Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Doha, Qatar — Summer classes have recently concluded at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar). This year, 36 students from SFS-Qatar and other universities in Education City have enrolled in elective courses offered by Georgetown for the first time.

At Georgetown's Qatar campus, students were able to choose from four different classes being offered this summer. Professors from the Qatar campus, as well as from Washington, DC, are offering courses in Arabic culture, political theory, political economy and American culture.

In keeping with H.H. Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned's vision of Education City as a model of education, SFS-Qatar has opened its doors to students from different majors within universities in Education City and Qatar. Similarly, SFS-Qatar students are taking elective courses offered by other universities.

"Summer school is a great opportunity for students to move ahead in their course requirements," said Victoria Pedrick, associate dean. She explained that summer course offerings give students an added edge towards applying for advanced courses – especially for those interested in applying for studying abroad. Pedrick also considered summer school as an opportunity for students to make up for missing credits or improve their GPA.

Manal Shkifi (SFS '11) is taking International Economics and Politics. This course is co-taught by Professor Adhip Chaudhuri from SFS-Qatar and Professor Todd Kent from Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ). In addition to Georgetown students, Shkifi’s classmates in this course include students from TAMUQ and from West Point in the United States.

Nabil Mohamed (SFS '11) is taking a course offered by SFS-Qatar Professor Abbas Al-Tonsi, to improve his understanding of Arabic culture and brush up on his Classical Arabic skills.

In order to graduate earlier, Abdularahman Alkhawaga (SFS'11) decided to take two summer classes. In addition to the course on Arabic Culture, he is taking a course entitled the Social History of American Music. "This course beats the routine. We listen to music, watch movies and learn about the origins of music,” he said. “We are learning about the lives the slaves led in American history and what happened during the American Civil War."

"Nationalism and Empire" is the title of another international politics course offered this summer. Tara Makarem (SFS '11) found the title of the course intriguing and wanted to learn more about the concept of nationalism. Taught by Richard Boyd, a professor from Georgetown’s campus in Washington, DC, the course explores the concept of “empire” in classical, modern and contemporary social and political theory.