Media Policy and Governance
2026 Theory and Method Winter School
Faculty Instructors
Left to Right: Christopher Ali, Carola Richter, and Sami Atallah.
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ) is pleased to open a call for applications for the 2026 Theory and Method Winter School to take place from January 6 – 8, 2026 in Doha, Qatar. #IAS_NUQ Theory and Method Winter Schools are intended for graduate students and other early career scholars in the social sciences and humanities whose work engages media, communications, or information studies. The topic of this year’s Winter School is “Media Policy and Governance.”
#IAS_NUQ Theory and Method Winter Schools are supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Directed by Marwan M. Kraidy under the Institute’s Arab Information and Media Studies (AIMS) project. The goal of the AIMS project is to expand the field of critical media and information studies in the Arab region and transform it into a more interdisciplinary, multilingual, collaborative, research-oriented, and policy-relevant field.
The Winter School is designed to develop critical skills for early career scholars of Arab media and communications, with an explicit focus on media policy, systems, and governance, as well as exposure to writing for public and policy audiences. It will consist of 1) three method and theory master classes led by faculty instructors, including Media Policy and Analysis, Arab Media Systems and Governance, and Crafting Policy Briefs and 2) graduate students and early career scholars presenting their research and receiving feedback from faculty instructors and other participants.
Following the Winter School, participants will be asked to submit a policy brief for publication by #IAS_NUQ_Press.
Christopher Ali is the Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University. His research focuses on the critical analysis of telecommunications policy with an emphasis on broadband and digital equity. He is the author or editor of five books including Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity (MIT Press, 2021). Presently, he has a series of projects dedicated to “broadband stories,” where he is researching how community-based stories can influence public policy. These projects involve interviews, focus groups, surveys, and field work to better understand the lived experiences of those people, places, and organizations facing digital insecurity.
Carola Richter is professor for International Communication at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research focuses on media systems and communication cultures in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, media and migration, foreign news coverage, and public diplomacy. She is the co-founder of AREACORE, the Arab-European Association of Media and Communication Researchers, and director of the Center for Media and Information Literacy (CeMIL) at Freie Universität Berlin. She is founder and co-editor of the Global Media Journal – German Edition, an open access journal for international and transcultural communication.
Sami Atallah, a trained economist and political scientist, is the founding director of The Policy Initiative (TPI). He was formerly the executive director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS). His research spans various policy areas including political economy of development, political institutions, economic and local development. He has published several policy and academic articles and edited four books on public finance, decentralization in the Arab world, the effectiveness of the parliament, and the prospects and impacts of oil and gas. He has authored more than one hundred opinion articles on politics, economics, and social issues on Lebanon. In addition to research, Sami served as an advisor to the Lebanese Ministries of Finance, Industry and the Interior and municipalities, as well as to the Office of the Prime Minister. He has consulted for the World Bank, European Union, UNDP, and UNICEF among others. He holds a PhD in Politics from New York University and two masters degrees from Yale University in International Economics and Development and Columbia University in Quantitative Methods.
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) produces and promotes evidence-based storytelling focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. Our inclusive vision of globality recognizes the diversities and inequalities that shape the societies we inhabit and study. Espousing a broadly humanistic approach, we harness traditions from the liberal arts, media, communication, and journalism to forge multidisciplinary and multimodal approaches to knowledge that are locally relevant and globally resonant.
Graduate students and other early career scholars in the social sciences and humanities working on topics related to media, communications, and information studies in the Arab region and other Global South contexts are encouraged to apply.
The working language at #IAS_NUQ is English; applicants should therefore have a strong command of English.
Interested applicants should submit the following:
Please submit all application materials as a single PDF document to ias@qatar.northwestern.edu by September 15, 2025.
#IAS_NUQ staff will review applications and may request additional information from applicants.
Accepted participants will be notified by email by October 15, 2025, and asked to submit a 3,000 – 5,000-word polished draft of research proposal and policy brief summary for feedback by December 1. Additional details will be provided at the time of acceptance.
Round-trip economy airfare, accommodation, and meals will be covered for the duration of the Winter School. Travel will only be booked upon submission of the revised research draft.
Click here for more information on the Arab Information and Media Studies Project (AIMS) at #IAS_NUQ.
Click here for more information about #IAS_NUQ.
