On March 4, 2008, Ed Husain visited SFS-Q to meet with Georgetown University students and to engage with them in an informal group discussion. Husain was in Qatar as a guest on the Doha Debates show which had filmed a day earlier the debate entitled "This House Believes that Muslims are Failing to Combat Extremism"…
On April 5–6, 2008, the Center for International and Regional Studies hosted the "Innovation in Islam" Conference. Innovation in Islam explored topics such as the idea and reality of innovation in Islam; development of knowledge in early Islam; development and change in the Islamic legal system; the arts and artistic innovation in Islam; science and scientific innovation…
As part of its ongoing outreach efforts, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro, creators of the multiple award-winning documentary film Promises, and invited them to take part in public screenings of the film. Promises is a documentary film that follows the stories of seven children from opposite sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The film was a nominee in the category of “Best Feature Documentary” at the 74th Annual Academy Awards.Goldberg and Shapiro were invited to come to the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar campus, where they were welcomed by CIRS staff and where they conducted an informal workshop with SFS-Qatar students and faculty.On April 14th, 2008, CIRS organized two different screenings of Promises in one day in order to accommodate public demand and interest in the documentary. The first screening at the auditorium in the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) was the matinee and aimed at local Qatari and international high-school students, who attended the screening accompanied by their chaperones. The matinee was attended by 150 students from the American School of Doha and from Amna Bint Wahab School for Girls. The evening event, also held at the CNA-Q auditorium, was dedicated to the members of the general public and began with a reception for the attendees before the screening of the film. Both Goldberg and Shapiro were in attendance and took the stage after the screening of the film, in order to answer audience questions.
Victoria Pedrick, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Classics at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Qatar), wrapped up CIRS events for the academic year 2007-2008, with a lecture entitled “A Hunger for Trees: Myths of Desecration in Nature.” The lecture was addressed to an intimate audience of 40 people made up of students, Qatar…
On June 17, 2008, The Center for International and Regional Studies hosted a lecture by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture, attended by a capacity audience of nearly 500, was based on Mearsheimer and Walt’s recent book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. Mearsheimer and Walt stressed…
On June 18 and 19, 2008, CIRS hosted a working group to discuss various aspects of the "International Relations of the Gulf." This initial round of talks consisted of preliminary thoughts on chosen topics and brainstorming sessions to critically assess the project’s focus, parameters of analysis, and main thesis. A second working group meeting took place in January 2009. The…
He has BA and MSc degrees respectively in political science and mass communications from Syracuse University (USA), is married to Ellen Kettaneh, and has two grown sons.
"Beauty and the Beast: Environment and Industry in Qatar" CIRS kicked off its Monthly Dialogue Series on September 15, 2008, with a lecture by Renee Richer, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Richer’s presentation included a photograph slide-show of diverse life-forms that are rarely seen but are nevertheless indigenous…
In order to gauge local public opinion regarding the United States Presidential elections and to bring the nuances of the American debate to the Gulf region, CIRS hosted its own Democratic vs. Republican debate on October 12, 2008 at the Diplomatic Club in Doha. On the Republican side was James Patti, Director of Strategic Planning…
CIRS hosted a luncheon discussion on October 19, 2008, featuring Cynthia Schneider, Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, nonresident Fellow at the Brookings institution, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands. Professor Schneider discussed ways in which the next U.S. administration should use culture as part of its diplomatic efforts. The…
In honor of the memory of Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish, CIRS hosted a literary evening to recall his life and his legacy. His Excellency, the Palestinian Ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, and Georgetown University Professor, Amira El Zein, were invited to share their thoughts on different aspects of the poet’s life and work. Ambassador Ghannam…
On November 3, 2008, James Reardon-Anderson, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, gave a lecture at CIRS’s Monthly Dialogue Series on the connection between “Rainfall and the American Civil War.” Dean Reardon-Anderson explained to the invited audience that the lecture was inspired by a class he regularly teaches entitled “Map…