Doha, Qatar – May 10, 2012 – Northwestern University in Qatar celebrated its inaugural graduation yesterday in a commencement ceremony at the Qatar National Convention Centre, welcoming a new generation of aspiring media professionals to the field.

Graduation speaker Rami Khouri, the prolific Middle East author, columnist and commentator, charged the 36 graduating journalism and communication students to use the power of knowledge and storytelling for good in these transformative times.

“When you decided to pursue your studies here, you became part of something much bigger that marks an important milestone today,” said Khouri, who is director of the respected Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University in Beirut and a columnist for the Beirut-based Daily Star.

Khouri continued: “You wear a mantle that none before you have ever experienced: the combined inheritance of a thousand years of Arab higher education; several centuries of American leadership in the practice and study of free media and responsible communications; and a still growing but solid Qatari national commitment to harnessing the full force of these two remarkable traditions for the benefit of not only Qataris, Arabs or Americans, but for all humankind.”

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, has also commented on the importance of the occasion for Qatar: “This first graduation from Northwestern University in Qatar represents a moment of great opportunity for our pioneering students and also for our country.”

“Media and communications are more than industries—they are an integral part of the daily lives of millions of people with a significant role to play in shaping and changing societies.  As members of the Class of 2012 embark on their chosen careers, my dream is to see them play an active role in the shaping of our society and our region,” added Her Highness.

Fifteen students received their Bachelor of Science degrees in journalism and 21 in communication during the inaugural commencement ceremony, which also featured a speech from Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, director of His Highness the Amir’s Office and co-chair of NU-Q’s Joint Advisory Board, Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis, and student leader Zainab Sultan.

“Tell me an interesting, funny, sad or captivating story, and I will listen to you. Give me accurate facts and truths, and reasoned opinions, and I will open my mind to you,” said Khouri in his keynote address.

“Society gives you a mandate and a public trust: to chronicle and document your world,” added the celebrated media professional, who boasts 45 years of experience in the field. “Always keep in mind that you are, at heart, storytellers.”

The NU-Q students are graduating a time of great transformation in the region, Khouri went on to explain, which presents the young people with both opportunity and responsibility. “The changing Arab world today is the greatest story that any communicator or journalist could ever ask for. It is huge, tempestuous, and still unfolding. It is full of drama, uncertainty, good and evil, amazing characters, hope, tension, winners and losers, and, ultimately, I expect, it will be about the triumph of the human spirit,” said Khouri, adding, “It is the world’s biggest story in the last generation, and it has fallen squarely into your laps.”

In a final charge, Khouri said: “You must come to terms with the fact that you are not only a detached observer or third person objective chronicler of this story; you are the story.”

Top figures from Northwestern University and Qatar’s media and education community joined the NU-Q faculty, staff and students in celebrating the graduation on May 9.  The entire NU-Q Joint Advisory Board was also present.

NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis delivered the welcome address for the occasion, and remarked, “As we gather here in solemn convocation to recognize this inaugural class of 2012, we do so with great gratitude to His Highness, the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation; and to Qatar Foundation and the supportive leadership of Northwestern University.”

Members of the Northwestern University in Qatar Class of 2012 are as follows:

Graduates receiving their Bachelor of Science degree in journalism, awarded by the Medill School of Journalism: Laala Al-Jaber (Honors), Mai Al-Mannai, Jawaher Al-Naimi, Latifa Al-Romaihi, Sara Al-Thani, Ola Deyab, Shannon Farhoud, Camila Ferreira, Benazir Karim (Honors), Rana Khaled, Thouria Mahmoud, Shereena Qazi, Ashlene Ramadan, Zainab Sultan (Honors), and Nazneen Zahan.

Graduates receiving their Bachelor of Science degree in communication, awarded by the Medill School of Communication: Sarah Abou-Zant, Lama Al-Abdulla, Asmaa Al-Buainain, Maryam Al-Darwish, Fatema Al-Hadad (Honors), Md. Rezwan Al-Islam (Honors), Lolwa Al-Jefairi (Honors), Jassim Al-Romaihi (Honors), Sara Al-Saadi (Honors), Hattan Al-Thani, Kaltham Al-Thani, Thamer Al-Thani, Maaria Assami, Amit Chowdhury, Florent D’Souza, Mohamed Farid, Melanie Fridgant, Sara Kawas (Honors), Omer Mohammad, Zaina Salameh, and Nayaab Shaikh.

