Suffering of Students in Gaza

Two months without a post is too long. I apologize and Happy New Year!

I arrived in Doha less than 24 hours ago and I'm currently nursing a coffee to beat back jet lag. Instead of flying my normal O'Hare to Dulles to Doha route, I had purchased a O'Hare to NY to Doha route. Only my itinerary did not make it painfully obvious that I flew into La Guardia and then out of JFK, a detail I discovered when checking in at O'Hare. The United rep was nice enough to get me on an earlier flight to La Guardia (because I originally only had 2 hours and 13 minutes between flights), otherwise I might not be here in Doha right now.

There's apparently a flurry of activity here at Education City over the recent violence in Gaza. I've noticed more Palestinian references on student's away messages and Facebook images. There have also been more references to Naji al-Ali's 40-year old image of 'Handhala' image that represents a child of the Palestinian refugee camps. (One student even used this image in his final design project about recycling last semester).

I just found out that Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned (Chairperson of Qatar Foundation) plans to launch an international initiative aimed at addressing the need to protect education and students in Gaza. There's a planning event in CM-Q's auditorium tomorrow evening and the Education City students are organizing a march on Tuesday to show support with the students in Gaza.

It's weird to be back. I was certainly sad to leave the States and especially my boyfriend James, but it's nice to know it's only one more semester. And yet I'm still conflicted. Much as I know I need to return to States, there is still something alluring about being abroad. My heart warmed to hear Arabic music on my car radio and I felt expanded to witness another side of the Gaza conflict rarely presented in American media. I have a sense in the future I will either need to continue to work internationally in some capacity or save my pennies and travel often.

My commute

Before I move to my new apartment at the Education City Housing Compounds less than 5 minutes from Education City, I thought I'd share my current commute home from EC to my apartment at Al Samrya Gardens. The ride home is usually significantly shorter than the ride to work, mainly because in the morning traffic backs up due to a short light that only lets traffic in one direction at a time. Each cycle takes four minutes, so sometimes it takes 20-30 minutes just to get through the light, meaning my 10 km drive could take 30-40 minutes! Crazy. In order to lessen my impact on the environment and recapture about an hour of my day, I'm moving to EC housing (inshallah) next week.



Items of potential interest in this video:
-You'll perhaps notice a large white building with 'holes' in the facade on the right- the LAS Building at EC was the most recent former home of CM-Q.
-After that, the large white towers and space on the right is the EC Ceremonial Courtyard, where EC senior celebration was held.
-This video was shot before I received my vehicle permit pass, which now saves me the trouble of dropping off and picking up my international driver's license at EC Security each day.
-Where I pause before I turn onto the main road was the site of my March accident (which ending up costing me about $1K). I'm a lot more cautious in my driving now.
-Note the roundabouts- once the bane of my driving existence, I know generally embrace them for speeding up traffic. Some roundabouts in Doha have traffic lights, which does slow things down somewhat but probably reduces accidents.
-The huge billboards at the final main intersection are the site of my usual morning long-light. This time I got lucky and zipped right through.
-Since one can't make left turns throughout most of Doha unless using a roundabout or making a U-turn at an intersection, I take the back way to my compound to avoid the crowded roundabout I would need to use to get to my compound.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar on PBS

Tomorrow PBS will feature a show on Education City, to be shown at 8:30pm (EDT) local time in Pittsburgh. (Check out PBS Website for local showtimes- Looks like the show will air on Channel 11 in Chicago on Sunday, May 18 at 12 noon CDT.)

The program entitled, "Should American universities be trying to win over young hearts and minds in the Middle East?"should feature a good amount of Carnegie Mellon Qatar and our students. However, I'm wary about what angle the show may take.

The title of the program alone makes me suspicious about their portrayal of our campus. However, a recent story Dean Thorpe told at Carnegie Mellon Qatar's first graduation also leads me to believe the story may not be entirely favorable.

As the graduation ceremony wrapped up, Dean Thorpe offered true story with a bit of random advice attached. He cautioned the students, whom we fully anticipate to be the leaders of tomorrow, that when they encounter media and the press, to be prepared for 'ambush journalism'. He said a camera crew from the States was in a few weeks ago and brought all their lights and cameras into his office and 'just wanted to ask a few questions'. So after the normal niceties and the usual questions, they sprung on him a question something along the lines of 'How would you respond to the accusation that you are taking away good educational resources from your home campus and/or America?'

