What is unique about your college’s programs?

The college is home to five Master of Arts programs and one PhD program. We offer interdisciplinary programs in two main academic fields: Translation and Interpreting Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. These programs equip our students with skill sets from a scholarly and applied perspective. If you are a graduate level prospective student looking for an enriching program of relevance to today’s world, in terms of global issues and regional challenges, you are guaranteed to develop a skill set to be able to assess these issues and become an agent of change. 

The educators of our programs are leading scholars and researchers in their fields who are motivated by the college's commitment to social justice. We therefore go beyond the scope of offering high quality education to the community. Once you join one of our programs you become a part of an entity that instills within you a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institution and world using tools dedicated for personal and social development.

As well as instilling knowledge in its students, HBKU has a reputation for equipping them to become leaders and change-makers in a rapidly changing world. How does your college help students achieve this?

The college ensures that education is extended beyond the physical boundaries of a classroom. Through our local and global partnerships, our students develop projects to apply their research to the real world. Whether it’s by making cinema and entertainment more inclusive, or by tracking social media trends or pinpointing and investigating various forms of fake news and disinformation, our students reap the benefits of their education before graduating from our programs and influencing their local communities by spreading the values of the College of Humanities of Social Sciences. 

We also encourage our students to gain access to the professional world. All our students are granted the opportunity to intern and interact with organizations in their fields, where they are given the chance to respond to everyday challenges, and resolve problems under the guidance of experts and specialists. 

Additionally, all our students are afforded the chance to participate in conferences on a global as well as a local level, where they find opportunities to not only share their research and work with globally respected academic scholars in their fields, but also a chance to network with them and gain access to a vast array of academic and professional opportunities.  

How does the multidisciplinary aspect of an HBKU education make the university stand out?

The multidisciplinary aspect equips students with an array of skills that would benefit them not only on an academic level, but also on a professional one. These skills include but are not limited to critical thinking, problem-solving skills, time management, the ability to excel through teamwork, excelling in research methodologies, and identifying innovative solutions. These skills are so diverse and useful because students adopt and develop them after being exposed to several different schools of thought and academic perspectives. Students of the college and HBKU in general, therefore develop the ability to synthesize ideas and thoughts and consolidate learning. This ability encourages them to apply such knowledge in their field of work in a scholarly manner as well as a professional one. We are proud to have our alumni working in various sectors, including education, communications, sports, military, aviation, and more.

Having multidisciplinary programs such as the PhD in Humanities and Social Sciences or any of the college’s MA programs sheds light on our university and allows it to stand out not only in Qatar, but on a regional and global level.

If I was a prospective student considering an HBKU education, what would your college’s biggest selling point be? 

Besides the quality education, diversity is a unique selling point that makes HBKU an inviting institute of education for all. While HBKU is a private Qatari university, it is home to students from over 60 nationalities, making the educational, student, faculty and staff experience all the more enriching. Being home to such a diverse community encourages and invites critical thinking while also helping students learn how to communicate effectively with people of various backgrounds. Despite being a relatively young university, the diversity of the community and wide range of academic fields covered throughout the programs is a highly promising and essential factor that foreshadows a brighter future ahead for our college and university as a whole. 

Another unique selling point would be Education City’s unmatched ecosystem. By joining HBKU, our students also join Education City as a whole, and have access to multiple resources, venues, and projects. In return, this provides a unique and memorable educational journey.