MA in Gulf Studies

The Gulf Studies Program, launched in Fall 2011, offers students the unparalleled opportunity to study the Gulf while living in the region itself, and is the only graduate program of its kind in the Middle East. The Program was developed in response to a growing need among stakeholders in the region for highly qualified graduates in the field of Gulf Studies and vastly growing general interest and focus on the Gulf region.

The Program draws on an interdisciplinary curriculum to provide a holistic examination of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as Iran, Iraq and Yemen. This includes topics within the areas of politics, economics, history, literature, international relations, security, the energy industry, ecology and culture. Classes are taught by highly regarded expert faculty from the Gulf as well as International academics who specialize in the Gulf Studies field. The program paves the way for students to continue their academic pursuit in PhD in Gulf Studies, offered by the program itself or a PhD in related fields.

The MA in Gulf Studies Program also helps connect students to internship and assistantship opportunities on a competitive basis to gain work experience and off-set tuition costs, preparing students to excel in their future professional and academic pursuits. The two-year program consists of evening classes taught in English and is well suited for working professionals. Students interested in learning Arabic have the opportunity to take classes in Qatar University’s Arabic for Non-Native Speakers program.

Program Goals

To attain the following objectives:

Advance analytical approach to politics, economics, and social issues of the region.
Provide the means towards human capacity building.
Foster the integration of a broad knowledge base and human capacity building .
Address society’s needs and aspirations.
Support Qatar National Vision 2030 for human, social, economic and environmental development.

Students Outcomes

To provide a comprehensive, interdisciplinary knowledge base of the contemporary Gulf States and their relationship with the regional and global context (https://qspace.qu.edu.qa/handle/10576/3077)

Students will apply independent research skills.
To apply social science concepts from different disciplines to their study on the Gulf region.
Analyze the social and political dynamics of the Gulf States.
To critically analyze the tools used for studying the modern history of the Gulf.
Evaluate the modern Gulf in relation to either the economic, political, cultural or social setting in global context
To critically evaluate the processes that marked the historical development of modern states in the Gulf region

Curriculum

Click here to view course descriptions

The MA degree is based on a two-year program. Completion of the program requires a total of 36 credit hours. Of those, 21 credit hours come from required courses and 15 hours from the electives encompassing a wide range of subjects that will reflect the student’s particular interests and chosen direction in the program.

The list of required courses are as follows:

Course ID	Course Title	Credit Hours	Prerequisites
GULF 500	Advanced Research Methodology	3	None
GULF 510	Contemporary History and Politics in the Gulf	3	None
GULF 520	Sate and Society in the Gulf	3	None
GULF 530	International Relations of the Gulf	3	None
GULF 531	Political Economy of the Gulf	3	None
GULF 695	Thesis	6	GULF 500- Advanced Research Methodology

The list of program electives are as follows:

Major Electives (15 Credit Hours) Choose 5 Elective Courses	Credit Hours	Prerequisites
GULF 511 Politics of the Gulf	3	GULD 510 Contemporary History and Politics in the Gulf
GULF 521 City and Society in the Gulf	3	None
GULF 523 Human Rights and the Gulf State	3	GULF 520 State and Society in the Gulf
GULF 524 The Arabian Peninsula Literature and Culture	3	None
GULF 532 Security of the Gulf States	3	GULF 530 International Relations of the Gulf
GULF 533 Global Energy Geopolitics	3	None
GULF 540 Environment and Climate Ecology	3	None
GULF 550 Media and Information Communication Technology in the GCC	3	None
GULF 560 Special Topics 1	3	None
GULF 561 Special Topics 2	3	None

Students will be required to develop their language skills by taking Arabic for Non-Native Speakers and Persian for Arabic speaking student, which will be offered by other QU programs. These language courses would be noncredit bearing, but would clearly enhance their capabilities at the point of graduation.

Admissions

Students interested in applying to the MA Gulf Studies program must submit an online application form and upload or send required documents to the Admissions Office. (Official hard copies of the applicant’s university transcript IELTS or TOEFL must be delivered or mailed directly to the Admissions Office). The program accepts applications once a year for the Fall semester. Application cycle opens early Spring semester.

Click here for more information on the general application process, including an application instruction guide, graduate admission timelines and access to the online application once it’s open.

More information is below about:

Minimum requirements
Application requirements
International applicants:
Financial support (graduate assistantships)
Tuition

Minimum Requirements

All applicants to the Master of Arts in Gulf Studies program who meet the following minimum criteria will be considered for admission to Qatar University:

A Bachelor’s degree or higher received with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.8.
Students must satisfy additional college/program specific admission requirements:
All applicants to the Master of Art in Gulf Studies program who meet the following minimum criteria will be considered for admission to Qatar University:

Completed a Bachelor degree with a grade point average of at least 2.80 out of 4.00, or equivalent, from a university or college accredited by an international accrediting association or by the Ministry of Higher Education or comparable in that country.
Achieved a minimum score of 520 on the paper-based TOEFL or equivalent test taken within 2 years of the start of the intended semester of admission.
A satisfactory performance in the personal interview with the Admission committee.

Application Requirements

All applicants to the Master of Art in Gulf Studies program are required to submit the following documents to the Admissions Department:

Online Admissions Application
Final, official and certified university transcripts
Official TOEFL score report or equivalent score report
Two confidential recommendation letters from professors or employers (Recommendation Letters should be sent directly by the professor to the following addresses: graduate@qu.edu.qa) and copy to the Gulf Studies Program .
Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) in English
Health Certificate issued inside Qatar (International students please refer to International Students Website)
Photocopy of the applicant's Qatar ID card (Non-Qatari applicants must also provide a copy of their passport; international students please refer to International Students Website)
Two (2) recent identical passport size photographs (size 4 x 6 cm) with white background
Application Fees: QR 350

International applicants

International students who require a student visa (under Qatar University sponsorship) must submit required documents to the International Student Section of the Student Services Department prior to receiving an admission decision. Learn more about student visa requirements and important deadlines.

Financial support (graduate assistantships)

Qatar University offers financial support, in the form of Graduate Assistantships (GA) Awards, to graduate students who engage in teaching and/or research activities that contribute to the university’s academic mission and to the graduate students’ education. Graduate Assistants (GAs) provide academic program support under the supervision of a faculty member. GAs may assist faculty in the department in teaching undergraduate courses, including laboratory teaching assignments, or in providing other appropriate professional assistance, including grading examinations, problem sets, and/or laboratory assignments, setting up displays for lectures and laboratory sections, and preparing or maintaining equipment used in laboratory sections. GA awardees are not permitted to provide administrative services as part of their responsibilities. Graduate Assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis to students admitted to a graduate program at Qatar University.

Eligibility and Application Process

All admitted graduate students with GPA of 3.0 or higher are eligible to apply for the award.
Graduate students must show that they have met the minimum English language proficiency requirements (TOEFL or IELTS tests), as well as that of the Arabic language proficiency requirements, if required. Applicants should contact their academic departments for further information;
Applicant must submit an application for Graduate Assistantship along with the application for admission to a graduate program; • The deadlines for assistantship applications are the same as those for admission;
The number of GA awards is contingent on colleges’ demand for teaching assistants based on course offerings, laboratory sessions, enrolment, number of faculty and available funds.

Application [Download]

Policy [Download]

Tuition

Tuition fees for students enrolled in the all Master Programs is QR 2000 per credit hour. Click here for more information on tuition.