D’Reesha of Invention Highlights Scientists and Researchers From the Arab World

With science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics (STEAM) at the forefront of progressive education, learners across Qatar Foundation add elements of personal expression, empathy, meaning-making, and purpose to learning.

The human element to transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary instruction is showcased by the D'reesha Performing Arts Festival, which – launched by QF last year – is set to return in December. In addition to featuring art and performances in a variety of forms, QF is adopting a multidisciplinary approach to combine science, research, education, and community in a STEM-focused segment, titled “D’reesha of Invention”.

“Science, technology, engineering and math integration into art gives youth the option to make connections between concepts and solving problems in new and exciting ways,” said Ameera Al Aji, Community Arts Lead​ at QF.

“STEAM at D’reesha will give youth an opportunity to explore scientific concepts though the window of creativity and will encourage them to develop new methods of investigation driven by the creative process.”

D’reesha of Invention, sponsored by ConocoPhillips Qatar, highlights scientists, scholars, and researchers from the Arab world. Visitors will be given the opportunity to attend talks, conduct experiments, and participate in hands-on workshops, learning about inventions and contributions from around the region.

Additionally, with legacy being a key component of D’reesha of Invention, a specially developed platform – launched by QF and its partners – will allow the whole community to engage with content year-round, allowing for a 365-learning experience around STEAM education and helping to create enduring social value from D’reesha that lasts beyond the festival itself.

STEAM education and STEAM-related initiatives focus on finding ways to incorporate creative outputs, arts practices, elements, and design into STEM fields to foster and enhance valuable skills, including critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and innovation.

“The debates challenging the importance of STEM versus STEAM, or trying to differentiate the two, are actually a false dichotomy because incorporating the arts into traditional sciences allows students to thoroughly expand their cognitive toolbox,” said Dr. Gregory John Moncada, Director of Qatar Academy for Science and Technology, which falls under Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education.

“You really can’t have one without the other,” Dr. Moncada continued. “The arts provide a set of different thinking and seeing tools that go well beyond the scientific method. We aim to cultivate these tools in the minds of young learners to give them as many different methods to solve problems or to make nuanced observations about the ever-evolving world around them.”

At Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), a QF partner university, Dr. Aymen Elsheikh, an Instructional Assistant Professor of English who acts as the Director of the university’s STEAM initiative, together with his colleague Dr. Anne Schmalstig, Instructional Assistant Professor, co-created a STEAM summer camp which was open to high school students across Qatar and ran from June 19 – June 26, 2022.

Titled “Picking up STEAM: Arts, Design and Communication in STEAM fields”, the overall goal of the summer camp was to provide participants with the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities, helping participants gain valuable skills that included critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation.

Seven professors – four from TAMUQ and three from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, another QF partner university – participated and led workshops during the camp that raised awareness about the value and importance of the arts in STEM education.

“The realization that the arts play an important role in STEM education is critical for the education of the whole engineer,” said Dr. Elsheikh.

“For our engineers, and really across the board for any students in STEM-related fields, it is important to be able to think critically, solve problems, create, collaborate, communicate, and understand and appreciate cultures. And these are a few examples of what the arts education provides. When this is done, both sides of the brain are activated, and this is key to success especially in a 21st century working environment.”

QF’s D’reesha Performing Arts Festival will take place at Education City from December 11-17, during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, under the theme ‘Travel and Adventure’. Open to everyone, it will showcase a variety of performances in Arabic and English, from music and poetry to visual arts and theater, with the new D’reesha of Invention showcasing scientists, scholars, and researchers from the Arab world. To find out more, visit www.qf.org.qa/dreesha  .