In a final celebration of their graduation, NU-Q seniors will travel to Evanston, Illinois in mid-June to participate in the graduation ceremonies at Northwestern University’s home campus, where they will receive their official diploma alongside other Northwestern graduates.

Read release in  Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – May 7, 2012 – Jassim Al Rumaihi is carrying on a family tradition in media as he prepares to graduate from Northwestern University in Qatar this week, when he will start to work full-time in the Al Jazeera Arabic newsroom.

Al Rumaihi’s father is a retired journalist and media practitioner in Qatar who has passed his love for news and writing on to his son.  Al Rumaihi commented, “I have always had an interest in media and the entertainment industry because of my father, and I knew that I wanted to make my career in the field.”

“When Northwestern began offering its media programs in Qatar, I jumped at the opportunity to study there –we had assumed that I would have to travel abroad for the program I was interested in, but now I could receive that same world-class media education within the context of my own culture,” added Al Rumaihi.

Inspired by his father, who wrote for a Qatar-based Arabic sports magazine, Al Rumaihi started pursuing his interest in sports media as a teenager.  During high school, he interned at Al Jazeera Sports and after graduating from The Gulf English School, he took a “gap year” to take part in internships at Al Kass TV Channel and Al Sharq Newspaper, where he worked in the sports department.

Al Rumaihi’s interest in the world of media only expanded as a student at Northwestern University in Qatar.  “I came to NU-Q focused only on sports reporting, but as I learned more about the industry in class and watched the Arab Spring taking place on TV, I decided to change my focus to reporting on wider regional issues, particularly on the issues that are important to Qatar.”

This realization inspired Al Rumaihi’s award-winning documentary “A Falcon, A Revolution,” which he co-produced as a student at NU-Q, and ultimately led him to accept a job in Al Jazeera Arabic’s coverage planning department.

“At Northwestern, our aim is to prepare young people to succeed in today’s rapidly-evolving global media landscape, and to develop homegrown talent for Qatar’s media industry. Jassim’s work as a student makes us proud, and we are greatly encouraged by his ambitions in the field,” commented Everette Dennis, dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar.

According to Al Rumaihi, the most important skill he developed at NU-Q, in addition to technical skills in filmmaking and digital production, was the ability to express himself confidently and compellingly through any medium.

He plans to continue to develop this ability at Al Jazeera Arabic, where he hopes his career will continue for the long term.

“My father always emphasized the importance of media for our region,” said Al Rumaihi, adding, “Now that I really understand how media can be a powerful tool for change and improvement in society, I cannot wait to be part of the Arab world’s most influential media organization.”

Al Rumaihi is one of several Qatari students who will be receiving their Bachelor of Science degrees in journalism and communication on May 9.

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – April 25, 2012 – On May 9, Northwestern University in Qatar will graduate its first student class in an inaugural commencement ceremony at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Thirty-six students will be receiving Bachelor of Science degrees in journalism or communication, awarded by Northwestern’s renowned Medill School of Journalism and School of Communication, respectively.

Commenting on the landmark occasion, H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, director of His Highness the Amir’s Office and a member of NU-Q’s Joint Advisory Board, said: “Northwestern University in Qatar’s first graduation is a milestone event for Qatar. A thriving media industry is crucial to a knowledge-based economy of the future, and this field of graduates is poised to make a powerful mark. I look to these fresh graduates to work diligently to translate their education into meaningful contributions to our nation’s development, driving our media industries to new horizons of progress and freedom.”

The media school has invited internationally renowned Middle East author, columnist and policy analyst Rami Khouri to serve as the graduation speaker.  Khouri is the director of the respected Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University in Beirut, a columnist for the Beirut-based Daily Star, and has been a member of the NU-Q Joint Advisory Board since 2010.

