Northwestern Qatar Dean and CEO Marwan M. Kraidy welcomed the new faculty and said they will enhance Northwestern Qatar’s academic profile. “Each of these professors,” Kraidy said, “comes with a distinguished educational background and scholarship. Working with our current faculty, they will enhance the academic environment and contribute to Northwestern Qatar’s global impact.”
The new faculty brings experience in teaching and research in the fields of media, journalism, social sciences, and the humanities. With an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to instruction, the new faculty includes professors in the Liberal Arts Program, the Communication Program, and the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program, with two having joint appointments.
Adding to the school’s already diverse international faculty, they will enhance the school’s commitment to providing students at Northwestern Qatar with an education in media, communication, and the liberal arts. “Northwestern Qatar’s faculty,” Kraidy added, “is a remarkable group of scholars and researchers who are both educating the next generation of media and communication professionals and conducting cutting-edge research in a wide variety of disciplines. I am pleased we are able to add to this stellar group and enhance the educational experience of our students and the university’s research.”
Joining the Communication Program with joint appointments in the Liberal Arts Program are:
Leila Tayeb received her PhD in performance studies from Northwestern University. Tayeb uses ethnography and archival research to explore cultural politics and the performativity of political life across theatrical and quotidian contexts and is particularly concerned with the daily experiences of civilians in urban conflict settings. Before joining Northwestern Qatar as an assistant professor in residence, Tayeb was a research fellow at New York University in Abu Dhabi. Tayeb holds a master’s degree in international affairs from the New School, another master’s degree in performance studies from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree in politics from the University of California.
Heather Jaber received her PhD in communication from the University of Pennsylvania. Joining Northwestern Qatar as an assistant professor in residence, Jaber’s research analyzes digital practices of exposure in the Arab world, focusing on the role of emotions and affects in the study of geopolitics and popular culture. Jaber holds a master’s degree in media studies and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from the American University of Beirut.The professors joining the Journalism and Strategic Communication program include:
Fatima El-Issawi was a reader in journalism and media studies in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom before joining Northwestern Qatar as an associate professor in residence. With a PhD in media and journalism studies from the Paris-Panthéon-Assas University, her research explores the intersection of Arab media industries, global journalism, journalistic practices, and media policy in the Global South. El-Issawi is the author of the book, Arab National Media and Political Change: “Recording the Transition.”
Claudia Kozman is a former sports journalist who joins Northwestern Qatar as an assistant professor in residence from the Lebanese American University. With a PhD in journalism from Indiana University, her research examines the relationship between journalism and politics through a focus on journalistic roles, media coverage, and sourcing patterns in the news in the Middle East and North Africa region. Kozman holds a master’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Lebanese University.
Marda Dunsky is a journalism scholar and print journalist whose work engages narrative storytelling to explore the underreported aspects of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Dunsky is the author of Stories from Palestine: Narratives of Resilience and Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Dunsky joins Northwestern Qatar as an assistant professor in residence and holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Liberal Arts Program, which provides students with an interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences education, will include the following new faculty:
Haya Al Noaimi is the first Qatari professor at Northwestern Qatar. Al Noaimi, who will be an assistant professor in residence at Northwestern Qatar is a graduate of Georgetown University in Qatar where she also completed a post-doctoral fellowship. She received her PhD in gender studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London. Al Noaimi’s research interests include coloniality, post-colonial insecurities, martial races and race relations, indigeneity, Gulf studies, gender, militarism, and future studies. Al-Noaimi also holds a master’s degree in international law and legal studies from Sorbonne University.
Yasmeen Mekawy specializes in comparative politics of the Middle East and joins Northwestern Qatar as an assistant professor in residence after completing a post-doctoral teaching fellowship in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where she also earned her PhD in political science. Mekawy’s research examines digital media, social movements, emotions, and popular culture in the Middle East and North Africa. Mekawy holds a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies from New York University and a master’s degree in political science and government from the University of Chicago.
Jana Fedtke is a researcher with interests in science and technology in fiction, transnational literatures, gender studies, postcolonial theory, and film with a focus on South Asia and Africa. Fedtke earned her PhD in comparative literature from the University of South Carolina and joins Northwestern Qatar from her position at the American University of Sharjah.
