Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

The Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar has opened its doors to students around Qatar with the offering of summer school classes starting on May 18.

“The school is excited about the possibility of offering undergraduate students in Qatar the opportunity to study with our professors this summer,” Associate Dean Victoria Pedrick said. “We have a fabulous group of elective courses.”

Qualified students enrolled at an undergraduate institution in Qatar will be able to choose from four different classes being offered this semester.

For the first time, a professor from Georgetown’s Qatar campus will jointly teach with a colleague from Texas A&M University at Qatar. The class, “International Politics & Economics,” will focus on issues of globalization in Qatar and around the world. During each class, students will be presented with the economic and political side of a major issue in international politics. “By allowing students to hear discussions on the economic and political dimensions of an issue, we expect this to be a very engaging and dynamic class,” said Georgetown professor Adhip Chaudhuri, who will be teaching the economics part of the class. The political science segment will be led by Todd Kent from Texas A&M University at Qatar.

Kate Sampsell-Willmann, a professor at Georgetown University, will be teaching a class entitled “Social History of American Music.” The class will focus on the history of popular music in America and how they’ve impacted American culture.

The University will also be offering a government course taught by a professor from the Georgetown’s home campus in Washington, DC. Professor Richard Boyd will be teaching “Nationalism & Empire.” This course will explore the concept of “empire” in classical, modern and contemporary social and political theory. The class will also look at the various nationalist ideologies of political self-determination that emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in opposition to colonial rule.

Finally, Abbas Al-Tonsi will be offering a course entitled “Introduction to Arabic Culture.” The class will use sources in Arabic literature, philosophy, and political thoughts designed to introduce the major issue in Arabic and Islamic culture from the classical to the modern period evolved around "Identity." Since the class is designed to strengthen students’ abilities to build and analyze opinions and topics in the Arabic language, all lectures and presentations will be conducted in Modern Standard Arabic.

The classes are open to academically qualified students who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate program. The deadline for enrolling is 11 May. Students may visit the University’s website for more information.