Uh. Um.

He said he responded something about how this campus offers our students and faculty a chance to be exposed to different cultures, to become more active and engaged in world affairs, and be better global citizens when they rotate back into the Pittsburgh campus.

I understand he had to come up with that on the spot, in front of a rolling camera, and needed to address the issues related to the 'accusation'. However, as one not intending to 'roll' back into the Pittsburgh campus or for those faculty not from the Pittsburgh campus, this is a bit of a stretch. I'd would have to joke and say I'm here as an immigrant worker, seeking opportunities not available to me in the United States.

But getting back to the PBS show, I'm curious how they will present Education City. How they will bring up or address hostile comments towards our community and if they will embrace the idea that education is crucial ending the ignorance, hostility, and unrest that permeates this region. (Check out Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin's Three Cups of Tea for another take on the importance of education).

My Brother's Visit to Qatar- the abridged version

Feb. 29- Lunch with Dan Boyarski at the City Center Mall. My brother Henry arrives that evening in Doha. We unsuccessfully try to find a BBQ at Qatar Foundation Housing and then pass out.

Mar. 1- Bill Brown Memorial Ride early AM. I bike 46 km in total from Doha Golf Club to Simaisma Bridge. My brother- on the small loaner bike, rides 26 km to Lusail. See some pics from the event. Henry passes out and then goes to see 'Vantage Point' at the City Center Mall. I help LiveGreen (CMU-Q's student environmental group) prepare for the next day. I stay up too late preparing for my own speech.

Mar. 2- I give a ~20 minute presentation ('The Opportunities of Sustainability") 2 times at Qatar University's " Go Green. Change Our Future" كن صديقاً للبيئة. غير مستقبلنا Conference (Women only). I'm in at least 2 English papers and apparently some Arabic papers the next day (See The Gulf Times & The Peninsula). My brother heads back to City Center Mall with a student of mine, only to accidentally have my car keys in his pocket. We sort it out, do some food shopping, cook a veggie dinner and call it another early night.

Mar. 3- I give my presentation twice again (Males Only), teach my communication design class, teach my first section of 'Examining Sustainability in the Gulf', add another section of it, discover CMU-Q accidentally sent my textbooks back and we've now ordered them to arrive with the Pittsburgh students this Saturday. Henry and I play volleyball with the students, faculty, & staff. We then head to the souqs, Henry purchases souvenirs, and we have Iraqi food.

Mar. 4- I go to Arabic class, do some work at school, & swap my sedan with Darbi/Greg's SUV so my brother and I can go find the 'Singing Dunes'. I tell Henry I'm on my way home (we communicated via email, 2 American cell phones, 1 Qatari cell phone with mixed results). I leave Education City and pull into traffic too soon, getting slammed in the back, smashing up a little blue car driven by two Egyptians that don't speak English. We wait ~3 hours for the police to come to file a report. One tank of gas, one traffic department, 2 reports, 12 riyals, and 1.5 hours later and I'm finally back home to my stranded (and ill-informed) brother. In the fading light we attempt to find the Singing Dunes but no luck. Henry and I go with Greg and his visiting girlfriend Sophie to pick up Turkey Central. We eat at Greg's and then they watch movies at Greg's place. I work.

Mar. 5- We plan to get my brother to the Qatar National Museum for the morning and have him join me in the afternoon (after my classes). We have conflicting reports of whether the museum is open, closed, partially-open and can't confirm any details. We find the place deserted and later learn it won't be open to the public until November. After some phone calls- we learn the Weapons Museum is now open to the public and will be open until noon. We call, confirm, and then unsuccessfully try to find the place. Back at campus, we're given exact directions of how to get there- we head back out again and Henry books a cab for the ride back. We arrive- it looks nice- clean- legit. I bid Henry farewell and then he runs back, saying it's closed. I throw my hands up. At this point Henry begins to truly realize what it means to live in Doha and that while a decent place to live, Doha is not primed for tourists yet. I teach 3 classes (my sustainability course now has 20 students in two sections)- Henry relaxes. I secure a GPS from Justin & Marjorie and in the fading light Henry and I set out for the Singing Dunes again. 45 km from the city, we find the dunes and by flashlight we hike towards them on foot (as I have my sedan again and it would have not been happy on the rocks). It was eerie to make the dunes hum and vibrate at our footsteps and even eerier that we only had a flash-light at this point. We did see some fantastic stars.

