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Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will host Fresh Global Media Players: Disrupting the Digital Ecosystem? on October 29, bringing together international scholars and media industry leaders to examine how emerging platforms, business models, and regional industries are disrupting the digital media ecosystem and challenging established structures of global communication power.Revisiting questions raised at NU-Q’s first Fresh Global Media Players symposium in 2015, the event asks whether new players are transforming established media hierarchies or reproducing existing inequalities.The symposium features three research sessions spanning the geopolitics of digital media, monetisation and business models, and regional media industries. The programme also includes a fireside chat with Elie Habib, CEO of Anghami and OSN+, examining the changing streaming landscape and its implications for regional and global media markets.Anghami, a regional music streaming platform, became the first Arab technology company listed on Nasdaq in 2022. OSN+ is a leading Middle Eastern streaming service offering Arabic and international entertainment, including HBO.The first session, Geopolitics of Digital Media, features Dani Madrid-Morales and Myrtle Ziwei Zeng of the University of Sheffield, and Joan Letting of Simon Fraser University. Their research examines news flows on YouTube, platform migration and digital belonging, and independent investigative media in East Africa.The second session, Monetisation and Business Models, brings together Swapnil Rai of the University of Michigan, Po-Hsi Wu of the University of Westminster, and Gowreesh V S of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Their presentations explore asymmetrical media networks, Chinese investment in global digital games, and India’s independent digital-first music sector.The final session, A Regional Outlook, features Kay Dickinson of the University of Glasgow; Najat Alsheridah, an independent scholar based in Kuwait; and Mohammed Mohammed of LUT University, whose research with Lobna Hassan, also of LUT University, examines the region’s esports ecosystem. The session addresses Netflix and Kuwaiti television cultures, alongside participation, tradition, and cultural barriers in Middle Eastern and North African esports.“Who shapes the digital ecosystem is no longer only an academic question. It determines what audiences everywhere see, share, and believe,” said NU-Q dean and CEO Marwan M Kraidy. “Answering it takes the intellectual rigour and independent inquiry we value at NU-Q, and bringing scholars from around the world to Qatar lets us pursue it from a vantage point the field has too often overlooked.”The symposium builds on NU-Q’s 2015 Fresh Global Media Players symposium, which examined the redistribution of global communication power and led to a special section of the International Journal of Communication. Continuing this scholarly collaboration, the organisers plan to propose a second special section featuring research developed through the 2026 symposium.Organised by NU-Q faculty Joe F Khalil and William Youmans, the symposium takes place from 9am to 4pm at NU-Q. It is intended for faculty, researchers, graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and members of the wider academic and media communities.The fireside chat with Elie Habib will take place in the University’s auditorium on October 29 from 1.15 to 2.15pm. 

 Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will host Fast FWD @ NU-Q, a professional development session on October 29, featuring a public speaking masterclass led by NU-Q faculty member and broadcast journalist Scheherazade Safla-Gaffoor.  Titled “Influential Public Speaking: Communicate with Confidence, Clarity, and Impact,” the session will explore practical techniques for managing nerves, strengthening vocal delivery, and speaking with greater confidence and credibility in professional settings, from leading meetings to moderating panels.  Fast FWD @ NU-Q is a free professional development event for alumni of Qatar Foundation (QF) schools and current NU-Q juniors and seniors, offered in partnership between NU-Q’s Executive Education Program and Student Experience office. The event also includes a networking meet-and-greet and a complimentary buffet lunch, giving participants a chance to build practical skills and professional connections within Qatar’s community.  Safla-Gaffoor, an assistant professor in NU-Q’s Journalism and Strategic Communications Program, brings nearly 30 years of experience in broadcast journalism, on-air presenting, and podcasting to the session. Her career spans television networks across the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, including Channel Five in London, South Africa’s first 24-hour news channel ENCA, TRT World in Turkey, and Al Jazeera English. She was also a senior reporter and producer for Euronews’s The Exchange and its flagship show, Qatar365.  Beyond broadcasting, Safla-Gaffoor produces and hosts 1001, a podcast launched in March 2025 that creates a platform for women across the Global South. The show explores topics ranging from the challenges of podcasting in a male-dominated industry to reporting from Cape Town’s Cape Flats ganglands, and it was nominated for the Women Podcasters Network Awards 2026. She also teaches first-year journalism, broadcasting, and audio journalism at NU-Q.  Her work also explores representation in African media, including her doctoral research on the challenges facing Black women in South Africa’s podcasting industry.  The seminar will start at 9am at NU-Q, followed by a networking meet-and-greet session at 10.15am and a complimentary buffet luncheon at 12.45pm. The event is free and open to alumni of Qatar Foundation schools and current NU-Q juniors and seniors. Seating is limited. 

