Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is preparing to welcome a new round of lifelong learners to its campus ahead of the start of community classes on October 16.
A number of classes, which cover a range of academic and professional development topics, have already reached maximum capacity, less than a month after registration opened to the public.
The fall session will run for six weeks and features a diverse mix of courses, including “The Growing Importance of Risk Management in Today’s World”, “Introduction to Writing: Short Stories”, “How to become a Social Entrepreneur”, and “Arabic Formal Writing”.
Registration for the courses, which are available in Arabic and English language, is open until the end of the first week of classes.
One of the courses, titled “Religion, Peace and Violence”, will be offered for the third time by GU-Q Professor Akintunde Akinade.
The course aims to enable students to understand themes of reconciliation and forgiveness, as well as the perspectives on non-violence and peace, in various religious traditions.
“Beyond the rhetoric of war and polemics, the course enables students to understand the enduring contributions of religion to peacemaking and justice. I encourage students to be analytical, contextual, historical, and global in their engagement with religion,” said Dr Akinade, who teaches theology at GU-Q.
A new course, “Women in the Gulf”, will be taught by Qatar University Associate Professor Hatoon al-Fassi.
It explores the development of activism that leads to the right to education, work and public participation for women in the modern era in the six countries of the Gulf.
Dr al-Fassi, an advocate for women’s rights whose research interests include the social, economic and political participation of women in the Gulf, will be teaching a topic that is rarely offered independently at regional universities.
“I hope students will learn something new about the main challenges and motives that drive Gulf women in their contemporary quest for being,” said al-Fassi.
Classes will be held at GU-Q’s Education City campus and each class will be convened once a week from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
All residents and nationals of Qatar over the age of 18 can take part, regardless of the level of previous study.
More information is available on the Community Education Programme website: https://cee.georgetown.edu/community-education/fall-2016-classes