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Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) has announced the launch of the first academic political science journal, The Journal of Georgetown University in Qatar - Middle Eastern Studies Student Association |
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Dr Gerd Nonneman, dean at GU-Q, said MESSA
contributed for the journal.
Director of research at GU-Q John T Crist, MESSA advisory board member Mohamed Khalil Harb, a GU-Q student contributor, Qatari student Khawla al-Derbasti, and MESSA journal’s editor-in-chief were present at the conference.
Published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, the journal will also be made available online through MESSA’s website. MESSA is a student-focused campus organisation, giving young people a chance to emulate their esteemed peers in the research community.
GU-Q students, GU-Q faculty and staff advisory board members were involved in the project.
“It is especially gratifying to see high-quality analytical work emerging among students that addresses head-on, some of the most complex and interdisciplinary questions pertaining to this dynamic region. It is an honour for GU-Q to be able to host this journal,” said Dr Nonneman who also serves on the journal’s board of advisers.
The focus of the first publication, which includes articles from students at top universities including Harvard, Princeton, and Tufts who presented their research at the second MESSA conference earlier this year, reflects the conference theme: “Globalisation and the Middle East: Youth, Media and Resources”. Current and future topics will also include youth, gender issues, sectarianism, non-state actors, culture, economics, development, and the interplay of domestic, regional and international politics.
“There is a lot of change happening around us, and this change is taking place at an expedited pace, this is what makes MESSA such a vital organisation. Fundamentally, our generation must become more aware and engaged with both local and international affairs to be prepared for the future that will demand our attention soon enough,” said Khawla.
MESSA serves to voice undergraduate research that is conducted at Georgetown University, in Qatar or the United States, and concerns issues which are pivotal to Middle Eastern affairs. Striving to foster and enhance undergraduate research, MESSA enables students, from Georgetown University and across the globe, to voice their research and facilitates a breadth and depth of discussion about respective economic, political and social affairs.