Internationally acclaimed London-based artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) will bring their Middle East debut exhibition, ‘All That Is Unseen’, to Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), starting Monday (Oct 5) and running until January 21, 2027.Media Majlis Museum at NU-Q is organising the exhibition in partnership with ACMI, Australia's national museum of screen culture.MLF is an experiential artist collective rooted in telling stories that deepen humanity’s connection with the living world. Working at the intersection of science, art and technology, they create sensory experiences that reveal the hidden systems connecting humans with the living worlds. Drawing on a wide range of creative disciplines—from large-scale installation and kinetic sculpture to film and live performance—a single purpose unites MLF’s practice: to invite audiences into a deeper, richer understanding of the living world and our place within it.“At Northwestern Qatar, we believe that media are not merely technologies of communication, but powerful archives of memory, identity, and human experience," Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO of NUQ, said. "This collaboration between the Media Majlis Museum and ACMI brings together stories, histories, and perspectives across continents, inviting audiences in Doha to reflect on how media shape the ways we see ourselves and one another.”MLF’s Ersin Han Ersin said: "We are thrilled to present 'All That Is Unseen' at the Media Majlis Museum. This exhibition celebrates life and explores our continued fascination with what sits just beyond the reach of our senses. Created through collaborations with scientists, researchers, and technologists, these artworks draw on everything from scanning trees in the Amazon and listening in on black holes to mapping the human body in microscopic detail.“In bringing this work to Qatar for its first presentation in the region, we hope audiences feel these connections too."The exhibition premiered at ACMI in Melbourne before touring internationally, including presentations at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. With an international pedigree, the exhibition has earned recognition for its capacity to connect audiences with the natural world through the power of screen culture and immersive art."ACMI is excited to have our survey exhibition of Marshmallow Laser Feast come to Qatar with Media Majlis Museum and Northwestern Qatar. This exhibition has had a transformational impact in Melbourne and most recently in New Zealand, and we hope the exhibition excites Qatari audiences in similar ways," noted Seb Chan, director and CEO of ACMI.All That Is Unseen invites visitors to experience the hidden systems that connect all life. Moving between the microscopic and the cosmic, from the formation of a single cell to the birth of galaxies, the exhibition combines scientific research with immersive storytelling to reveal worlds that exist beyond the limits of human perception.Through large-scale video works, guided meditation and interactive experiences, MLF invites visitors into a deeply immersive encounter with the rhythms that cultivate and connect all life, asking where the human body ends, and the world begins.All That Is Unseen brings together artworks developed in collaboration with an extraordinary network of artists, filmmakers, musicians and scientists, including filmmaker Terrence Malick, the late producer Edward R Pressman, Cate Blanchett, Daisy Lafarge, Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Meredith Monk, Howard Skempton and Jonny Greenwood. 

