Cypress Lake News, Vol. 8, Iss. 2

Two UL Lafayette professors of the Department of Communication, Dr. Philip J. Auter and interim department head Dr. William R. Davie, traveled to the Middle East from Oct. 24 through Nov. 9 to follow-up on the university’s plan to partner with Qatar University’s (QU) mass communication program.

The project is being funded by a Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) grant by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

"We're very excited about the opportunity to begin working with the QU mass communication program faculty on both teaching and research projects,” said Auter, grant director. “The faculty we met was eager to work with us on a number of exciting projects.”

UL Lafayette seeks to enhance the mass communication program at QU by helping to modify its curriculum, develop research partnerships, advise student media organizations, provide transnational teaching opportunities, and promote a student and faculty exchange and internship program.

“The most impressive part of the trip for me was QU's spirit of cooperation and hospitality,” said Davie.

Auter and Davie were welcomed to the university by Ashraf Galal Hassan Bayoumy, Ph.D., of the Qatar University Department of Mass Communication and Information Science, who serves as one of the grant co-directors. The third co-director is Professor Mohamed Arafa, president of Global Media Consultants (LLC).

In 2006, Auter, Bayoumy and Arafa were awarded more than $293,000 in U.S. federal funding to oversee a three-year project that will enhance the mass communication program at Qatar University through collaborative curriculum development to build academic relationships between colleges and universities in the United States and the Middle East. Partnering institutions will contribute more than $348,000 to the project as well.

“The relationship that Dr. Auter has forged with QU under the auspices of the U.S. State Department's MEPI is one of the most exciting opportunities I have seen made available to us in my 14 years of service in the communication department at UL,” said Davie.

During their travels, Auter and Davie met with not only faculty from the QU’s mass communication program, but also staff from the U.S. Embassy in Qatar, editors of the Arab newspapers Al-Sharq and The Peninsula, and the Editor in Chief of the English Al Jazeera website. The QU and UL Lafayette partnership involves faculty and student exchanges beginning in 2008.

Undergraduate students will come to UL Lafayette for one semester to take courses in journalism and mass communication that are not currently offered at QU. They also will participate in internships at local media outlets such as the Gannett-owned local newspaper, The Daily Advertiser and KLFY-TV to learn more about American media and culture. One qualified graduate of the QU undergraduate program will enroll at UL Lafayette to work on obtaining a master’s degree in communication.

“A partnership between mass communication departments at UL (Lafayette) and Qatar University in the Middle East is set to prepare students for the world outside their classroom,” Bayoumy said.

Partnering faculty will work on co-sponsored research, teach in each other’s classes and participate in internships as well. UL Lafayette faculty will have the opportunity to intern at a Middle East newspaper such as The Peninsula, and possibly even at the Arab transnational satellite news outlet, Al Jazeera.

“The grant will provide learning opportunities, career experiences and community outreach for the students, faculty and alumni of both partnering universities,” noted Arafa.

In the fall of 2008, QU and UL Lafayette will jointly offer a global media course that will focus on U.S. and Middle East media and society. Students from both campuses will be enrolled via the Internet in a joint course allowing those involved to examine each other's cultures and analyze how the media portray them, said Auter.

“While faculty interchanges are expected to foster program development at both universities, possibly the greatest impact will be the global experience for faculty and students in both programs,” Bayoumy said.

While visiting QU, UL Lafayette professors donated the first of many books being collected in a book drive for QU. Currently, the UL Lafayette Department of Communication is collecting books to donate to the QU mass communication program as QU build its program-specific reading room. In Spring 2008, the UL Lafayette Department of Communication will ship all the books collected to QU.

"The partnerships leverage faculty expertise and best practices to strengthen the capacity of the Middle East institutions and improve access to education for young people so they can be informed citizens of free societies and effective participants in modern economies," stated State Department officials.