Dr. Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar commented, “Rami Khouri is a great friend to NU-Q; I can think of no one who better embodies the values and sprit of our school. His easy connection between the practical world of media and communications —and his expansive perspective as a scholar is a model for anyone who hopes to promote public understanding in the global community.”

Other notable attendees will include Qatar’s Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of Supreme Education Council H.E. Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, President of Hamad bin Khalifa University H.E. Sheikh Abdulla Al-Thani, and NU-Q Joint Advisory Board members: H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, Director of the Office of H.H. the Amir (co-chair); Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Thani, Director General of Al Jazeera Network; and Abdul Rahman Azzam, Communication Adviser to HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

Top figures from Northwestern University in attendance will include President Morton Schapiro, Provost Daniel Linzer, Board of Trustees Chair William Osborn, Dean of the School of Communication Barbara O’Keefe, Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications John Lavine, and Founding Dean of Northwestern University in Qatar John Margolis. Select members of the university’s Board of Trustees will also be present at the ceremony.

The university will be hosting a series of events for students, parents, international guests and visitors from Northwestern’s Evanston campus, and faculty and staff at NU-Q to celebrate the inaugural graduation.  On May 5, NU-Q students will kick off the weeklong celebration with a senior retreat, and a formal dinner on May 6 will give seniors a chance to reflect on their four years at Northwestern University in Qatar.

On May 7, senior students will showcase their best works for international guests and Northwestern Trustees.  Also on that day, they will choose one faculty member from the communication and journalism programs to deliver a last lecture as part of a community day that will also include a senior “Food for Thought” session where each student will impart their “pearls of wisdom” to remaining NU-Q classes.

An Awards Recognition lunch, hosted by Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, will be held on May 8.  Five student awards –the Journalism Award, Communication Award, Liberal Arts Award, Student Leader Award, and Dean’s Award –will be given out at the lunch, where the President will also recognize NU-Q’s Latin honor students. Benazir Karim, the senior valedictorian, will give a speech.

Also on May 8, NU-Q will join the other Education City universities at the Qatar Foundation-hosted Senior Convocation, before the university’s inaugural commencement ceremony the following day.

In a final celebration of their graduation, the NU-Q seniors will travel to Evanston, Illinois in mid-June to participate in the graduation ceremonies at Northwestern University’s home campus.  There they will receive their official diploma alongside other Northwestern graduates.

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – April 23, 2012 – Two films produced by students at Northwestern University in Qatar were nominated in the “Promising Films” category at the 8^th Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival, which concluded this Sunday.

Last summer, NU-Q seniors Zainab Sultan, Amit Chowdhury and Nazneen Zahan created a short documentary on female domestic workers in Qatar.  The students traveled to Sri Lanka to report on the workers’ journey to the country with the highest per capita income in the world. “Behind the Walls” shows the workers’ range of experiences, with some women coming to the Middle East for what they consider a dream job that changes their families’ lives drastically, and others reporting a more harrowing ordeal.

“It was a bit of a grueling process to make this film and secure a travel grant to report in Sri Lanka,” said Sultan at the “Promising Films” screening on Thursday, 19 April. “Although Northwestern professors were guiding us through the process, we were given the freedom and responsibility of professional journalists to create the documentary- securing the grant, creating a budget that would be approved, finding a fixer.”

Richard J. Roth, the senior associate dean for Northwestern’s Journalism program, commented on the nomination: “Once again, our students have distinguished themselves and honored Northwestern with their extraordinary reporting, storytelling and videography.”

“I have no doubt that these three, like many of our students, will have exciting and celebrated careers in journalism that will be recognized throughout Qatar and the world beyond,” added Roth,

 The NU-Q media school will be graduating its first class of students in Qatar on May 9.

Senior Journalism student Sultan was nominated for another of her documentaries, “Salma’s World,” in the same category.

Her second film documents the dreams and aspirations of a young Palestinian girl who has never been to her homeland.

On what drove her to start making films, Sultan says, “I want to make a contribution to society by giving a voice to the voiceless.  I applied to Northwestern because I felt there were very few Muslim women in the field although a lot is being written and reported about them in the media.  Instead of reading other people’s opinions on a culture they may not be familiar with, I as a Muslim woman wanted to be able to speak for myself and for other women like me.”

The Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival nomination is not the first time Sultan has received recognition for her films.  Sultan’s documentaries have also been nominated for the CNN iReport Awards, at the 6^th and 7^th Al Jazeera Documentary festivals, and at the Zayed University Middle East Film Festival in the UAE.  She has also received an Honorable Mention at the Women’s Voices Now Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.

In addition to covering domestic workers and expat identity struggles in the Gulf, Sultan’s films have dealt with a range of local and regional topics including labor trafficking in the Middle East, the Gulf tradition of pearl diving, and breast cancer in Qatar.

After graduation this May, she would like to continue working on bringing unheard stories to the screen in Doha, as part of the country’s growing media industry.  In the more distant future, Sultan hopes to return to NU-Q as a professor.  She concluded: “This place has given me so much and I would love to give back by becoming a professor at NU-Q and helping teach a new generation of filmmakers.”

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – April 21, 2012 –  Northwestern University in Qatar has issued acceptance letters to what will be the most elite class of incoming students yet to its Journalism and Communication programs for the 2012-2013 academic year.

NU-Q Director of Admissions Mounir Ouanaimi leads the effort to recruit high-caliber students from Qatar and around the world.

The media school received 36% more applications than last year from an increasingly diverse applicant pool.  Prospective students had higher SAT, ACT, and standardized testing scores than previous years and claimed more than 40 nationalities.

The school’s overall acceptance rate, at 25%, is considered very competitive.

“There is a growing interest in the kind of programs we have at Northwestern University in Qatar,  as young people are recognizing the power and importance of media, and the variety of career opportunities that come with a degree in communication or journalism,” said Everette Dennis, dean and CEO of NU-Q.

Along with a general increase in students seeking admission to Northwestern’s programs in Qatar, the university noted an 18% rise in Qatari applicants over last year.

“This year we are proud to have received the highest number of Qatari applicants and acceptees yet in our four years in Qatar,” added Dean Dennis. “Qatar Foundation invited us to Qatar to help develop home-grown talent for the country’s media industry, and we look forward to seeing how our newest class of NU-Q students will use their media education to shape the nation’s future.”

The University will welcome the select students admitted to join the Class of 2016 to campus later this week for “Preview NU-Q,” an event that allows prospective students and their families an opportunity to learn more about NU-Q’s academic programs firsthand from its deans, faculty and students.

“This is an opportunity for prospective students to learn about the education and career prospects that a Northwestern education offers,” said Mounir Ouanaimi, Director of Admissions at Northwestern University in Qatar.

“Preview NU-Q is a moment where the entire university comes together to welcome the new admits and help them get a taste of what it is like to be part of Northwestern’s prestigious media programs as well as part of a warm and welcoming college community,” added Ouanaimi.

The Northwestern admissions process takes into account many application elements  including standardized test scores, high school grades, essays, recommendations and a personal interview. Only the strongest candidates are accepted to the school’s Journalism and Communication programs.

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – April 9, 2012 –The Washington Post director of digital, mobile, and new product design brought an insider’s perspective on the transition from print to digital media to Northwestern University in Qatar recently, in a weeklong guest lecture engagement with students.

Justin Ferrell–credited with launching the prestigious US publication’s iPad application and, more recently, its redeveloped multimedia website–spoke on the transition and interplay between traditional and new, digital media during his time in residence at NU-Q at the end of March.

“The real issue is not print versus digital. It is not about the merging of print and the digital. It’s about the merging of content and technology,” said Ferrell. “The digital future is really about how you create relationships between the content and the technology. Either through the relationship between content creator and program producer, or through the use of technology to tell stories,” said Ferrell, who is hailed as a digital design maestro and routinely lectures at top US universities from Stanford to Northwestern on the subject.

NU-Q dean and CEO Everette Dennis said: “Never has the effectiveness of journalism and storytelling been more intertwined with, if not dependent upon, advances in technology. Mr. Ferrell is a practitioner whose wo
rk lies at the heart of innovation, and we are thrilled to have hosted him here to engage our students and faculty in discussions on the latest developments in today’s digital, global media.”

