Doha: Three new faculty members have joined Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) following an international search.
They are global media scholar Dr John D H Downing, Professor of Communication, Dr Amy Kristin Sanders, legal scholar and attorney who has authored a leading mass communication law text, and Dr Ilhem Allagui, an authority on integrated marketing communication. Both are associate professor of journalism.
Announcing the appointments effective for the fall term, NU-Q Dean and CEO, Dr Everette E Dennis, said the three “will add immeasurably to the 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 books and scholarly articles.
The three, along with a fourth faculty member, Anthropologist Dr Sami Hermez of Harvard University who arrives in January, “bring knowledge and talent that will contribute 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 members have been associated with some of the world’s leading universities and are highly regarded in their fields.
“The real beneficiaries of these new members are our students,” Dennis said, adding 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 communication courses and when understanding media law and the social impact of media is vital.”
Prof Downing is the author and editor of 12 books. He has also taught courses in communication and culture, globalisation 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 University of Texas, Hunter College in New York, and most recently Southern Illinois University, where he was founding director of Global Media Research Center.
His rigor, breadth and versatility will 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 programme, Prof Allagui adds expertise in the area, as well as digital media use in public relations.
She joins NU-Q from the Department of Mass Communication at American University of Sharjah, the UAE.
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.
Her 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.
Dr Sanders’ work on media law, ethics and new technologies compliments her new colleagues and others in 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 programme.
Holding a PhD in mass communication law from University of Florida, Dr Sanders is the author of more than a dozen scholarly articles in journals such as Communication Law & Policy, Federal Communications Law Journal, Journal of Media Law & Ethics and Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy.
NU-Q is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and personal intellectual growth of students within a diverse academic community. Members of NU-Q’s Class of 2018 hail from 20 countries and five continents, with the majority speaking at least two languages.
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