Georgetown students can study at the University’s SFS-Qatar campus for the first time as part of a new study abroad program beginning this spring.
In contrast to most study abroad programs, which involve cultural immersion and courses at foreign universities, students in the SFS-Q program will take Georgetown courses taught by Georgetown professors in English and will live in townhouses on Georgetown’s Doha campus.
“The biggest difference [between Georgetown’s main campus and SFS-Q] is size—we currently have 108 students in three classes (first to third year)—and the diversity of the background of our students, who come from 26 different countries,” Dr. James Reardon-Anderson, Dean of SFS-Q, wrote in an e-mail.
“[The] diverse international setting there … is a reflection of the general Doha population, as well as other cities that have such an international background,” Director of Overseas Studies & Technology Sylvia Mitterndorfer said.
SFS-Q is located in Education City, a 2,500-acre educational compound on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar’s capital. The school opened in 2005 in partnership with the Qatar Foundation, an organization founded by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, that seeks to increase opportunities for education and research in Qatar. Other satellite campuses in Education City include Texas A&M, Cornell and Carnegie Mellon.
“It’s definitely a lot more safe than being in Washington, D.C.,” Hillary Spragg, the Program Manager in the SFS-Q Washington Operations Office, said.
So far, only five or six students have shown interest in the program, Mitterndorfer said. The application deadline is October 3rd.
Contact with locals is likely to be more limited than other study abroad programs. According to Spragg, Doha’s population is largely comprised of expatriates.
“It’s a little harder to get yourself invited to a Qatari home,” Spragg said, “but I think they would have plenty of time to see how Qatari act.”
“Students within Education City regularly interact with each other as they are part of the same community,” Ibrahim Al-Derbasti (SFS-Q ‘10) wrote in an e-mail.
