Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is a campus of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

( Washington, D.C.) in Education City, outside of

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the cou ...

. It is one of Georgetown University's eleven undergraduate and graduate schools, and is supported by a partnership between

Qatar Foundation Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development ( ar, مؤسسة قطر) is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then- emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser. Qatar Fo ...

and

. In 2015, the university broadened its remit to include executive and professional education and custom training programs, in addition to the primary Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree. It rebranded to Georgetown University in Qatar (previously Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar or SFS-Q) to reflect the broadening of its remit.

Background

In 2002 Georgetown University studied the feasibility of opening a campus of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Qatar in October 2002 and joined four other U.S. universities in opening a campus in Education City in 2005. The campus is also home to the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), GU-Q's premier research institute, which focuses on issues facing the Middle East and broader Asian region.

Academics

Undergraduate programs

Georgetown offers a four-year Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS), with four majors within the program, the curriculum and course materials of which are identical to those offered at Georgetown's main campus in Washington D.C: * Culture and Politics (CULP) * International Economics (IECO) * International History (IHIST) * International Politics (IPOL) Georgetown University in Qatar also offers three certificate options: * The Certificate in American Studies * The Certificate in Arab and Regional Studies * The Certificate in Media and Politics Additionally, GU-Q offers three minors: * Africana Studies Minor * Arabic Language Program and Minor * Indian Ocean Studies Minor

Executive and Professional programs

Georgetown University in Qatar offers three executive master's programs: * Executive Master's in Diplomacy and International Affairs (EMDIA) * International Executive Master's in Emergency and Disaster Management (IEDM) * Executive Master's in Leadership-Qatar (EML-Q) GU-Q also offers custom designed certificates, including programs on Public-Private Partnerships and Strategic Leadership Development.

Faculty

In 2022, GU-Q faculty numbered 66, which includes both teaching and research staff. The Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) sponsors studies of regional and international significance, including research initiatives in the areas of international relations, political economy, and domestic politics of the Persian Gulf.

Admission

Georgetown University in Qatar has an acceptance rate of 27% for the Class of 2021.

Research

Past and current research projects have included the study of Islamic bioethics, skills training for migrant workers, food security in Qatar, Arabic language pedagogy for heritage learners, and the history of women in

Persian Gulf countries The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

, among many other topics. Funding sources are available both within GU-Q and from external funding bodies. GU-Q students formed the Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESSA) in 2012 as a forum for organizing an annual global conference to showcase undergraduate research in the social sciences and humanities. The conference is also fully organized by GU-Q students who consult extensively with a faculty board to help select papers for presentation and to peer review papers for possible publication in the annual Journal of the Georgetown University in Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association. This journal is the first peer-reviewed scholarly journal run by students in Qatar. GU-Q students have access to research grants funded by the Qatar National Research Fund Undergraduate Research Experience Program (QNRF-UREP) for research projects with topics that are relevant to Qatar's national development.

Campus

Entrance to Georgetown University in Education City

The Georgetown University in Qatar building in Education City was inaugurated in February 2011. The purpose-built 360,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) building features a three-story high atrium, an auditorium with a seating capacity for 300 people and 14 classrooms and lecture halls. It includes offices, classrooms, a library and other facilities for more than 200 undergraduate and graduate students. The facility was designed by

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

architect Ricardo Legorreta.

Library

GU-Q Library offers online access to more than 2 million scholarly resources and an intercampus loans service with Georgetown's library services in Washington DC. There is also an interlibrary loans services agreement with other universities on the Education City campus and with Qatar University. The Library houses over 90,000 books, and over 6,000 multimedia items. The Library space is open to the public. As of 2016, over 650,000 members of the GU-Q community and the general public have visited the library since 2005.

Student life

About 25

student organizations A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists o ...

exist on the school's campus. Student organizations include
The Georgetown Gazette
', Brainfood, the Women's Society and Development Club, Amal, Hoya Empowerment and Learning Program (HELP),

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

, Photography Club, Senior Class Committee,

Performing Arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perfo ...

Club, The Free Society, Georgetown Business Society (GBS), Students for Justice in Palestine (GUQ-SJP), Southeast and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n Student Association (SEA), and the Georgetown Investment Association (GIA). Funding for student organizations comes from the Student Activities Commission (SAC) while the student body as a whole is represented by the Student Government Association (SGA).

Criticism and controversy

Georgetown has been the subject of ongoing criticism of whether it is appropriate to maintain a campus in Qatar, given the Qatar's alleged links to state-sponsored terrorism, comparatively less

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach ...

than its home country, and the country's de facto

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...

. In an article without byline published by ''Gulf News Journal'', Herbert London, a conservative pro-Israel activist who is founder and president of the eponymous London Center for Policy Research and a senior fellow at the think tank Manhattan Institute, said "universities I think have compromised themselves" by having campuses in "an environment like Qatar" where " free and open exchange of ideas" is impermissible. Along with other universities with campuses in Qatar, Georgetown has received criticism for accepting money from Qatar due to their alleged support of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

worldwide and their poor human rights record, especially in the lead up to the 2022 World Cup. Some question if universities who profit from campuses in Qatar are thereby complicit in Qatar's alleged sponsorship of terrorism and human rights abuses.

List of deans

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgetown University in Qatar American international schools Educational institutions established in 2005 Universities in Qatar

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

2005 establishments in Qatar Education City