July 17, 2008

Southern Cal Helps Develop New Journalism School in Dubai

The University of Southern California is working with the American University in Dubai to develop the curriculum of a new school of communications that’s set to open there this fall, Gulf News reports.

The Mohammad bin Rashid Media College will begin accepting students in September to its bachelor-of-media-arts program, which will focus on training students to become professional journalists. The campus is located in the United Arab Emirates.

“There is a shortage of professional Arab journalists in the U.A.E. and the region, so it is important to establish appropriate curricula that teach the necessary skills needed to practice this profession, taking into consideration the language and culture of the region,” Jihad Nader, provost and chief academic officer at the university, told the newspaper.

Gulf News reports that faculty members teaching in Dubai will be trained at Southern Cal’s Annenberg School for Communication, which will also oversee a yearly peer review of the curriculum. What’s more, leaders at the American University in Dubai hope that exchange programs and research partnerships will develop between the two schools.

Reached by telephone, Geoffrey Baum, assistant dean of public affairs at the Annenberg School, said that the partnership was in a very early stage and that details would be hammered out this fall, when administrators from Annenberg visit Dubai.

Annenberg is the second American journalism school to build a presence in the Persian Gulf region. Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism is set to open a branch campus in Qatar this September. Medill hopes to duplicate Northwestern’s program in Illinois, with faculty members teaching the same curriculum as is used on its home campus. —Andrew Mills

Comments

1. It is a healthy sign whenever countries reach out to one another to collaborate on programs of this type. The resulting relationships help to move both societies a little bit closer to each other in terms of understanding each other’s cultures.

   — David    Jul 18, 09:10 AM    #

2. A remark on Biddy’s comment:

   Sheik Mohammed of Dubai has supported AUD since its inception in 1995. Contrary to what Biddy would have us believe, the Sheik is an educated individual who recognizes the significance of education for his people and expatriate residents.

   I know from personal experience that he is opposed to the notion of coercing faculty in assigning grades to members of influential families in the Emirates.

   Again, contrary to Biddy’s uninformed claims, not all Muslims are monsters—most are human beings like us. David has the right idea.

   — jon    Jul 18, 11:38 AM    #

3. Biddy’s comments indicate that biddy is not aware of the real picture of life in those countries.I would like him to name one country where:
   1. there is no abuse of woman.
   2. Male Rape
   3. Abuse of homosexulas in different forms.
   4. Abue of laws be it Sharia or not
   5. prostitution in all its forms.
   etc.etc…
   What he mentioned are human and not related to any religion or region.
   The existence of Israel is condemned from a christian perspective as much as from a muslim perspective and some jewish factions have doubts about the existence of state of Israel. Try to be more reflective and informed.

   Note to the editor: I think Biddy’s comments are inappropriate and offensive))

   — Majd    Jul 18, 03:24 PM    #

4. The anti muslim sentiments expressed by #6 are unbelievable. I would like some references as to reputable sources about these alleged male rape. I am suspicious because # 6 chose not reveal the source of his claims. I am surprised that a reader of the Chronicle would make such claims without providing us
   with real evidence for her claims.

   Posts (#1, 2, 6 simply fail fo recognize the distinction between journalism as a skill to be learned and so-called freedom of the press.

   Islam is as reputable as the other monotheistic religions.
   There are over one billion Muslims in the world, we had better get used to the idea that they are here for a long time to come. To modify a phrase from the the gay liberation movement of years ago—they are here, they are Muslim, get used to it.

   — jon    Jul 20, 02:39 AM    #

5. Gordon #8 :
   Thanks for the source of the story.
   Gee, I guess you told me where to get off. Your last
   paragraph suggests either you did not, or did not want to understand my intent.

   The injustice suffered by Alex is of course an outrage. The point of my posts is to question an assumption implicit in some of the previous posts:

   .

   That the reason for, `` moral and legal corruption’‘ in the UAE, and other Muslim countries can be traced to essential features of Muslim religion and culture.

   Majd has already questioned this assumption. I believe that we should be reluctant to condemn one fifth of the world’s population (almost 2 million living in the US) without giving them a fair hearing.

   As for the Dubai Hilton crack—I didn’t frequent the place because I certainly did not want to be aware of any nonsense going on in the Lobby. Finally, it is evident from your last paragraph that I am not the only person in this discussion who has been in a state of ``frenzy’‘

   — jon    Jul 20, 06:09 PM    #

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