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will host communications scholar Cheryll Soriano for the fourth annual NU-Q Lecture on the Global South on September 30 at the campus’ Projection Theater.Titled “Politics of Suturing: Infrastructural Labour and Survival in Platform Work,” her lecture will explore the experiences of workers navigating increasingly platform-mediated economies, with particular attention to the Philippines and other communities in the Global South.Soriano will also lead a workshop for NU-Q faculty and #IAS_NUQ Global Postdoctoral Scholars on researching and writing about digital platforms and platform labour from perspectives rooted in the Global South, followed by a mentoring lunch with undergraduate fellows.A scholar of communications and new media, Soriano studies how digital platforms are reshaping labour, livelihoods and everyday economic practices. Her research brings together questions of technology, labour, and development, offering insight into how digital economies affect workers beyond the dominant narratives of the Global North.As Principal Investigator for Fairwork Philippines, an international research network that evaluates gig platforms on issues including fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management, and fair representation, Soriano has examined the working conditions created by platforms such as Grab, Foodpanda and UpworkSoriano’s work has introduced the concept of “sachet capitalism” to describe the relationship between digital labour and the Philippines’ familiar sachet economy. Drawing a connection between the country’s widespread use of affordable, single-use packets and the rise of digital micro-transactions, she examines how platform economies make gig work accessible while enabling digital and financial technology companies to extract value from everyday informal labour.Another strand of her research examines how workers create their own informal support systems when formal protections are limited. Her work on “digital labour bayanihan” explores how freelancers and gig workers use online groups, chats, and informal networks to exchange information, share advice, and support one another in navigating the challenges of platform work. The concept draws on the Filipino tradition of bayanihan, referring to mutual assistance within a community or group."At Northwestern Qatar, we believe real understanding comes from mutual care and genuine engagement with the communities we study in addition to rigour in theory and methodology. Dr Soriano's research does exactly that, it centres the empirical experience of platform workers and the networks of support that sustain them, offering a model of scholarship rooted in community and fuelled by theoretical innovation." said Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO of NU-Q.Soriano has more than 100 publications and holds a PhD in Communications and New Media from the National University of Singapore, a MA degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies-Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and an BA in Political Science from the University of the Philippines.Before entering academia, Soriano worked with nonprofit research institutions in the Philippines on Internet governance and telecommunications policy. She also provided consultancy on microfinance interventions and spent seven years with the Presidential Management Staff in the Office of the President of the Philippines, providing research and decision support for development interventions in areas including e-governance, universal access and human security.Her fellowships have included research at Peking University, RMIT University in Australia and Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore. She was also an Isaac Manasseh Meyer Fellow in Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore in 2025.Organised by the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South (#IAS_NUQ), the annual lecture series brings scholars and experts together to examine issues shaping societies across the Global South. The lecture is free to the public. 

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will be showcasing an exhibition by internationally acclaimed London-based artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) for the first time in Qatar and the wider region. The Media Majlis Museum at NU-Q, in partnership with ACMI, Australia's national museum of screen culture, will host its 2026 Fall exhibition ‘All That Is Unseen’ created by MLF, marking the Middle East debut of the artist collective. The exhibition will open on October 5 and will last until January 21, 2027. "At Northwestern Qatar, we believe that media are not merely technologies of communication, but powerful archives of memory, identity, and human experience," Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar, said. "This collaboration between the Media Majlis Museum and ACMI brings together stories, histories, and perspectives across continents, inviting audiences in Doha to reflect on how media shape the ways we see ourselves and one another.” MLF is an experiential artist collective rooted in telling stories that deepen our relationship with the living world. Working at the intersection of science, art and technology, they create sensory experiences that reveal the hidden systems connecting humans with the living world. Employing a wealth of creative disciplines, from large-scale installation and kinetic sculpture to film and live performance, MLF’s practice is united by the purpose of inviting audiences into a deeper, enhanced understanding of the living world and our place within it. MLF’s Ersin Han Ersin said: "We are thrilled to present 'All That Is Unseen' at the Media Majlis Museum. This exhibition is a celebration of life, and explores our continued fascination with what sits just beyond the reach of our senses. Created through collaborations with scientists, researchers, and technologists, these artworks draw on everything from scanning trees in the Amazon and listening in on black holes to mapping the human body in microscopic detail.” “Together, they invite audiences to experience the invisible systems that connect us to one another, to the natural world, and to the wider universe. In bringing this work to Qatar for its first presentation in the region, we hope audiences feel these connections too," he added. The exhibition premiered at ACMI in Melbourne before touring internationally, including presentations at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. With an international pedigree, the exhibition has earned recognition for its capacity to connect audiences with the natural world through the power of screen culture and immersive art. "ACMI is excited to have our survey exhibition of Marshmallow Laser Feast come to Qatar with Media Majlis Museum and Northwestern Qatar. This exhibition has had a transformational impact in Melbourne and most recently in New Zealand, and we hope the exhibition excites Qatari audiences in similar ways," noted Seb Chan, director and CEO of ACMI. All That Is Unseen invites visitors to experience the hidden systems that connect all life. Moving between the microscopic and the cosmic, from the formation of a single cell to the birth of galaxies, the exhibition combines scientific research with immersive storytelling to reveal worlds that exist beyond the limits of human perception. Through large-scale video works, guided meditation and interactive experiences, MLF invites visitors into a deeply immersive encounter with the rhythms that cultivate and connect all life, asking where the human body ends and the world begins. All That Is Unseen brings together artworks developed in collaboration with an extraordinary network of artists, filmmakers, musicians and scientists, including filmmaker Terrence Malick, the late producer Edward R Pressman, Cate Blanchett, Daisy Lafarge, Jon Hopkins, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Meredith Monk, Howard Skempton and Jonny Greenwood.