In his lectures and discussions throughout the week, Ferrell examined the intersection between different media platforms and the way forward for news organizations.

“You have to think about design beyond simple aesthetics,” Ferrell told students in the NU-Q “Writing and Multimedia Storytelling” class, part of the university’s Journalism degree program.  “Today you have to think about how you go after stories, the design of the reporting process, and of how those stories are then presented to your readers.”

The difference between print and web design, Ferrell explained, is that print design is about narrative whereas web design is about behavior.  As a print layout is static, the crucial design feature is a flowing relationship between text, photos, placement, and design elements, all presented as one “piece.” The reader browses through the layout of the paper, skimming through stories for the one that catches his interest. The interactive nature of digital, on the other hand, requires the designer to first capture the reader’s attention, and then allow for that reader to “follow his interest” by consuming, reacting, and sharing the story elements, then discovering another intriguing story.

Ferrell speaks from his own, proven experience.  The redesign of The Washington Post’s new website, according to Ferrell, was a year-long process focused on integrating the digital and print side of the paper to improve reader engagement and discussion.

“You have to put the users first, the people who are going to use your mobile app or navigate your website,” said Ferrell, “When you do, when you think about how people will feel when they encounter your product, then your stories will have a real impact.”

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar– April 4, 2012 –  Northwestern University in Qatar announced today the publication of a report documenting Libya’s first steps toward establishing an independent national media system.

The report and website, Media Vision Libya, (http://mediavisionlibya.northwestern.edu), was published in English and Arabic, and offers an overview, as well as videos, of NU-Q’s historic December 2011 “Good Offices” conference.  At that conference, convened by Northwestern University in Qatar, a 17-person delegation comprised of the Libyan National Transitional Council and leading members of Libyan civil society gathered with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil El Araby, and international media experts, to deliberate according to four agreed-upon pillars for progress: media governance, the media economy, technology, and training.

The results were a set of principles and an action planthat the delegation authored by consensus, designed to help guide Libya’s government and society as they seek to define and build an independent national media system.

“Re-imagining a media system after decades of autocratic rule is a daunting task,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar, continuing, “The ‘good offices’ conference was designed to define the main issues at hand, and to find agreement on the basic principles that will guide future policy.”

“This report captures the hard work and outcomes of the conference, and we hope it can be used by the Libyans to further discussion on the crucial issue of media freedom as they face the myriad challenges ahead,” added Dean Dennis.

In addition to the readily searchable 24-page conference report, Media Vision Libya also provides video highlights from the conference, including addresses by the Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil Al-Arabi, who was the keynote speaker for the conference and Abdulhafeedh Ghoga, Vice Chairman of the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC), who was  co-chair of the conference and led the Libyan delegation.  Opening remarks and video of comments by NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis, who served as Conference Chair, is also featured on the site.

The Media Vision Libya “good offices” conference and subsequent report are part of Northwestern University in Qatar’s efforts to foster thought leadership in the region’s rapidly evolving fields of media, communication and journalism.

Read release in Arabic

Read release in English

Doha, Qatar – April 4, 2012 – Young filmmakers from China, Qatar and Hungary have been awarded at the first annual THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival this weekend. Their winning documentaries covered issues including disaster recovery in Japan following a tsunami, discrimination against people with disabilities, and the plight of migrant workers in the Middle East and China.

Winners of Best Picture Award with dean Dennis

The three-day festival, sponsored by Northwestern University in Qatar and Qatar Academy’s Model UN program (THIMUN Qatar), was created to encourage high school students to use film as a tool to advocate for change in the world.  In its first international edition, the festival convened students from eight countries around the world to attend workshops, meet their peers and have their works critically assessed at the festival’s Oscar-style gala awards ceremony on March 31.

 “What makes film a powerful tool is that it does not simply communicate information; it uses a combination of language and cinematography to transmit emotion,” said Setareh Gerashi, Qatar Academy student and THIMUN Film Institute Coordinator.

The THIMUN (Model United Nations in The Hague) Foundation aims to help young people seek solutions to the world’s most outstanding problems through discussion, negotiation and debate.  The THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival brings these important contemporary issues to the screen.

