More than two dozen graduating seniors from Northwestern University in Qatar travelled to the home campus in Evanston, Illinois, last weekend.
NU-Q students attend the commencement celebration in the home campus
It was the first time that the over 150-year-old institution included graduating students and faculty from its Doha campus in commencement week activities.
NU-Q’s presence included a showcase of plays and films created by students in Doha.
NU president Morton Schapiro opened the 154th Commencement celebration with a nod to NU-Q. “We are honoured today to have with us the first graduating class of Northwestern University in Qatar,” he said.
NU-Q dean Everette Dennis described the branch campus as a ‘jewel’ that has already created value for students in the region and made its mark on the university as a whole.
The NU-Q graduates kicked off the week leading up to graduation with public performances of their ‘Arab Awakenings’ production, a series of six plays that tackle provocative themes such as religion, the degradation of spirit caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and participation in the Arab Spring. The difficult issues of Arab society and grappling with modernity and the West unfolded in various scenes.
The actors included students from NU-Q, Mohamed Farid, Motasem Kalaji, Meriem Mesraoua and Rasha Said, and students from Northwestern’s Evanston campus, Brittany Blum, Amy Secunda and Emily Ember.
Susan Pak, a visiting assistant professor in communication at NU-Q, oversaw script development for the project.