Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), also known as Northwestern Qatar, is Northwestern University’s campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar, founded in partnership with the Qatar Foundation in 2008.
Northwestern Qatar's campus offers a liberal arts and media education with undergraduate degrees awarded in communication, journalism, and strategic communication.
History Having been approached in 2006 by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Northwestern agreed the following year to open its campus at Education City. The inaugural NU-Q Class of 2012 began studies in August 2008. Additional classes have been added each year, and the university has established strong ties with local organizations, partnering with media groups and collaborating with a number of regional initiatives to generate additional educational and professional opportunities for its students.
A number of notable journalists, scholars, and media professionals have addressed students and faculty at Northwestern University in Qatar, including Fareed Zakaria of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS; NU-Q alumni and New York Times international reporter Ismaeel Naar; journalist Evan Osnos of The New Yorker; television journalist Tim Sebastian; Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi; Carlos Van Meek, former head of output for Al Jazeera English; Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times; Jeff Cole, head of the World Internet Project; Rami Khouri, editor of the Beirut Daily Star; Sophia Al Maria, author and filmmaker; documentary filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz; and AJ+ journalist Dena Takruri.
The university graduated its inaugural class in the spring of 2012. Since NU-Q's establishment, there have been a total of thirteen classes who have graduated from NU-Q (as of 2024), with the Class of 2024, with 126 graduates from 31 countries, being the largest graduating class to date.
Academic programs The curriculum leading to the award of the Bachelor of Science in Communication degree is based on that of the Northwestern University School of Communication at Northwestern's Evanston campus. Communication students at NU-Q pursue a major in Media Industries and Technologies, which combines elements of the Communication Studies and Radio/TV/Film (RTVF) majors offered at the Northwestern University home campus in the United States.
The curriculum leading to the award of the Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree draws on that of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern's Evanston campus. This program is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Liberal arts courses are provided by Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
NU-Q courses are modeled closely on those offered at Northwestern University campus in the United States, although adjustments have been made because the Qatar campus courses are taught in a 15-week semester system rather than a 10-week quarter system. Additionally, courses with particular relevance to the region are offered at NU-Q. In 2012, NU-Q secured permission from the Board of Trustees to make its own academic appointments.
Academic minors
NU-Q offers five academic minors that supplement their undergraduate programs in Communication and Journalism:
Strategic Communication Middle East Studies Film & Design Media and Politics - this interdisciplinary, joint minor program shared between NU-Q and Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), focuses on the interests and needs of students in a contemporary era when the distinction between politics and media is increasingly blurred. Africana Studies - this second joint minor program shared between NU-Q and GU-Q, provides critical understanding of African identities and struggles both within the African continent and in global contexts. Artificial Intelligence & Media
NU-Q's academic programs provide various opportunities for students to participate in international programs. Students in the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program are required to complete a junior year residency. Juniors in the Communication Program are eligible to apply for the Evanston Communication Exchange Program. Shorter international academic trips are offered at various times throughout the year. Past destinations have included Turkey, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, France, India, and the USA. NU-Q students can cross-register for courses at the five other American universities located in Education City.Degrees awarded by Northwestern University's Qatar campus are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Pre-college programs NU-Q offers an annual summer media program to high school students combining aspects of the Journalism and Strategic Communication and Communication Programs. NU-Q also offers workshops to high school students periodically throughout the school year.
Funding Similar to other universities with campuses in Education City, Northwestern's facilities are entirely paid for by Qatar. In 2014, Northwestern received $45.3 million to run the Doha campus. Also like other Doha campuses of U.S. universities, Qatari students at Northwestern have their tuition covered by Qatar. Students of other nationalities either pay for their own tuition or can sometimes receive scholarship money. , tuition for the school is about $52,000 per year.
NU-Q Building & Facilities NU-Q's permanent home in Education City, known as Pressdock, was designed by American architect Antoine Predock.
Northwestern moved into its permanent facility in January 2017. The four-story building is more than 500,000 square feet and has achieved a LEED Gold Certification.
