Education City المدينة التعليمية | |
---|---|
Country | Qatar |
Municipality | Al Rayyan |
Area | |
• Total | 12 km2 (5 sq mi) |
Website | qf.org.qa/education-city |
Education City is an educational and research hub located in Al Rayyan Municipality in the Doha Metropolitan Area of Qatar. [2] Developed by the Qatar Foundation, it was established by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser [3] to advance education, research, and innovation in the region. spanning 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) property houses various educational facilities, including satellite campuses of eight international universities.
Education City was launched by Qatar Foundation in 1997. The same year, Virginia Commonwealth University became the first institute to establish itself on its campus. [4] The city was officially inaugurated in 2003. [5]
Over the past 20 years, Education City has grown from a single school to a multi university campus with students from over 50 countries and an enormous research fund, offering significant opportunities for the advancement of knowledge and research across a variety of disciplines. [6]
Initially planned as a single university, Education City evolved into a partnership with international institutions tailored to Qatar’s needs. [7]
In the last five years Education City has transformed itself into a full-fledged community adding a 219-bedroom Premier Inn Hotel, a 33-hole Golf Course called Education City Golf Club, Qatar National Library and Oxygen Park.[ citation needed ]
Education City is home to the following local Qatar university and six U.S. satellite universities, one British satellite university, and one French satellite university:
Other educational centers located at Education City include:
Several centers based at Education City focus on science and research. These include:
Doha Metro: Three separate stations of the Doha Metro's Green Line (also known as the Education Line) serve Education City: the Education City station, the Qatar National Library station, and the Al Shaqab station. All three stations were opened to the public on 10 December 2019. [13]
Education City Tram: [14] The Education City Tram is a sustainable transport system offering free rides within the campus. The tram has three lines: Yellow, Blue, and Green. The Yellow and Blue Lines serve the South Campus, while the Green Line connects the North Campus. This innovative system is designed to enhance connectivity and reduce the campus's carbon footprint.
Bus Service: [15] Education City features a bus service with frequent stops across different service routes to ensure convenient access to all areas of the campus.
American universities which have established campuses in Education City have been the subject of ongoing criticism of whether it is appropriate to maintain a campus in Qatar, given the alleged Qatari links to state-sponsored terrorism, the lack of freedom of speech in the country and the country's absolute monarchy. In an interview with Gulf News Journal, Herbert London, president of the London Center for Policy Research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said "universities I think have compromised themselves" by having campuses in a country like Qatar where academic freedom and freedom of the press are severely limited. [16]
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It grants degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) is a branch of Texas A&M University located in Education City, Al Rayyan, Qatar. The university was established in 2003, and is slated to close by 2028.
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar is a satellite campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Doha, Qatar. This campus is a member of the Qatar Foundation and started graduating students in May 2008. It enrolls around 400 students, has 60 faculty and postdoctoral researchers, and 90 staff members.
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then-emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned.
Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) is a branch of Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University, established on April 9, 2001, following an agreement between Cornell University and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. It is located in Education City, Qatar, near the capital of Doha.
Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned is one of the three consorts of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of the State of Qatar. She is the mother of the current Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. She is the co-founder and chair of the Qatar Foundation, the largest state-owned NPO in the country. The Guardian has labelled her "the enlightened face of a profoundly conservative regime.
Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is a campus of Georgetown University in Education City, Doha, Qatar. It is one of Georgetown University's eleven undergraduate and graduate schools, and is supported by a partnership between Qatar Foundation and Georgetown University.
Qatar University is a public research university located on the northern outskirts of Doha, Qatar. It is the only public university in the country. The university hosts twelve colleges – Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Law, Sharia and Islamic Studies, Pharmacy, College of Health Science, College of Medicine, College of Dental Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of nursing, and College of Sport Science.
Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), also known as Northwestern Qatar, is Northwestern University’s campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar, founded in partnership with the Qatar Foundation in 2008.
Qatar is an Islamic state with multi-religious minorities like most of the Persian Gulf countries with waves of migration over the last 30 years. The official state religion is Sunni Islam. The community is made up of Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and small groups of Buddhists and Baha’is. Muslims form 65.5% of the Qatari population, followed by Christians at 15.4%, Hindus at 14.2%, Buddhists at 3.3% and the rest 1.9% of the population follow other religions or are unaffiliated. Qatar is also home to numerous other religions mostly from the Middle East and Asia.
Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is the sister of Qatar's ruling Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and daughter of the country's former Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned. Al-Mayassa was declared the most influential person in art on Art+Auction's top-10 list and ArtReview's Power 100, and prominently appears on the Time 100, and Forbes' The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She was listed in the 'Top 100 most powerful Arabs' from 2014 to 2017 and 2021 by Gulf Business. Al-Mayassa serves as Chairperson of Qatar Museums, and it was reported by Bloomberg that her annual acquisition budget on behalf of the organization is estimated at $1 billion.
Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is a senior member of the House of Thani. He is the fifth son of former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the third child of the Emir with his second wife, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned. He is president of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
Qatar National Library (QNL) is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The plans for the new national library were announced by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, on 19 November 2012, during a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Dar Al Kutub Al Qatariyya, in Doha, Qatar, one of the first public libraries in the Persian Gulf region, which had until then been regarded as the national library of Qatar.
The modern Qatari art movement emerged in the mid-20th century, as a result of the new-found wealth acquired from oil exports and the subsequent modernization of Qatari society. Because of Islam's non-inclusive stance of depictions of sentient beings in visual arts, traditional figurative art historically played an insignificant role in the country's culture. Other visual art forms such as calligraphy, architecture, and textiles were more highly regarded in Qatari tradition.
Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani is a Qatari royal.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University is a public university located within Education City in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The university, a member of Qatar Foundation, was founded in 2010. The university began graduating students in 2014. It was named after Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar.
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar is the Qatari Education City campus of the School of the Arts of Virginia Commonwealth University, a public university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCUarts Qatar is accredited by the United States National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts is a public non-profit art and design school in Richmond, Virginia. One of many degree-offering schools at VCU, the School of the Arts comprises 18 bachelor's degree programs and six master's degree programs. Its satellite campus in Doha, Qatar, VCUarts Qatar, offers five bachelor's degrees and one master's degree. It was the first off-site campus to open in Education City by an American university.
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press is a publishing house based in Doha, Qatar. The press was initially managed by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC and was founded as Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) in 2008 until its transition into HBKU Press in 2015. HBKU Press is part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University which is under the wider community of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. It publishes titles that serve both an international audience as well as the larger Arab community publishing fiction, non-fiction, young adult and children's literature, and academic titles. They highlight local Middle Eastern and Qatari narratives and also translate books from other foreign languages into Arabic.