Mar. 6- I skip out on Arabic class and Henry and I do tourist shopping. We purchase a photo book for Grammy and Henry picks up some foodstuffs at the Carrefour (as well as some helpful new sandals). We head back to City Center and pick up some carmel and stuffed dates at Bateel. We find time running short and Henry cheerfully suggests trying the 'McArabian' chicken pita-sandwich at McDonald's. I agreed because yes- technically it's a cultural experience. Like many McDonald's products- while initially tasty, the meal leaves us feeling disgusting. I'm done with McDonald's in Qatar. We're signed up with 5 others for an 8-hour desert cruise with QIA. Two others not from CMU-Q would also join us. We set up the night before for them to pick the CMU-Q folks up a little later due to other's time conflicts. The driver calls us up 45 minutes early demanding to know where we were. After some semi-heated phone calls and calls to the company, we clear it up and the 2 other tourists don't appear mad at us. We drive off, ride camels (20QAR each), bash dunes, feel like we're about to tip the car (it was our driver's first time- greeeeeeeeeaaat), collect sea shells, attempt to sand board (sounds like a better idea than it actually is) , hear a helicopter air-lifting someone who flipped their quad-bike on the dunes, have a BBQ on the beach, and then drive back in the dark.

Mar. 7- We got Henry to the airport (almost the wrong airport- Qatar is building a new airport and they already have signs up for it. Thanks Qatar.) by 6:30 am. I see him checked in, bid him farewell, drive home, and sleep for another couple hours. I think I plan to use this weekend to recover from his vacation.

Lessons learned:
-Very few of the students have environmental exposure.
-Give your expat host more than a week to plan.
-The tourist experience here leaves something to be desired.
-GPS in the desert is good.
-Wear sunscreen.
-Avoid McDonald's (my stomach still isn't very happy).
-Call. Confirm. But don't be surprised if things change.
-Always check your pockets.
-If you have to teach a difficult/boring/unpopular subject, offer it as a 4th quarter mini course so that students who fail other courses, drop those classes and then desperately need units pack your course.

Getting back in the designer saddle

Before I came to Doha, I worked at the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington D.C., in their Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). I researched building energy legislation, efficient building case studies, and helped restructure the information architecture of their website. I also helped coordinate a conference for the Commercial Building Initiative (CBI), aimed at advancing the efficiency of commercial buildings. It wasn't much of a design job, but then again, that wasn't why I went to Washington.

At the end of my design education at Carnegie Mellon, I wasn't sure how keen I was to be in design, to be a designer. My interests seemed to be focused more on environmental topics and less on pushing pixels. I wasn't sure that graphic or communication design was for me. I found myself drawn to the bigger picture, bigger-system-level design, and at the time I thought that meant environmental policy, perhaps even a policy or law degree. (I even took a practice LSAT). So I went to try it out as the Alliance. I also wanted to see what, if anything, I would miss from design.

During that time, I looked up obscure 'Residential Energy Code Ordinances', calculated the difference between Energy Star and HERS ratings, and searched numerous House and Senate Bills. It a little alarming to discover that I did find researching legislation scarily enjoyable at times. However, I mainly found myself aching for something visual, some software beyond 'Photoshop Effects', for the opportunity to create something. Thus I was more than happy to mock-up BCAP's new website or develop an visual identity for the CBI conference. It was refreshing and it felt good to be of use to this NGO. I left DC with more uncertainty about policy and a renewed optimism about design. I figured my time in Qatar would be a good place to experiment.

They say if you want to jump start your thinking, your work, your creativity, teach. And it's true. When I assign exercises, I imagine my own solutions to the problems. I see fresh wonder, excitement, and ideas from my non-major students and it invigorates me. And, as the only design faculty in Education City outside of those at Virginia Commonwealth University next door, I do feel the need to prove myself. So I willingly volunteered to design the overall event poster for the upcoming Carnegie Mellon 'Liberal and Social Science' (LAS) Faculty Film Series. LAS Faculty are basically anyone not in computer science or business- such as language, history, English, science, architecture, and * design *.