The university also opened the Media Majlis Museum, the first museum in the Arab world dedicated to exploring the content of media, journalism, and communication, and is Qatar's first university museum. Located on the NU-Q campus, the bilingual (Arabic and English) museum features interactive exhibitions, discussion programs, and other projects examining media, journalism, and communication through global, regional, and local/Qatar lenses. Its inaugural exhibit examines a century's worth of film history as shaped by notions of Arab identity. The Media Majlis Museum offers free admission to students, faculty, and the public, with new exhibitions opening each semester of the academic year.
Research & Fellowship In 2013, NU-Q launched the school's signature research project, an annual survey of media use in the MENA region. Media Use in the Middle East in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, as well the report, Media Industries in the Middle East, 2016, revealed regional attitudes about government censorship, press freedom, the morality of content, entertainment preferences, and overall consumption habits, as well as provided an overview of the most prevalent business models across the MENA media landscape. NU-Q's research has been cited by academic institutions and think tanks (e.g., USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, Brookings Institution) as well as news media outlets (e.g., Christian Science Monitor, CNN, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya) around the world.
In 2022, NU-Q launched the school's flagship research institute, the Institute for Advanced Study of the Global South (#IAS_NUQ), a multidisplinary research institute that produces and promotes evidence-based storytelling focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. The Institute awards 16 Global Undergraduate Fellowships annually, and students present their work to the University community at the end of their fellowship, usually at the end of January of the year after they are selected. In addition, the Institute awards Global Fellowships for postdoctoral and graduate scholars, as well as faculty grants. #IAS_NUQ hosts various conferences, lectures, colloquia & seminar series, supported through grants from institutions such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
In 2024, in line with Northwestern University's Presidential Priority to harness the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence, and in collaboration with Qatar Foundation’s emphasis on AI as a priority area for Education City, NU-Q launched the Artificial Intelligence Initiative (AI²), a new strategic flagship initiative focused on meeting the global challenges of artificial intelligence and making decisive contributions to research, teaching, and professional development in that area. As part of the initiative, NU-Q launched the Artificial Intelligence and Media Lab (AIM Lab), which will drive research efforts on AI and gather faculty members, a postdoctoral scholar, and undergraduate researchers to collaborate on research and organize events. The AIM Lab launched the Advanced Undergraduate Research on Robots and AI (AURORA) Grant in 2025, with three inaugural grantees.
Student Life at NU-Q Approximately half the student body is Qatari; however, over 32 nationalities are represented across the student body. There are about 300 students enrolled in the school. NU-Q has worked to integrate western values into its Qatar campus. For example, there are many female students that attend NU-Q. There have been some concerns that this integration, which is not as common in Qatar, may be somewhat difficult to implement, as Qatar adheres to Salafism.
NU-Q students have access to the full range of student activities offered to all Education City students, including Multaqa (the Education City Student Center), Recreation Center, clubs, organizations, and athletic leagues.
NU-Q is the host of many film and production related events, such as THIMUN Qatar Northwestern Film Festival, the Studio 20Q Annual Premiere, and the NU-Q Media & Research Awards. Students also participate in a wide variety of leadership, service, and experiential learning initiatives both in Doha and internationally. In addition, students have access to and participate in a range of athletics, activities, and clubs.
Students in the field
Students have tackled subjects that are considered controversial in Qatar and throughout the Middle East. One NU-Q graduate was nominated for a Student Academy Award for his film 100 Steps, which tells the story of a young boy in Pakistan who finds that his local religious school has served as a front for a radical extremists’ recruitment camp. Convict of 302, a documentary by two NU-Q students about Pakistan's death penalty and anti-terrorism laws, screened at a consortium sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, DC.
Students have also written stories about working conditions at local development sites in Qatar, domestic abuse, and women's issues.
Another NU-Q graduate, Ismaeel Naar, was named Outstanding Young Arab Journalist of the year in 2016.
Evanston Communication Exchange Program
Students who are pursuing the Bachelor of Science degree in Communication can apply to participate in the Evanston Communication Exchange Program (more commonly known as Comm Exchange), and if selected, spend the spring semester of their junior year studying at Northwestern's home campus in Evanston, Illinois, US, located near Chicago.
Journalism residency (JR)