RADIO: Higher Education in the Middle East: Northwestern Comes to Education City

[Ryan Goble]

Caught this as a rerun on NPR here in Chicago - part of a special on education in the Middle East...

WORLDVIEW 11/19/2009

Higher Education in the Middle East: Northwestern Comes to Education City  Pop Out  Download  Print  Share  Comment

Northwestern College of Media and Communications, in Doha, Qatar. In recent years, Gulf states have begun to directly import U.S. institutions. The most aggressive effort is by New York University with funding by the United Arab Emirates. NYU’s starting a full bore campus in Abu Dhabi. On their website, they say the school will "form the backbone of a unique Global Network University, with faculty and students from either New York or Abu Dhabi spending semesters away at one or more of the numerous study abroad sites NYU maintains on five continents."  Another effort with a little different vision is Education City in Qatar. It's funded by the Emir’s Qatar Foundation. Six U.S. universities have contributed schools, including Cornell Medical School, Texas A & M's school of engineering and Carnegie Melon's business school.  The latest addition in 2008 was Northwestern University in Qatar, which boasts both journalism and communications programs. John Margolis is the Dean of Northwestern University in Qatar. You can listen to the full show here.

[Michele Vogt-Schuller]

I just heard this last week (I think I was driving home from class, which actually gives me time to hear an entire NPR story ;). I enjoyed this for a couple of reasons: one, having good educational choices in the middle east give young women there more opportunity (as their culture may not allow them to go far for schooling). Most studies indicate that the education of women is one of the best indicators for a more progressive society. Second, the interviewer did not go easy on the Dean of the college, but rather asked some difficult questions, mostly regarding money, standards, etc.. It's pretty clear that there is a strong financial motive for institutions to adapt to educational delivery such as this, but that being said, so what? Really, isn't it the purpose of capitalism to create a profit? And, if in doing so, some good ideas are spread around, then so be it. Actually, the profit margin seems to be increasingly important, as does the international angle. One of my sisters (adjunct faculty at a small arts college in CA) tells me that they have international recruiters (paid well, much better than say, adjunct faculty) who go around recruiting students who can easily pay the full price/international tuition. Of course, this is much easier when you just move the campus overseas!!!!

[Ryan Goble]

Facinating stuff - I also just read this article this AM (just got back in town) that adds another layer to this discussion..

"Save the Muslim Girl!" By Özlem Sensoy and Elizabeth Marshall

Does popular young adult fiction about Muslim girls build understanding or reinforce stereotypes?