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2026 at its 15th annual ceremony, held at Raffles Doha Monday. The event brought together university leadership, faculty, staff, families, and distinguished guests to honour the achievements of 123 graduates who now join Northwestern’s global alumni community. The Class of 2026 represents a diverse and resilient cohort, shaped by a period of regional uncertainty and global change. The graduating class is made up of students from 22 countries who majored in communication and journalism, with many completing interdisciplinary minors across artificial intelligence (AI) and media, strategic communication, Middle East studies, and joint programmes within Education City. Thirty-two graduates were recognised with Dean’s Scholastic Honours. In his address, NU-Q dean and chief executive Marwan M Kraidy reflected on the Arabic concept of *muruna, or resilience with purpose. “*Muruna is not simply flexibility,” he said. “It is the ability to remain grounded, principled, and engaged, especially when the world around you is uncertain.” Kraidy encouraged graduates to approach their future with intention and responsibility, emphasising that storytelling carries both meaning and consequence. “Words and images are not neutral,” he noted. “They shape perception, memory, and possibility,” he noted. Delivering the graduation address, Dr Majed Mohammed al-Ansari, adviser to the Prime Minister and official spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke about the evolving role of communication in a complex media landscape.**media[442171]**Reflecting on his experience moving from academia into public service, he emphasised the growing responsibility that comes with having a voice. “Your words will travel faster than your intentions, and being articulate is no longer enough, you must be responsible,” al-Ansari said. He urged students to remain grounded in truth and integrity amid increasing pressure for speed and visibility. “It used to be: Who got it right? Now it is often: Who got there first, or who made the most noise?” he said, cautioning against the pull of immediacy over accuracy. Joining the ceremony, Northwestern University Provost-Elect Erik Luijten addressed the graduates and highlighted the strength and resilience of the class. He noted that the cohort represents a truly international community prepared to engage across cultures and disciplines. “You have the capacity to make positive change in our increasingly complicated world,” he said, encouraging graduates to take thoughtful risks and remain open to new perspectives. Luijten was appointed provost in January and will assume the role later this spring. He is the Liu-Wang Liming Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. Student speaker Isra Fejzullaj reflected on the shared journey of the class, shaped by uncertainty, growth, and perseverance. Drawing on both personal and collective experiences, she spoke about learning to navigate ambiguity and finding strength in community. “We learned that progress does not look perfect, and that some of the most important lessons were not scheduled or easy,” she said. She also emphasised the responsibility that comes with storytelling, urging her peers to remain intentional in how they represent others and the world around them. The ceremony marked a significant milestone for the graduates, who now step into professional and academic paths across journalism, communication, research, and a variety of emerging fields. As they leave Northwestern Qatar, they do so with a shared commitment to curiosity, responsibility, and impact. 

