Student Research

Annual Report 2020-2021 •

Georgetown University in Qatar

Students develop advanced original research and research proposals that are published and funded by organizations around the world.

Student research is supported through faculty mentorship, scholarly events, library workshops and tutorials, the Writing Center, and funding for research-related travel. As a result, original research on understudied areas have become the scholarly focus of students at GU-Q.

An interest in disability rights in Qatar was instrumental in Khansa Maria (SFS‘21) winning the Rhodes Scholarship, and research on expatriate workers garnered Irene Promodh (SFS‘21) a publication in a top peer reviewed journal. Syed Taha Kaleem’s (SFS‘22) selection as a Berkley Center-Pulitzer Center international reporting fellow for summer 2021 is another example of how original student research is capturing international attention.

Student Research

GU-Q Research Grant

Tala Kammar (SFS’21) was awarded a $1,000 USD GU-Q research grant for her project, “Gender and Competition: The Role of Single-Sex and Co-ed Schooling in Determining Females’ Competitive Choices.”

CIRS Research Project Contribution Summer Research Competition

The goal for the 2020 Summer Student Research Competition was to produce an original research paper on a topic related to the pandemic under the mentorship of a faculty member. The top seven submissions were supported by competitive research stipends.

Adithi Sanjay (SFS’21) won first place for her paper “The Saffronization of Swadeshi in the COVID-19 Era: Modi’s Strategic Reimagination of Self-Reliance,” which applied critical discourse analysis to Prime Minister Modi’s speeches at the start of the pandemic.

READ NATASHA’S BLOG POST

GU-Q’s Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) invited two students to write blog posts based on their honors theses for its Building a Legacy research project.

Mashael Muftah’s (SFS’21) post focused on the dichotomy of Qatari women’s education and Qatar’s World Cup 2022 branding. Natasha Vincent’s (SFS’21) post analyzed football sponsorships through Qatar Airways as a foreign policy strategy. The socio-cultural and religious fabric of Indian society is multidimensional, and it is important to understand the impact of a disruptive black swan event such as COVID-19 on the domestic political climate of the world’s largest democracy.

—Adithi Sanjay, SFS’21

Featured Research Projects

Students have the option of completing a capstone project to earn Honors in the Major or Certificates in Arab and Regional Studies, American Studies, and Media and Politics.

These projects can result in significant research contributions, such as Irene Promodh’s “FM Radio and the Malayali Diaspora in Qatar: At Home Overseas,” which was named Best Thesis at the Media and Politics Senior Capstone Inaugural Website Showcase. Other award winning and notable projects are highlighted below.

SEE FULL LIST IN APPENDIX I

Annual Report 2020-2021 •

Georgetown University in Qatar

Digital Activism and the Amazigh in Morocco

Sarah Abdussalam’s (SFS’21) Certificate in Media and Politics research on “Digital Activism and the Amazigh in Morocco” fills a gap in current literature. Mentored by Joe Khalil (NU-Q), Abdussalam discussed the challenges facing the Amazighi identity across North Africa with representatives of the Amazigh communities in Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, and created a capstone e-portfolio examining the role of media and digital spaces in minimizing the Amazighi identity.

National Approaches to Foreign Branding

Co-winner!

Best Translation Fatima Al-Emadi’s (SFS’21) of Research Certificate in Media and Politics research explores the little understood area of national branding. Mentored by Rory Miller, her thesis “National Approaches to Foreign Branding: Two Middle East Case Studies” identifies marketing for airlines, entertainment, news outlets, international mediation, and nonprofit organizations as avenues through which national branding is being played out.

The certificate project provided me with the tools to critically investigate and examine phenomena around me and better understand them.

—Fatima Al-Emadi, SFS’21

The Water Crisis in the Middle East

Fatima Al-Emadi (SFS’21) earned Honors in the Major in International Politics for her thesis “The Water Crisis in the Middle East: Exploring the Relationship between Water Insecurity and Political Instability,” mentored by Gerd Nonneman.

A Social History of the Qatari Nutrition Transition Reimagining Narratives of Identity and Heritage in Qatar

Abeedah Diab (SFS’21), mentored by Amira Sonbol, earned Honors in the Major in International History for her thesis, “A Social History of the Qatari Nutrition Transition,” providing insight on the social and political changes in Qatar through the lens of food.

Anti-Immigration and the Far-Right

Fatima Al-Naimi’s (SFS’21) Honors in the Major thesis in International History focuses on “Examining the Effects of Far-Right Parties’ Anti-Immigration Ideologies on Immigration Legislation in Great Britain.” Mentored by Sonia Alonso, Al-Naimi’s research reviews influencing factors that have led to far-right legislation.

Winner!

Best E-Portfolio

Social Movements and Activism in the Digital Age

Fatima Al-Naimi (SFS’21) also earned a Certificate in Media and Politics for, “Social Movements and Citizen Activism in the Digital Age: The Role of the Media in the Campaign for Women’s Right to Drive in Saudi Arabia.” This thesis is an accumulation of three years of undergraduate research. Aside from being an Honors thesis, it is a representation of my journey as an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Qatar.

—Saoud Al-Ahmad, SFS’21

Saoud Al-Ahmad’s (SFS’21) Culture and Politics Honors in the Major thesis under faculty mentor Amira Sonbol is titled “Jeel Al-Taybeen: Reimagining Narratives of Identity and Heritage in Qatar. ” His research provides a nuanced analysis of Qatari identity and heritage by unpacking the construction of this identity through reference to a monolithic past. He adds to the literature by providing alternative narratives based on analysis of the history of Qatari clothing, the museum and heritage industry, and his own interviews.