including the “March Through            “Studio 20Q is an allover good learning experience      phrenic daughter in their household for a day and
     the Arch”—on the Doha campus. In Qatar,               because it supports meaningful ideas, engages          exposes the realities of living with someone who
     students, faculty, and staff line a passageway of     with industry leaders, and allows students to build    suffers with from a mental illness and the chal-
     the building and welcome the freshman class with something from the ground up,” said Mariam                  lenges involved. 426 explores friendship through
     cheers, whistles, and horns as they begin their       Al-Dhubhani, board president of the club. The club     the bond between two prisoners from different
     undergraduate experience.                             offers competitive filmmaking grants to films that     backgrounds, within the walls of their cells. Desert
                                                           present new ideas, represent overlooked causes,        Bounty, a period piece set in the Arabian Peninsula
     At the start of each year, all NU-Q students          or tackle a new medium of storytelling. This year,     in the early 20th century, centers on a father and
     consider which of the student clubs they will join. eight films on the topics of mental illness, political   daughter who have a mysterious encounter that
     The clubs vary from music to debate, narrative        violence, and cultural history were funded.            leads to unexpected consequences. Finally, The Rat
     writing to filmmaking. All are focused on                                                                    Child confronts stigmas of physical disabilities and
     providing students with the opportunity to apply Another popular club on campus is The Daily                 poverty through the tropes of Pakistani folklore.
     what they are learning in the classroom to real-life Q, a student-run digital publication that covers
     situations, as well as developing students’ social    NU-Q and Education City through news stories,          Studio 20Q produced-films have received
     and emotional intelligence.                           features, op-eds, videos, photo slideshows, and        national and international recognition through
                                                           social media content. Student writers and editors      an international film festival, being broadcast on
     One of the clubs—Studio 20Q—is one of the             explore their interests and test their skills in a     Al Jazeera, and being nominated for a Student
     most popular. Studio 20Q provides its members         realistic news setting, preparing them for fast-       Academy Award.
     with opportunities for filmmaking and immersion paced news environments.

32                                                                                                                                                                        33
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