Gary Wasserman’s decision to head to Qatar to teach at Georgetown sounds questionable, at best. “In the beginning,” he writes, “this sounds like a politically incorrect joke. A Jewish guy walks into a fundamentalist Arab country to teach American politics at a Catholic college.” But he quickly discovers that he has entered a world that gives him a unique perspective on the Middle East and on … Muslim youth; that teaches him about the treatment of Arab women and what an education will do for them, both good and bad; shows him the occasionally amusing and often deadly serious consequences his students face simply by living in the Middle East; and finds surprising similarities between his culture and the culture of his students.
Most importantly, after eight years of teaching in Qatar he realizes he has become part of a significant, little understood movement to introduce liberal, Western values into traditional societies. Written with a sharp sense of humor, The Doha Experiment offers a unique perspective on where the region is going and clearly illustrates why Americans need to understand this clash of civilizations.
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An informative and thoughtful look into US university education in an international setting.
Informative about a unique situation and well written.
I almost finish this book but it was slow and not as exciting as I hoped it would be so I can’t recommend it a lot
Qatar is in the news. The author gives the reader a history of this small important nation. Qatar is very closely allied to the US in many ways- this book explains the ups and downs of an educational relationship as experienced by Georgetown. The book is a fun read, as well.
This book is about Georgetown University starting a satellite campus in Qatar. The author writes about his experiences being a Jewish professor teaching in a catholic university in the Middle East. The book left me wondering why the professional staff at Georgetown University did not reach out to the community to bring education to an oppressed society. They seemed to be contented to spend their time within the closed campuses of the universities involved. It surprised me to learn that the labor force in Qatar was mainly composed of foreigners. The royal families had liberal ideas as compared to the officials of the government. The frustration of using books with liberal ideas was not forthcoming from conservative officials. This seemed like a fruitless venture with different political, cultural, and social values between the two agencies: Georgetown University staff and Qatar’s government officials.
Gary Wasserman’s The Doha Experiment is a look at the nitty-gritty realities of international education – a timely read in the run up to the NAFSA Conference. Wasserman was among the initial faculty appointments to Georgetown’s Qatar campus. Perhaps reasonably, Wasserman has doubts as to how he will be received given his Jewish background. (Hint: better than the suggestion to place crosses outside each classroom to mirror the practice in Washington.)
In The Doha Experiment, Wasserman reflects on his time in Doha, as well as the initial founding and evolution of the school itself. Many of the anecdotes will elicit a familiar groan from those who have tried to navigate the developing world: the policeman who issues “slowing” tickets to every vehicle stuck in a traffic jam; the ubiquitous security that provides questionable value; the nightmare of navigating the roads.
Much of the book, though, is focused on the educational experience, and rightly, and offers plenty of food for thought for those of us who work in international education. The value of intercultural understanding and importance of travel can’t be overstated, but Wasserman does pose important questions about the ability to overcome societal and family expectations and the ultimate value of a multicultural education if and when individuals return to the pre-set path.
Wasserman does not shy away from the difficult questions. To what extent are such campuses a form of American imperialism? How might such campuses further perpetuate social class dynamics? (He ruminates at length on the proper approach to dealing with “the help,” which in Qatar consisted largely of terribly underpaid South Asians who had their passports confiscated as a condition of employment.) To what extent must a university tolerate government interference, or a government tolerate dissent by the college?
Although I personally found The Doha Experiment terribly interesting, I recognize this is one book that appeals to a particularly niche audience. If you’re part of that audience, by all means, read away. If you’re not, you may find greater interest between the pages of another book.
(This review was originally published at: https://www.thisyearinbooks.com/2018/06/the-doha-experiment-arab-kingdom.html)