Center for International and Regional Studies

This year, the Center added a new format in its Monthly Dialogue Series, a smaller talk for guests to learn about the research of Georgetown University faculty. Six Dialogues were held from September to April in the SFS-Qatar library, four by faculty members located SFS-Qatar and two by faculty at the main-campus. The year’s largest event was a two-day research conference entitled Innovation in Islam, which brought together seventeen leading scholars in April 2008, chaired by Mehran Kamrava. Two one-day conferences were also hosted by CIRS. The first was America and the Middle East: The View from the Outside, which included as speakers participants from the seminar held the prior day entitled America’s Role in the World (see Research and Scholarship). The second conference, called Global Media between Dialogue and War: When Enemies Boost Ratings, was co-sponsored with the Italian organization Reset-Dialogues. Each of the three conferences included speakers from the region, Asia, Europe, and the international arena.

In November 2007, for the first time, representatives from each of the five branch campuses at Education City took part in a public lecture on the topic of the environment. Hosted by CIRS, this panel focused on Environmental Degradation and Conservation: Challenges and Prospects. Various groups interested in the study of the environment attended the presentations, as did members of the general public. CIRS produced an Occasional Paper on the environment in as a result of this event (See Publications).

Several lectures were offered throughout the year, attended by the Qatari public, the academic community, as well as the SFS-Qatar students, faculty, and staff. The first event of the year featured a talk Dr. Mehran Kamrava. In addition, Dr. John Esposito (Georgetown University), and Dr. Hany El Banna (Islamic Relief) gave insightful talks to diverse audiences. The Center invited selected guests to lectures by Dr. Andrew Natsios and Dr. Gary Wasserman. Adonis presented a keynote evening lecture during the Innovation in Islam conference. Ambassador Thomas Pickering gave the keynote address at the conference on and the Middle East.

In addition, CIRS screened the documentary film Promises, to middle school children and the general public. Two of the film’s producers, B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro, traveled to and answered questions at the film screenings.

CIRS also invited speakers to meet with students in the classroom or to do special talks for SFS-Qatar’s International Relations Club.