“Film can connect viewers to a problem and thereby establish an effective sympathetic understanding with the audience, one that motivates action,” added Gerashi at the awards gala on Saturday evening, where judges revealed the winners for Best Poster, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Story, and Best Picture.

 The 10,000QR award for Best Picture went to Tyler Payne of the International School of Beijing for his documentary, “Chai,” on Chinese government land seizures.

Students from Qatar Malek Elzahed of Doha College and Nitin Mathew of Doha Modern Indian School received awards for Best Cinematography and Best Story, respectively. These and the remaining awards in each category were accompanied by a 2,000QR prize.

The Al Jazeera National Film Award, also granted at the gala, went to Layanne Malluhi of Qatar Academy for the best film by a director living in Qatar.  Her film, “From Victims of Poverty to Victims of Abuse,” examined a series of newspaper stories documenting the abuse of domestic workers in the Middle East region.

“We were astonished by the range and quality of documentary films and other work that students submitted for this competition,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO of Northwestern University in Qatar, “NU-Q is pleased to support this first ever international film festival for high school students along with Qatar Academy.”

In addition to providing financial support, NU-Q had its faculty serve as expert judges and lead interactive filmmaking workshops for the high schoolers during the festival.  The university’s support is “part of the institution’s commitment to educating young women and men to pursue careers in media and communication,” said Dean Dennis.

The first annual THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival was held from March 29-31 and showcased 18 documentary films directed by students from Panama, Pakistan, China, Lebanon, The Netherlands, Hungary, the USA and Qatar. Nine of the 18 finalists were from Qatar.

“This project was a great way to bring local students and their families together with media organizations and other participants from around the world,” said Emily Wilson, Manager for Community Relations at NU-Q. “Filmmaking can be a great rallying point for community activity, and that’s what we saw at this ceremony.”

In addition to the topics mentioned above, students submitted films on a wide range of issues including the Arab Spring, religious tolerance, political corruption, community service programs, the problems of youth, and environmental issues. These issues are taken from the objectives of the THIMUN Foundation.

Linda Dubock, Chair of the THIMUN Foundation, said: “This film festival is an important extension of our work; it allows students to use their creative powers to connect with the public, and especially with other young people, to make them aware of these issues and inspire them to take action.”

For more information about the THIMUN Qatar Film Festival, visit www.thimunqatar.org

Read press release in Arabic

Read press release in English

Doha, Qatar – March 28, 2012 – After a 10-day reporting trip to Jordan, journalism students from Northwestern University’s campuses in Qatar and Evanston, Illinois have produced six short films documenting the lives of Palestinian, Syrian and Iraqi refugees.  Earlier this month, their documentary series “Shifting Diasporas in the Arab World” was screened to overflowing U.S. audiences at the four-day Talking Pictures Film Festival.

The project that led to these documentaries, called Refugee Lives, is a collaboration between the renowned Medill School of Journalism faculty and students at Northwestern University in Qatar and at Northwestern’s home campus in Evanston.

Everette E. Dennis, NU-Q dean and CEO, said: “Northwestern’s combination of media education and practical field experience is at the heart of our efforts to prepare students for leadership in the rapidly-evolving digital, global media industry.” He continued, “Our students in Qatar offer a unique local insight on the Arab World.  Projects like this allow them to share that perspective with their peers from the U.S. campus and, more importantly, with wider international audiences that may not otherwise have access to authentic voices from the region.”

Students on both campuses were selected to be part of the project in September 2011 and, during the fall term, they were required to take a preparatory course that covered the history of refugee situations in the Arab world, refugee law, international reporting and documentary methods. In Doha, the course was taught by Assistant Professor of journalism Janet Key.

In December, both groups of students –from Doha and from Evanston –traveled to Amman, Jordan for a 10-day reporting trip to collect footage for their documentaries.

NU-Q’s students, a trio of journalism juniors, produced a documentary titled “Al Malaath Al Amn” (“Safe Haven”) for the series.

