Showcasing NU-Q in Evanston

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University in Qatar Dean and CEO Everette Dennis and members of the faculty, staff and students from Doha will visit the Evanston campus next week to present "NU-Q in Evanston" and showcase the Northwestern Experience in Qatar.

"NU-Q in Evanston" is a series of lectures and presentations next Monday through Wednesday (May 11-13) and an opportunity for the community to experience the creative work, innovation and scholarship underway at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q).

The events cast a spotlight on Northwestern's 12th school and only overseas campus and will include presentations by NU-Q students on their achievements in film, reporting, journalism and projects in the liberal arts. Dennis and Justin Martin, assistant professor in residence, also will speak on the vision and success of NU-Q research.

"Since 2008, the NU-Q student population has grown from 40 to nearly 200," Dennis said. “Each year, the quality of the student body -- as indicated by grades and test scores -- has increased as well."

Dennis noted the school boasts some 140 graduates as of 2015, and its alumni have landed successful jobs in media, communication and other fields and also gone to elite graduate schools. Faculty recruitment has been highly successful, and NU-Q research is robust, he added.

A distinctive part of the Northwestern family, NU-Q brings together the curricula of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, the School of Communication and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences to deliver U.S. degree programs in Qatar.

The Middle East is at the heart of a massive transformation of global media and communication. Located in Doha, Qatar, NU-Q is in a unique position to educate future media leaders, study regional and global trends and advance the concepts of freedom of expression and an independent media. The student body is diverse and international.

 The program for "NU-Q in Evanston" is as follows:

• Research at NU-Q: Vision and Achievements

Noon, Monday, May 11, McCormick Foundation Center, Room 3-127

Presented by: Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO and Justin Martin, assistant professor in residence

 The NU-Q research office guides and supports research for institution-wide projects, individual faculty scholarship and student work. To illustrate the depth of the program, this presentation will highlight the latest institutional research: the Middle East Media Use Survey, 2015, a six-nation, longitudinal examination of media habits, attitudes and engagement.

• Introducing a Museum of Communication and Media at NU-Q

Noon, Tuesday, May 12, Frances Searle Building, Room 1-483

Presented by: Pamela Erskine-Loftus, director, gallery for media, communication and journalism

As the new NU-Q building nears completion, plans for the gallery space are taking shape. The multimedia gallery will showcase NU-Q work, as well as exhibitions from around the world. The gallery showcase is an opportunity to see the conceptual progress of this unique undertaking.

• Creativity and Innovation: A Student Showcase

4:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 13, Block Museum of Art

Moderated by: Susan H. Pak, assistant professor in residence

The Student Showcase, designed to introduce the NU-E community to the high quality of student work at NU-Q, includes a screening of a student film, "Good as New," which was selected for the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival.

Another presentation involves a discussion of the ethnographic research involved in the project "Qatari Women: Engagement and Empowerment." The project was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund, which provides grants for research involving both faculty and students.

Also in the showcase: a public relations campaign for the World Cup 2022, a research project on Palestinian reggae, and a series of journalistic reports on homelessness in Qatar, which themselves generated a lot of news and sparked a volunteer effort to address the situation. 

Dennis will join Lisa Graziose Corrin, Ellen Philips Katz director of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, to welcome attendees to the Block Museum for the Student Showcase on Wednesday.

The large contingent of students, faculty and staff come to Evanston following NU-Q's fourth annual graduation exercises. The ceremony, held Sunday (May 3) in Education City, honored 41 graduating students from NU-Q's journalism and communication programs.

Changing the world through social entrepreneurship was a key message at this year's NU-Q commencement. Keynote speaker Shiza Shahid urged the graduates to take sensible risks when facing challenges: "The truth is there are no superheroes, there's just us."

Shahid is global ambassador for the Malala Fund, named for the young activist who was shot in the head for her efforts to get an education in her Taliban-occupied town in Pakistan.