Qatar: ACRPS officially announces establishing Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies has officially announced its establishment of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

DI is an independent institute for learning and research in the fields of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Public Administration, based in Doha, Qatar. It is scheduled to launch in the Fall of 2015, according to ACRPS statement.

ACRPS General Director, veteran thinker and philosopher, Dr. Azmi Bishara says that ID seeks to address the all-too-evident lack of interest in and support for social sciences, humanities, and public administration in Arab countries, and to enhance the formation of Arab research and an intellectual leadership in these fields.

DI, according to Bishara, will offer Master’s programs of study in 10 specializations through the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Policy. In a second stage, doctorate programs will be offered by the DI in selected subjects.

The preparatory stages of the DI project commenced in late 2011, borne of ACRPS recognition of the urgent need to prepare a new generation of enlightened young Arab scholars, critical thinkers, and future leaders in the various fields offered in the social sciences and humanities, as well as forward-thinking professional public servants that serve the Arab region. The use of the Arabic language will be central to the DI in an endeavor to enhance its use as a professional and scientific communication medium commensurate to other international languages in its precision and responsiveness to world needs.

The statement says that DI’s mission is to bring together outstanding faculty and graduate students from the Arabic speaking world and beyond for the purpose of carrying out critical studies and research in the fields of: Philosophy, History, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Political Science, Economics of Development, Sociology and Anthropology, Legal Studies, and Media Studies. In addition to the School of the Social Sciences and Humanities, which will house the above-mentioned disciplines, the DI will also host a School of Public Administration and Policy. Programs will start at the master’s level with the aim of introducing a doctorate program within the following years.