Doha, Qatar: The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) will continue expanding the field of Arab Information and Media Studies (AIMS) with an additional $ 500,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.
This renewed funding will support capacity building through academic workshops, networking, conferences, and dissemination of academic papers and policy briefs.
Launched in 2022 and directed by dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar, Marwan M. Kraidy, the AIMS project focuses on transforming Arab media studies into an interdisciplinary, multilingual, and collaborative field. The project has advanced critical media and information studies by connecting Arabophone, Anglophone, and Francophone scholars, facilitating networking, translating scholarly works, and publishing research. AIMS also integrates Arab media studies into broader transnational networks of knowledge within the Global South, positioning it as a key contributor to global media and policy conversations.
“We are grateful to Carnegie Corporation for their continued support, which will allow us to build momentum around the development of Arab media studies in a sustainable way,” said Kraidy.
“This funding will help us continue nurturing early-career Arab media scholars, particularly through our Theory and Method Winter Schools, which have already proven to be impactful, while integrating AIMS activities into ongoing working groups at the Institute. This will enable us to lay the foundations for a tradition of cross-regional research collaboration and excellence.”
Building on the success of the past two years, the grant will support the Institute in developing regional knowledge production, connecting diverse scholarly communities in the region, and bridging the gap between media scholars and policymakers. As part of this, #IAS_NUQ will host two Theory and Method Winter Schools: one, hosted in January 2025, on “Arab and Southern Digitalities” and another planned for January 2026 on “Media Policy and Governance.”
These workshops focus on developing critical skills for early career scholars of Arab media, integrating Arab media scholars into related scholarly communities, and expanding Arab media studies into a more public-facing and policy-relevant field.
The grant will also support the launch of the Society for Humanistic Arab Media Studies (SHAMS), a scholarly association dedicated to fostering a rigorous, multidisciplinary, humanistic research on Arab media in its socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts.