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) announced Dr Majed Mohammed al-Ansari, adviser to the Prime Minister and official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar, as the 2026 graduation speaker. A leading voice in regional diplomacy and global public communication, Dr al-Ansari will address the graduating class at this year’s ceremony on May 4. Appointed to his current role in 2022, Dr al-Ansari has played a central part in shaping and communicating Qatar’s foreign policy narrative to international audiences. Through regular media briefings, high-level engagements, and global outreach, he has become a key figure in articulating the country’s diplomatic positions and fostering dialogue across political, academic, and media spheres. “Dr al-Ansari’s work exemplifies the power of communication in shaping global understanding and advancing dialogue,” said Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO,NU-Q. “His leadership and experience offer our graduates a compelling perspective on how media, policy, and public engagement come together in moments that matter.” Dr al-Ansari commented, “It’s a privilege to join Northwestern Qatar’s Class of 2026 at such a meaningful moment. As we live in a world ridden with conflict, the significance of truth, and those who protect it and seek it as communicators and journalists, increases. I look forward to celebrating this milestone with you and reflecting on the impact you can have in fostering understanding and connection.” Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr al-Ansari served as director of policy at the Institute of Social and Economic Survey Research at Qatar University, where he also held a faculty position in the Department of International Affairs. 

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) unveiled Sunday a new exhibition that challenges visitors to reconsider how the Gulf’s future is envisioned, not as a predetermined outcome, but as an evolving landscape shaped by uncertainty, memory, and lived experience.**media[409240]**Titled What’s Between, Between? and on view to the public at NU-Q’s main exhibition space from January 26 to May 14, the show brings together works by more than 20 artists from across the region, combining new commissions, loaned pieces and digital works.Rather than offering a single definition of progress, the exhibition foregrounds voices often sidelined in dominant narratives, asking who defines the future and whose realities are left behind. Curated by Jack Thomas Taylor and Amal Zeyad Ali, the exhibition is structured around the Earth’s atmospheric layers, each representing social, cultural and economic pressures shaping life in the Gulf, from consumer culture and global trade to technological ambition and space exploration.**media[409241]**Salt runs through the exhibition as a unifying metaphor. Essential yet corrosive, ancient yet contemporary, it mirrors the Gulf’s contradictions and constant transformation, linking past survival practices to present environmental and technological challenges. Among the featured artists is Talal Najjar, whose work Index of Failed Gestures combines sculpture and animated film to imagine alien anthropologists encountering a post-human Earth.**media[409242]**In the fictional narrative, Najjar told 'Gulf Times' that everyday objects are misunderstood and mythologised – smartphones interpreted as “sacred mirrors” and shopping trolleys mistaken for vehicles. Najjar explained that the work explores mistranslation within anthropology itself, noting that even well-intentioned interpretations can distort meaning. “What we leave behind would most likely be misunderstood,” he said, adding a layer of humour to a deeply reflective concept.**media[409243]**Environmental loss and cultural erosion are central to Bahraini artist Sara Aradi’s The Water Is Gone Yet The Salt Remains. Her work addresses rising salinity, climate change and e-waste in the Gulf, juxtaposing traditional objects such as rosaries with obsolete technologies like BlackBerry phones.**media[409247]**Aradi said her aim was to raise awareness and prompt personal reflection, asking audiences what they can do differently, from consuming less technology to reconnecting with cultural identity. “What disappears from our hands doesn’t disappear from the planet,” she noted.**media[409244]**Saudi contemporary artist Faisal S al-Zahrani’s Salt Codes uses salt and 3D-printed forms to create a symbolic language that deliberately resists translation. In his work, he pointed out that salt becomes a metaphor for memory, transformation and survival, reclaiming regional narratives through intuition rather than imposed meaning.**media[409245]**Free to attend, 'What’s Between, Between?' encourages visitors to sit with complexity, between desert and metropolis, heritage and disruption, offering a thoughtful, human-centred perspective on the Gulf’s evolving future. 

