Medill will be offering some courses at the school, the Tribune says today:
Lured by money and the opportunity to expand its international presence, Northwestern University is nearing a deal to open journalism and communication schools in Qatar, headquarters of Al Jazeera, the largest Arabic-language TV network, university officials said.
The Medill School of Journalism and School of Communication programs would offer foreign students — who can meet Northwestern’s admissions requirements and afford its pricey tuition — an undergraduate curriculum similar to the one at the Evanston campus.
Tuition would cost the same as here. Besides the money, Qatar is appealing because there are several other American universities there already.
A deal is pretty close: “Bienen said Northwestern probably is within weeks of signing an agreement. Classes could begin as early as September, he said.”
Update: Who’s paying the faculty? AP says Northwestern will, while the Tribune says Qatar pays for everything. Both say there will be 50 to 60 faculty, with some rotating between Evanston and Qatar.
Update 2: Will it be real journalism. Medill Media Watch writes about something I’ve been thinking about: How free is journalism going to be in Qatar, which has no free press?
More to come…
Thanks to Hillary Proctor for the heads-up!