Students’ research focuses on alternative media – The Peninsula

Students’ research focuses on alternative media – The Peninsula

Doha: Sahar Bou Hamdan, a student at Northwestern University in Qatar has had original research on alternative media in the Middle East published in the Central European Journal of Communication, a rare and unique achievement for an undergraduate.

Bou Hamdan co-authored with a fellow student from Georgetown University in Qatar, Bouthaina El-Kheshn, an article, Revolutionary Music in Lebanon and Egypt: Alternative imaginaries for self-representation and participation.

The two students first developed their research for a course, Alternative Media in the Middle East, taught by Professor Joe Khalil at Northwestern Qatar.

Under the mentorship of Professor Khalil, Bou Hamdan and El-Khesn presented the paper at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

At the conference, the research caught the attention of the president of IAMCR, a co-editor of the Central European Journal of Communication, a peer-reviewed publication that engages in critical discussions on communication and media around the world, and they were invited to consider submitting to the journal.

The students examined music that integrates revolutionary elements into the art of lyrics, melody, harmony, and rhythm. They explored how the artists – Cairokee band from Egypt and DJ Madi K from Lebanon as subjects to structural challenges, served their role