HBKU College of Islamic Studies hosts alumni from top American institutions

THE College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently hosted a group of alumni from prestigious institutions in the United States, including Harvard University, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA).

The delegation of 50 people arrived by an Arabian Gulf cruise ship with ports of call including Oman and Qatar.

Dr Tarek Swelim, art historian and programme coordinator for CIS’ master’s programme in Islamic Art, Architecture and

Urbanism (IAAU), led the delegation during their stopover in Doha.

The first leg of the tour was to Minaretein, the awardwinning building that houses HBKU-CIS as well as the Education

City Mosque.

The delegation was introduced to the IAAU programme and its unique academic components and how it reinforces the wider HBKU vision to create impactful change agents.

Graduate students and alumni of the IAAU programme had the opportunity to interact with distinguished experts across related disciplines from visiting American institutions.

Speaking about the delegation visit, Dr Swelim said, “It was a pleasure to take the delegation on a tour of the unusual architectural wonder that is the Minaretein building and introduce them to the unique programmes provided by the CIS. Members of the delegation were fascinated by the state-of-theart facilities designed for study and university life within the building and how it adds to the rich learning ecosystem HBKU strives to deliver.”