Three new faculty members with expertise in global media, media law and strategic communication have joined the faculty of Northwestern University in Qatar following an international search.
They include renowned global media scholar John D.H. Downing, professor of communication, and Amy Kristin Sanders, a legal scholar and attorney who is author of a leading mass communication law text, as well as Ilhem Allagui, an authority on integrated marketing communication. Both are associate professor of journalism.
In announcing the appointments effective for the fall term, NU-Q’s Dean and CEO Everette E. Dennis said the three “will add immeasurably to NU-Q’s already exceptional faculty and provide new strength in digital media and the role of media in social change.” The new faculty bring professional experience in journalism and public affairs — and all three are authors of multiple books and scholarly articles.
The three—and a fourth faculty member anthropologist Sami Hermez of Harvard University who arrives in January—“bring knowledge and talent that will contribute mightily to NU-Q’s commitment to Qatar’s Vision 2030 and the creation of media and communication industries here and elsewhere in the region. The new faculty members have been associated with some of the world’s leading universities and are highly regarded in their respective fields.”
“The real beneficiaries of these new faculty members are our students,” the Dean said but he also added that their research track record and capacity is also an asset for NU-Q and Qatar. “They arrive at a time when the university is redefining and rebuilding its strategic communication courses and when understanding media law and the social impact of media is vital.”
Professor Downing is the author and editor of 12 books. He has also taught courses in communication and culture, globalization and the media, alternative media and social movements, political cinema of the global South, media, dictatorship, and democracy as well as ethnicity, racism and the media.
His academic appointments include the University of Texas, Hunter College in New York, and most recently Southern Illinois University, where he was founding director of the Global Media Research Center. Professor Downing’s rigor, breadth and versatility will greatly benefit students and help define NU-Q’s commitment to global media understanding.
A continuation of NU-Q’s trajectory in integrated marketing communication (IMC) within the journalism program, Professor Ilhem Allagui adds significant expertise in this area, as well as digital media use in public relations. She joins NU-Q from the Department of Mass Communication at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. As a published and experienced teacher and researcher, her experience spans courses in public relations, advertising, IMC campaigns, media planning, strategic research methods and others including Arab media. Professor Allagui’s research includes two books slated for publication this year: Technology and the Stresses of National Community: the Case of the United Arab Emirates and When Advertising Goes Arab.
Sanders’ work on media law, ethics and new technologies complements her new colleagues and others on the journalism faculty. As a highly regarded, gifted teacher and researcher, her track record includes work as an award-winning journalist and licensed attorney, providing an important addition to NU-Q’s journalism program. Holding a PhD in mass communication law from the University of Florida, Sanders is the author of more than a dozen scholarly articles in such journals as Communication Law & Policy, the Federal Communications Law Journal, the Journal of Media Law & Ethics and the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy.
NU-Q is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal intellectual growth of its students within a diverse academic community. Members of NU-Q’s Class of 2018 hail from 20 different countries and five continents around the globe, with the majority speaking at least two languages. Students receive instruction from a renowned faculty as part of a university boasting more than 200,000 living alumni, including countless public figures, statespersons, and societal leaders.