“Al Malaath Al Amn” revolves around the lives of doctors and nurses at a clinic in downtown Amman, which serves refugees from Iraq and, increasingly, Syria. Maha Al Keswani, a nurse, and Dr. Ahmed Afana struggle each day to provide healthcare to refugees from neighboring countries. With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, the clinic has seen a huge increase in the number of refugee-patients and the clinic must now cope with the overwhelming numbers.

NU-Q student, Ismaeel Naar, who produced, directed and edited the film with help from fellow students Salima Al-Ismaili and Zainab Sultan, said: “What makes our documentary so unique is that it takes a macro-level situation of refugees and distills it into a micro-level experience where viewers are able to witness a ‘day in the life’ of the people involved in the healthcare refugee industry.”

Other subjects explored in the documentary series include: the emergence of graffiti art in Amman, the repatriation process for Iraqi refugees, the plight of elderly Palestinians living in a refugee camp, and two Palestinian teenagers’ efforts to establish a soccer program for girls against the backdrop of the conservative Talbiyeh refugee camp.

“As a professor here, what has been really exciting about this project is the cross-pollination with our colleagues back at the home campus. Students often learn the most from each other and it was thrilling to see our students from Qatar working in the field alongside our students from the US,” said assistant professor of journalism Andrew Mills, who led the project from NU-Q’s end.

“The Refugee Lives initiative is a prime example of the thing I love best about our journalism program at Northwestern: that it’s real,” said Mills, adding, “There are no simulations here. Our students were real documentary filmmakers telling the real –and often heart-breaking –stories of refugees who had fled real wars. Our students then had the opportunity to produce and edit a documentary that was screened at a real film festival. Preparation for a career in journalism doesn’t get much better than that.”

Read press release in Arabic: Refugee Lives (A)

Read press release in English: Refugee Lives (E)

Doha, Qatar – March 23, 2012 – Four young women will be starting their own digital production company this year with funds they won in QITCOM’s innovation competition in early March.  The 30,000 QR that came with second place will help the documentarians, all students at Northwestern University in Qatar, to produce multimedia projects on current events in the Arab world for foreign audiences.

“We see a lot of international media companies coming to the region to tell stories about the people here, but they often use producers who aren’t from the region,” said Ashlene Ramadan, during her team’s pitch at the competition. “Our company will allow foreign media companies to commission and produce stories about this region that are told by people who actually live here and understand the culture on a deeper level.”

 Ms. Ramadan is joined on the project by fellow NU-Q students Rana Khaled, Melanie Fridgant and Shannon Farhoud.  Previously, the quartet of journalism and communication majors had worked together on the creation of a successful Al-Jazeera award-winning documentary that was featured on National Geographic Music.

 Their idea arose after the four noticed the high interest among foreign audiences for high impact visual media on developments taking place across the Arab World.  The students saw opportunity in what they identified as a present lack in quality documentaries produced from a local perspective.

 Everette E. Dennis, NU-Q dean and CEO, said: “We are extremely proud to see our students using the skills and knowledge they acquired as undergraduates to forge a new path in storytelling and entrepreneurship here in Qatar.” He continued, “Northwestern strives to empower Qatar’s young people to tell their own stories and make their voices heard. We prepare our students for professional and leadership roles in the country’s ongoing media development and provide them with the tools to succeed in today’s digital global economy. ICT Qatar’s backing of our student’s business plan is a testament to that,” added Dean Dennis.

 On top of supplying the winners with 30,000 QR, ICT QATAR will sponsor and legalize the company, and provide two years of office space for the production house.

 Following her team’s success, Melanie Fridgant said, “Storytelling is our passion.  We want to keep on doing this for the rest of our careers.  We have already had success with the documentaries we created and now we have the financial and legal support to create projects and works that catch the world’s eye.”

 Having developed their versatility in storytelling, filming, editing and post-production over four years at NU-Q, the company hopes to close the gap between the East and West using their Arab upbringing and a Western education.  Their content will be delivered across a trilingual platform of English, Arabic, and French.

 Fridgant, Ramadan, Khaled and Farhoud will move into their new office at ICT Qatar before the end of the year.

Read Press Release in Arabic: Student Production Company (A)

Read Press Release in English: Student Production Company (E)