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q)’s student-led literary journal, Wisteria, has released its first limited-edition zine, a student-produced publication showcasing the creativity, collaboration, and cultural curiosity. The new issue, themed around summer and the return to school, introduces a unique, experimental format for Wisteria that blends literary expression with visual design and humour. Conceptualised and produced by journalism and communication students, Lina Jaafar and Alexander Khalyatyan, who served as both editors and designers, the zine embraces the spontaneous, do-it-yourself aesthetic characteristic of zine culture while upholding NU-Q’s tradition of intellectual and artistic rigour. “These student-led initiatives reflect the kind of creativity and curiosity we love to see at Northwestern Qatar,” said Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO of NU-Q. “Wisteria and other student-driven projects show how our students blend intellectual exploration with creative expression, developing the confidence and communication skills that allow them to share their ideas and engage meaningfully with the world.” The issue features contributions from 10 students and recent graduates, including poetry, travel writing, reflections, humour, and philosophical musings. A recurring theme throughout the collection is hope and resilience in the face of adversity, capturing how students use creative expression to make sense of complex emotions and experiences. Works featured include Verdigris Echoes by Nomin Erdenetsogt ’27, which explores the endurance of memory and transformation; A Reflection on Hope and/or Despair? by Sylvie Uwonkunda Dushime ’25, which contemplates the tension between optimism and struggle; and Dardacha by Lina Jaafar ’28, which celebrates the warmth of dialogue and storytelling within Arab culture. Faculty adviser, Sam Meekings, associate professor in residence, said the project is a reflection of the vibrant creativity that defines the student experience at NU-Q. “Zines celebrate the quirky, the vibrant, the unique, and the irreverent, as well as the joys of homemade creativity—and that also describes our NU-Q students,” said Meekings. “Their work in creating, editing, and producing this zine issue demonstrates the many forms creativity can take and highlights the range and intensity of our community’s artistic passions.”

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) has appointed Refqa Abu-Remaileh, Sarah Kaskas, Lila Hassan, and Shakeeb Asrar to its expanding faculty, further strengthening the university’s profile in journalism, film, literature, and investigative reporting.With diverse experiences spanning academic research and professional practice, the new faculty bring fresh perspectives that will enrich teaching, research, creative scholarship, and student learning across programmes, a statement said.“I am proud to welcome another stellar faculty cohort to Northwestern Qatar,” said Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO. “Their appointments bolster our great faculty, strengthening our academic programmes and enriching the intellectual life of our community, while also advancing knowledge production about the world in ways that reflect our core values of excellence, community, collaboration, and sustainability.”Abu-Remaileh, who joins as associate professor in residence in the Liberal Arts Programme, is a leading scholar of modern Arabic literature and Palestinian cultural production. Author of the award-winning Country of Words: A Transnational Atlas for Palestinian Literature and former principal investigator of the European Research Council–funded PalREAD project, her courses and research will focus on Arab literature and culture in regional and transnational contexts, opening new entry points into the digital humanities and cross-cultural approaches to literature and film.Kaskas, assistant professor in residence in the Communication Programme, is an award-winning filmmaker, Emmy-nominated producer, and educator. Her films, which have screened at international festivals including Tribeca and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, explore resilience and the lived experiences of marginalised communities in Lebanon. With a focus on socially engaged cinema, she brings distinctive expertise in film as both a creative medium and a critical tool for examining inequities and advancing cultural dialogue.Hassan joins the Journalism and Strategic Communication Programme as assistant professor in residence. Hassan is an investigative journalist whose reporting has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, FRONTLINE, and ProPublica. Recognised with top industry honours, including a Pulitzer Prize, a George Polk Award, and a Peabody, she adds world-class investigative reporting expertise to the growing journalism faculty.Asrar, a NU-Q alum, also joins the Journalism and Strategic Communication Programme as an assistant professor in residence. With professional experience at Al Jazeera English, Jigsaw Productions in New York, and award-winning documentary projects, he is the latest addition to the community of faculty who combine academic training with frontline media experience.“These appointments reflect the richness of Northwestern Qatar’s academic community and our commitment to advancing excellence across disciplines,” said Zachary Wright, professor and associate dean for faculty affairs. “The expertise Professors Abu-Remaileh, Hassan, Kaskas, and Asrar bring will enhance classroom learning and open new avenues for scholarship and collaboration that extend beyond our campus.”With these additions, NU-Q further consolidates its position as home to one of the highest concentrations of scholars dedicated to the study of Arab media and culture. As the university expands its faculty body, it continues to enrich its intellectual life while contributing to global conversations on media, storytelling, and cultural expression, the statement added.

