Message from Dean to Prospective Students

September, 2009

To Prospective Students:

Thank you very much for your interest in Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q).

As we begin our second year in Qatar, NU-Q looks back on a highly successful inaugural year and looks forward to even greater success as we grow both our academic programs in communication and journalism and expand the array of extracurricular opportunities that have been a hallmark of undergraduate education at Northwestern.

Northwestern University is pleased to be a partner with the Qatar Foundation and our five sister universities in the exciting Education City initiative. When Northwestern University and the Qatar Foundation agreed in 2007 to establish NU-Q, the Foundation’s Vice President for Education, Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, eloquently described the importance of communication in society: “A vibrant, healthy media scene will bring about greater transparency and accountability, and these are hallmarks of successful, participative societies.” (I encourage you to read the complete statement.)  We share Dr. Abdulla’s sense of the importance of the work of NU-Q.

Northwestern University and its School of Communication and Medill School of Journalism are committed to providing in Education City the outstanding undergraduate experience (both within and beyond the classroom) that has earned international recognition for our US-based programs. Given its growing importance as a cultural and communications center in the Gulf region, Doha provides an especially rich environment for teaching and learning. Our US curricula have been expanded at NU-Q to include courses related to Middle East media. This year, for example, we offer “Middle East Cinema” and “Newswriting in Arabic,” and similar courses will be added in future years.

An impressive group of faculty – bringing a wealth of experience as teachers, scholars, artists, and practitioners – offers instruction at NU-Q, and the faculty is expanding as additional classes of students are added. Supporting the students and faculty is a talented and dedicated staff attending to such needs as student affairs, the library, and information technology. All of us – faculty and staff, alike – are committed to ensuring that NU-Q students enjoy the same kinds of superb educational and extracurricular opportunities that are hallmarks of a Northwestern education.

We are pleased that more and more prospective students and their families share our enthusiasm for the programs offered at NU-Q and our conviction that the broad NU-Q curricula prepare students for leadership positions in the rapidly expanding local, regional, and global media. Applications for admission to the Class of 2013 were more than 50% greater than for our inaugural Class of 2012, and we are delighted by our students’ strong academic preparation and enthusiasm for the fields of communication and journalism.

Our faculty and staff are here to assist our students as they prepare for careers in fields where they will have the opportunity to engage in some of the most important of human activities -- to “Create. Inform. Connect.”

We are greatly pleased by your interest in Northwestern University in Qatar, and we hope you might join us as members of our vibrant community.

Sincerely,

John D. Margolis, PhD
Dean