By: Gulf Times
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com
Category: Film School Online
Some of the world’s most prestigious media organisations, from news and fashion to public relations and film-making, are training students from the Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) this spring.
In all, some 14 NU-Q students, seven of whom are Qatari nationals, have been selected for professional residencies at the organisations that include The Financial Times in New York City, The Huffington Post and Fast Company magazine, also in New York City, and Vogue and Cosmopolitan magazines in London.
They began their 10-week residencies last February.
Jawaher al-Naimi, a junior who is heading to Hearst Magazines in London for an internship at Cosmopolitan magazine and Company magazine, hopes to eventually start her own national women’s magazine that goes beyond fashion and gossip to deal with societal issues overlooked in local newspapers.
“The magazine industry is better suited to in-depth feature stories and creative writing- areas where I think Qatar still has space to grow,” she said.
On why she is looking forward to her residency at Hearst Magazines, al-Naimi said: “This is an opportunity to hone my feature-writing skills and improve my understanding of what it takes to run a successful publication.”
Mouza al-Derham, who has an internship in public relations at Bloomsbury Publishing in London, also spoke of applying the skills she cultivates abroad to the industry in her native Qatar.
“I’m intrigued by the idea of opening a publishing house here; I know that there are talented writers in Qatar and the region and I want their stories to be heard,” she said, adding: “This residency is my chance to test the skills I’ve gained through classes at NU-Q in the real world.”
The experience that undergraduates gain during their residency programmes is considered so critical that NU-Q has made it a mandatory component of the school’s journalism degree.
“Northwestern University in Qatar believes that leadership comes from the ability to put big-picture ideas into practice, and these residencies give our students a chance to do just that. We are confident that the host organisations will be impressed with our students’ ability to engage high-level thinking about media issues, as well as to apply and develop their practical skills,” NU-Q dean and Chief Executive Officer Everette Dennis explained.
Journalism senior Rana Khaled had the opportunity to put her NU-Q media skills and education into action during her residency at Al Jazeera in Washington, DC, last spring, where she helped the network launch its revolutionary social media news programme “The Stream.”
Khaled said of the experience: “My professional residency has been the highlight of my undergraduate experience so far - it gave me real insight into the workings of an international news channel. I worked directly with the programme directors and producers and built relationships there that have become part of a valuable professional network for my future career.”
After returning from her residency, Khaled went on to produce a documentary on Arab hip hop with her classmates that received regional and international attention.
She currently has two more documentaries in the pipeline and is preparing to graduate from NU-Q’s journalism programme in May.
Through the professional residency programme, NU-Q adds hands-on experience to academic learning to prepare its students for leadership in the 21st century media industry.
“On our campus in the US, the residency programme often has led directly to students’ first jobs with organisations that know they’re just not taking a chance on a new graduate because these residency students already have worked in professional environments and have proved themselves there,” said Richard J Roth, the senior associate dean for Northwestern’s journalism programme.
NU-Q is able to offer its students residencies at such prestigious media organisations because of the high-level contacts that NU-Q faculty and staff have in the international media.
Jay McGill, senior vice president, Hearst Magazines International, visited the Qatar-based media school last October and that led directly to the residency at Cosmopolitan.
The university has also secured a professional residency for a student at Blue Legacy Films- working on an environmental documentary with actor Robert Redford. Blue Legacy is a project of Alexandra
Cousteau.
Students also are going to residencies in Washington, DC, at Qatar Foundation International and the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.
Other students are going to residencies at public relations firms Grayling in London and Brown Lloyd James in New York City.
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=490305&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com
Category: Film School Online
Some of the world’s most prestigious media organisations, from news and fashion to public relations and film-making, are training students from the Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) this spring.
In all, some 14 NU-Q students, seven of whom are Qatari nationals, have been selected for professional residencies at the organisations that include The Financial Times in New York City, The Huffington Post and Fast Company magazine, also in New York City, and Vogue and Cosmopolitan magazines in London.
They began their 10-week residencies last February.
Jawaher al-Naimi, a junior who is heading to Hearst Magazines in London for an internship at Cosmopolitan magazine and Company magazine, hopes to eventually start her own national women’s magazine that goes beyond fashion and gossip to deal with societal issues overlooked in local newspapers.
“The magazine industry is better suited to in-depth feature stories and creative writing- areas where I think Qatar still has space to grow,” she said.
On why she is looking forward to her residency at Hearst Magazines, al-Naimi said: “This is an opportunity to hone my feature-writing skills and improve my understanding of what it takes to run a successful publication.”
Mouza al-Derham, who has an internship in public relations at Bloomsbury Publishing in London, also spoke of applying the skills she cultivates abroad to the industry in her native Qatar.
“I’m intrigued by the idea of opening a publishing house here; I know that there are talented writers in Qatar and the region and I want their stories to be heard,” she said, adding: “This residency is my chance to test the skills I’ve gained through classes at NU-Q in the real world.”
The experience that undergraduates gain during their residency programmes is considered so critical that NU-Q has made it a mandatory component of the school’s journalism degree.
“Northwestern University in Qatar believes that leadership comes from the ability to put big-picture ideas into practice, and these residencies give our students a chance to do just that. We are confident that the host organisations will be impressed with our students’ ability to engage high-level thinking about media issues, as well as to apply and develop their practical skills,” NU-Q dean and Chief Executive Officer Everette Dennis explained.
Journalism senior Rana Khaled had the opportunity to put her NU-Q media skills and education into action during her residency at Al Jazeera in Washington, DC, last spring, where she helped the network launch its revolutionary social media news programme “The Stream.”
Khaled said of the experience: “My professional residency has been the highlight of my undergraduate experience so far - it gave me real insight into the workings of an international news channel. I worked directly with the programme directors and producers and built relationships there that have become part of a valuable professional network for my future career.”
After returning from her residency, Khaled went on to produce a documentary on Arab hip hop with her classmates that received regional and international attention.
She currently has two more documentaries in the pipeline and is preparing to graduate from NU-Q’s journalism programme in May.
Through the professional residency programme, NU-Q adds hands-on experience to academic learning to prepare its students for leadership in the 21st century media industry.
“On our campus in the US, the residency programme often has led directly to students’ first jobs with organisations that know they’re just not taking a chance on a new graduate because these residency students already have worked in professional environments and have proved themselves there,” said Richard J Roth, the senior associate dean for Northwestern’s journalism programme.
NU-Q is able to offer its students residencies at such prestigious media organisations because of the high-level contacts that NU-Q faculty and staff have in the international media.
Jay McGill, senior vice president, Hearst Magazines International, visited the Qatar-based media school last October and that led directly to the residency at Cosmopolitan.
The university has also secured a professional residency for a student at Blue Legacy Films- working on an environmental documentary with actor Robert Redford. Blue Legacy is a project of Alexandra
Cousteau.
Students also are going to residencies in Washington, DC, at Qatar Foundation International and the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.
Other students are going to residencies at public relations firms Grayling in London and Brown Lloyd James in New York City.
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=490305&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
