Georgetown Hosts Gender Justice Symposium

Press release

Published December 28th, 2017 - 06:52 GMT

The event aimed to explore how laws, citizenship, traditions, and modernity influence gender equality.

Scholars and activists gathered at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) recently for a two day symposium on gender justice. The event focused on the promises and challenges of gender equality across different cultures, political landscapes, and societies.

Held under the theme of ‘Gender Justice at the Intersections of Legal Practices and Sociopolitical Transformation’, the symposium featured multidisciplinary discussions on the experiences of women in a range of contexts and countries in the Middle East and beyond. The event aimed to explore how laws, citizenship, traditions, and modernity influence gender equality.

“Gender is an issue that is situated at the heart of questions of power, culture, and politics,” said Professor Rogaia Abusharaf, who organized the event. “This symposium aimed to contribute to our understanding by considering the predicament and the promise pivoting around gender politics.”

A number of scholars based in Qatar and abroad presented their research at the symposium, including GU-Q faculty and alumni. The delegates’ expertise ranged from athropologology to politics, gender studies, and history, allowing for broad-ranging analysis.

The event builds on on-going research by GU-Q faculty, and follows from the 2016 Writing Women’s Lives conference which brought together renowned scholars and emerging thinkers from universities and institutions around the globe involved in gender studies.

Background Information

Georgetown University in Qatar

Established in 1789 in Washington, DC, Georgetown University is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions. Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), founded in 2005 in partnership with Qatar Foundation, seeks to build upon the world-class reputation of the university through education, research, and service. Inspired by the university’s mission of promoting intellectual, ethical, and spiritual understanding, GU-Q aims to advance knowledge and provide students and the community with a holistic educational experience that produces global citizens committed to the service of humankind.

Located in Doha’s Education City, GU-Q offers the same internationally recognized Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree as Georgetown’s Capitol Campus in Washington, DC. This unique, interdisciplinary program prepares students to tackle the most important and pressing global issues by helping them develop critical thinking, analytic, and communication skills within an international context. GU-Q alumni work in leading local and international organizations across industries ranging from finance to energy, education, and media. The Qatar campus also serves as a residency and delivery location for the Executive Master’s in Emergency and Disaster Management along with the Executive Master’s in Leadership.