Northwestern University in Qatar

Project Status: COMPLETED

In 2008, Northwestern University partnered with Qatar Foundation to open the university’s first international campus in Qatar, fondly known as “NU-Q.” With this endeavor, Northwestern brings all the history and distinction of the Evanston-based university to Doha, the capital city of the state of Qatar. It offers students the opportunity to study media and earn a bachelor of science degree in journalism or communication.

For the last two years NU-Q has shared space with Carnegie Mellon University, but will soon be getting an address of its own. The new building has been designed by the highly regarded architect Antoine Predock

State of the art

Predock is based in Albuquerque, N.M., with studios in Taipei and Los Angeles. His design work includes the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, the Tacoma Art Museum and the San Diego Padres ballpark.

NU-QPredock’s  vision for the building has been described as "state-of-the-art" accommodating the needs of the curriculum.  It is designed to foster “informal faculty-student and student-student interactions” and includes multi-media “nodes” equipped with video screens and informal presentation areas. The largest of these areas will be equipped with a video wall students can use to present or view media.  According to NU Provost Daniel Linzer, “the new building offers all of the facilities, equipment and resources you’d expect from a world-class university.” 

At a meeting in Doha in November 2012, Linzer and NU-Q’s Dean Everette Dennis mentioned the opportunity to study in Qatar as part of the undergraduate experience for Evanston students, in the same way that Qatar students now are able to study in Evanston. Linzer said this might be possible in two years. The new building offers all of the facilities, equipment and resources you’d expect from a world-class university. 

"NU-Q's new home combines inspirational futuristic design with practicality," stated Dennis. It will be a setting where the ever-changing nature of media can be dissected, studied, and understood. And, it will set a new standard for what a communications and media school can be – a place where students, faculty, and staff can explore communication’s past, present, and future. 

The building is scheduled for completion in 2014. 

 Features

Read about NU-Q's project with the Doha Film Institute.

Visit the website for Northwestern's Univeristy in Qatar