Carnegie Mellon is currently housed in the LAS Building with a very distinctive tangram-like pattern on both the exterior and interior. I turned to this architectural language as the basis for film series mark and the initial A3-sized poster. I am also slated to design 2 other posters before having my students design the rest as an assignment (sshh- they don't know yet!).

Education City in the NYTimes again!

Today's NYTImes featured another article on Qatar's Education City and included extensive quotes from CMU-Q students and faculty.

CMU-Q's Dean Chuck Thorpe points out that students in this country hadn't been challenged with critical thinking questions before or were hesitant to criticize. I had also read something similar in 'Understanding Arabs' by Margaret K. Nydell prior to my arrival in Qatar. After meeting with the language and academic resource staff at our new faculty- orientation at the start of the semester, I wondered and worried how my students would respond to the critique-style classes. Would they speak up? Would they think I was being too mean? Would they criticize each other's work? How would they move beyond 'I think it's nice'? Or would I spend a lot of time talking to myself and them staring at me? 

I pleased to say it hasn't been like that at all. They challenge my response. They have responses different from each other. We focus on the work rather than the person. I stress the critiques are to improve the work and that feedback is critical to creating better work. 'Ask others. Ask your peers. Try it out. See what happens.' 

They had an assignment due today and the final revisions and process book of their work due Wednesday- I'll post the better solutions later this week. We had a quick critique before moving on to discussing categories and hierarchy and I found them animated, opinionated, critical and encouraging. They were able to critically evaluate the effectiveness of the design solutions and weren't immediately seduced by software filters and tricks. They've begun to learn to edit, to limit the number of bells and whistles they employ. And some of them have done some really great work.

I realize I've fallen into the what I previously perceived as the annoying design professor trait of giving feedback without really answering the question, 'What should I do Professor?'. I don't tell them outright what they should do; I provide insight, suggestions, and alternative ways of approaching the problem. I do offer more software assistance than I ever received in college and I've found it helpful to keep print out of Adobe Illustrator and Indesign tool menu handy. I believe design software is a tool but can also be a hindrance. Especially when one is learning the software for the first time, one tends to create designs that one knows how to execute on the computer. By offering software assistance, I can help them focus on creating a better design than fretting about how they will create what they envision. Classical design education and software skills need to go hand in hand, something that I eventually realized over my own undergrad design education. 

Carnegie Mellon Qatar featured in NYTimes

Head over to NYTimes.com and check out the article on American Universities setting up international campuses. You can also send questions to CMU-Q's Dean Chuck Thorpe. Also- note the great image of Carnegie Mellon's current 'campus' on the article's front page (the student on the left is Khalid Al Sooj, a student in my CDF class). This is the inside of the LAS building in Education City- the student lounge are the yellow-colored spaces in the image (behind the students). The stairs pictured lead up to the first level (it's not the second floor- first floors are ground floors here and second floors are first floors) where administration and faculty have their offices. 

If you were to take those stairs up, veer left and keep following it around, aiming as straight as possible for another corridor or two- you end up at my office- A121, waaay in the back and right near the women's bathroom and the border with Georgetown.

There's only 3 other CMU-Q faculty over here; Silvia, an Uruguayan who teaches English (literature) and immigration studies (and sometimes Spanish-along with her Swedish but Spanish-teaching husband Eric- they just announced they are expecting in September- congrats!); Amel, who teaches writing and is the only Qatari female professor in Education City, and Darlene, a American PhD candidate who teaches English literature as well.  Our CMU-Q outpost borders Georgetown's CIRS offices- the CIRS director Mehran (Iranian) and I share a horrible sweet tooth and often exchange sweets.

My office is a decent size and has four tiny windows (at least I can see outside). It's lit with two massive overhead lights than I often leave off and only utilize my bookshelf lights. I've finally decorated with a mix of 'Advice to Sink in Slowly' prints, a Rasterbator print of Chicago, and map of Doha circa 2002. I hope to get a large push-pin board shortly so I can tack up even more visuals. My office is also often freezing despite me stacking boxes, papers, junk on top of the numerous floor vents. I often leave a sweater and a shawl in my office for such chill attacks.

Additional images of the LAS building, such as our cafeteria where I sometimes buy a complete (huge) meal for 11 QAR ($3.02 US) are viewable at this NYTimes image gallery.