Fueling the personal, academic and professional development of students and faculty researchers alike as well as contributing to the institution’s maturing international profile, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) continues to offer a wide range of educational travel opportunities across its colleges and research centers this year. These opportunities including service learning trips, specialized academic training, as well as participation at global competitions and moots. 

HBKU’s four colleges – College of Islamic Studies (CIS), College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), College of Science and Engineering (CSE), and College of Law and Public Policy (CLPP) – regularly collaborate with international universities with the aim of providing students with a variegated learning experience and exclusive insights into teaching pedagogies and foreign cultural experiences.

Digital Studies in the Heart of England’s Most Populous City

Two students from CHSS, Osama Dari and Mohammed Jawad Abdulla, recently returned from a one-week intensive course on Digital Scholarly Editing at the School of Advanced Study, a postgraduate institution of the University of London. Covering principles of scholarly editing and methods for producing digital editions, the students gained hands-on editing experiences at the Senate House Library in the heart of Bloomsbury in Central London. The historic Library hosts an impressive repository of more than two million books and 50 special collections, making it the ideal place to pursue knowledge on editorial theory and practice. 

Dari, a Master of Arts in Digital Humanities and Societies student who took part in the trip, said: “The five-day course proved to be an invaluable experience for Mohammed and I, as it gave us the opportunity to grasp the history and techniques of scholarly editing while we became aware of the challenges of digital editions. The trip itself was both exciting and challenging, particularly since the broad field of scholarly editing is still new to me. However, I was able to quickly familiarize myself with the traditions and principles of scholarly editing and textual scholarship through the assistance of HBKU and the valuable guidance from our instructor at the University of London. This was supplemented with an intensive boot camp on the fundamentals of the creation of digital editions.”

Cultivating Middle Eastern Knowledge in the Context of Islam

This July, a delegation of students and academics from CIS are set to attend the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) 2018 at Seville, Spain. The conference, considered amongst the most prestigious events in the field of Middle Eastern studies, serves as a meeting point of the global scholarly community to debate on a wide range of topics concerning the Middle East. This year’s edition is expected to attract about 3,000 participants from over 70 countries. 

As such, HBKU’s delegates are scheduled to contribute to the discourse at WOCMES Seville 2018 with a presentation of their most compelling findings from their ongoing research projects. Highlighting the unique opportunity of partaking at a global conference of this magnitude, Dr. Alexandre Caeiro, research assistant professor at CIS, said: “Coming from a culturally diverse educational institute such as HBKU, we are eager to experience the conference at Seville and immerse ourselves in discussions with the most preeminent scholars on the region. Also, this is a truly pivotal opportunity for some of our graduate students to gain unparalleled exposure through formally presenting their research during this major international gathering. This will undoubtedly reflect positively in their professional resumes and future opportunities.”

Honing Legal Skills through World-class Opportunities 

This summer’s interactions come against the backdrop of a series of educational travel opportunities students partook in during the course of the academic year. As the only university from outside the European Union (EU), HBKU’s CLPP participated at the Fifth EUROPA Moot Court Competition held in Greece. CLPP’s Juris Doctor students defended their cases before the highest judges in the EU while gaining a firmer understanding of the application of the Union’s law within the foreign legal and court system. 

Driving ICT Experience at Global Powerhouses 

HBKU’s CSE student, Dabeeruddin Syed, and his team excelled at the national level of the Huawei ICT Skill Competition, thus reaching the grand competition finale held at Huawei Technologies’ headquarters in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China. During the finale, the Qatar team worked on a simulated scenario involving both theoretical and practical exam components. The complex eight-hour test necessitated competitors to demonstrate working knowledge of firewalls, cloud computing, switching, routing, and network security. They were awarded the Excellence Prize for their efforts in the final ceremony, which was attended by high-ranking government officials and senior representatives from participating countries’ embassies and consulates.

Humanitarian Relief Without Bounds

In addition to their academic engagements, HBKU was also involved in conflict studies and advanced humanitarian efforts through a number of service trips. Most recently, HBKU representatives set out on a week-long trip to Jordan to study the realities of refugee life in light of ongoing regional conflict. Likewise, another HBKU delegation embarked on a relief tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, visiting Rohingya refugee camps and hospitals, where the participants gained an understanding of the vast significance of volunteer efforts through their direct interaction with the local refugees. Through such short study-abroad opportunities, graduate students are able to attain a first-hand understanding of the multi-faceted challenges being faced by different communities around the world.

HBKU consistently fosters a climate of cross-cultural understanding through its wide range of international learning opportunities. Students and faculty gain unique exposure to the global academic scene, as well as a deeper understanding of the socio-economic and human rights challenges in areas of conflict. The University’s active profile of international scholars, researchers and partner universities underscores its international presence as a leading research institute that has established a strong, distinguishable voice within the global educational community.

To find out more about HBKU’s community engagement and learning trips, visit the HBKU News website at: https://hbku.edu.qa/en/news.