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) has been recognised with two Telly Awards for a video produced by its Production and Digital Media Services department in support of the university’s Executive Education Programme.The video was recognised in two categories: a “Non-Broadcast Video for an Educational Institution” and a “Craft Award for Editing”, with the latter acknowledging the work of production support specialist Haidar Helmi.The Telly Awards honour excellence in video and television across all screens and receive more than 13,000 entries annually from around the world.Winners are selected by a judging council of more than 250 industry experts from production companies, advertising agencies, and major networks, including Adobe, Netflix, and Meta Creative Shop.Past winners include organisations such as the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), National Geographic, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.NU-Q dean and chief executive Marwan M Kraidy said that the recognition reflects the commitment and talent of the university’s staff.“The creative and technical skills of our production team may not always be visible, but they are essential to our academic mission and to the experience we offer students, faculty, and partners,” he said.For Production and Digital Media Services director Rami al-Badry, the recognition highlights the collaborative spirit that drives the department’s work.“Every project we take on is built on close collaboration with colleagues across the university,” he said.“This video is one example of how our team works hand in hand with academic and administrative units to translate ideas into high-quality productions,” al-Badry added. “Having that work recognised is a proud moment, because it shows what we can accomplish together in support of the academic mission.”The Executive Education programme at the NU-Q offers advanced training in communication, media, and leadership to professionals in the region.With these awards, the NU-Q is recognised among a wide range of global institutions and organisations for its high-quality digital and media production, a statement added.

Dr Wajdi Zaghouani, an associate professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university — defines AI ‘hallucination ‘ as the production of information that appears to be true but is, in fact, false or fabricated. “Imagine it as someone confidently telling you a story that seems believable, but the events of that story are completely wrong. I’ve seen some fascinating cases in my research,” he explained. One common example is when AI systems generate fake academic citations; they create paper titles that sound legitimate, with realistic author and journal names, but the papers don’t exist. “During my work in Arabic Natural Language Processing, I came across systems that generate fake Arabic proverbs which sound authentic, but have no basis in the culture. They capture the linguistic style perfectly, yet produce entirely fictional cultural content,” he noted. It’s a perspective that raises critical questions about AI systems. What if the machine is making mistakes? Why should we avoid involving it in big decisions? Who holds responsibility for these mistakes? Does it feel pressure as humans do? Does it avoid saying “I don’t know?”, or is it simply drowning in an endless flood of data? Reflecting on what lies behind AI errors, and how they can be addressed, Dr Zaghouani says: “Unfortunately, large language models like ChatGPT or Claude are essentially very sophisticated pattern-matching machines. They learn from massive amounts of text and become good at predicting which word should come next in a sentence. “But they don’t actually ‘know’ facts the way we do. When an AI system generates a fake name or an incorrect fact, it’s because the patterns in its training data suggest that’s what should come next. “AI is excellent for general knowledge questions, creative tasks, writing assistance, planning trips, and explaining concepts – basically, anything where you can easily verify the answer or where being slightly wrong isn’t catastrophic.” So how can we benefit from AI without being deceived by its results? “Users should be wary of facts provided without cited sources, especially dates, numbers, or quotes,” explains Dr Zaghouani. “They should also watch out for information that seems too convenient or perfectly fits what they want to hear. If they are researching something controversial and AI provides exactly the evidence they were hoping for, they should double-check it.” Essentially, users of AI systems should be wary of taking the answers they receive from them for granted or considering them beyond question; and take care when gathering information through AI, as the issue extends beyond ethics to the realm of more serious consequences. But is there a way to stop these AI hallucinations? Or are they now a fact of life? “This is the million-dollar question in our field right now,” is Dr Zaghouani’s response. “Complete elimination of them is extremely challenging, because hallucination stems from the fundamental way these models work. They are probabilistic systems that generate the most likely next word, not knowledge databases that look up facts. “However, we’re making significant progress. Techniques like retrieval-augmented generation, in which AI searches a database of verified information before answering, can help dramatically. We’re also developing better training methods and ways to teach models to say “I don’t know” more often, rather than guessing confidently.”