Georgetown Students Host Al Jazeera Journalists for Talk about the Transforming Middle East

A panel of expert speakers explored Al Jazeera’s role in the Middle East at a recent student-run event at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q). Organized by GU-Q’s Middle Eastern Studies Student Association (MESSA), the event was part of the student club’s efforts to foster informed dialogue on the economic, social, and political issues facing the region.The panel discussion formed part of the opening ceremony of MESSA’s annual student research conference, which was convened under the theme of ‘Uncertainty, Stability, and Cohesion: A Transforming Middle East’ this year. 

The opening ceremony brought together a panel of speakers from Al Jazeera that included director of investigative journalism, Clayton Swisher, News Hour presenter Folly Bah Thibault, and senior correspondent Jamal ElShayyal. The discussion was moderated by associate professor of communication at Northwestern University in Qatar, Banu Akdenizli, and was open to the public.

“Holding an Al Jazeera panel fits in with this year’s theme perfectly as the network has played an instrumental role in this region, especially on the subject of free press and giving voice to those who don’t have one,” explained Haya Al-Thani (SFS’18), vice president of the MESSA conference, before the event. “Our influential panelists will be able to draw on their roles and diverse experience as leading journalists who have witnessed and sparked some of the monumental moments in this region’s history, and captivate our audience and researchers with their insights.”

The MESSA conference provides undergraduate students from GU-Q and other leading international universities with a platform to present their academic research to an audience of peers and experts. The research that was presented this year focused on a broad range of topics, from the impact of historical conflicts to contemporary issues of terrorism, nuclear energy, and online privacy.

“One priority for us was to ensure that the theme was as holistic as possible and applicable for all of the different majors offered at Georgetown University in Qatar. As a result, ‘Uncertainty, Stability, and Cohesion: A Transforming Middle East’ became an obvious and natural choice,” explained Al-Thani. “It encapsulates primary concerns and goals within the region and is applicable to the past, present, and future. It urges undergraduate students to critically engage with different aspects of the on-going events in the Middle East and hopefully allows them to envision the future for the Middle East and explore their role in it.”