Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022

In this episode, we turn the tables and interview the podcast host, Dr. Danyel Reiche, Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) and Visiting Associate Professor at Georgetown University Qatar where he leads a research initiative on "Building a Legacy: Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022."

With Paul Brannagan, he published the book Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Politics, Controversy, Change (Palgrave Macmillan 2022), and edited the volume Handbook of Sport in the Middle East (Routledge 2022).

Reiche joined Georgetown University Qatar in the summer of 2020. It is the second time he is joining GU, after being a Visiting Assistant Professor at the main campus in Washington D.C. from 2006 to 2007. Dr. Reiche graduated with distinction from Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany. From 2008 to 2020, he was a tenured Associate Professor for Comparative Politics at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon.

Dr. Reiche's past research has focused on two areas: energy as well as sports policy and politics, with the latter his recent priority. Professor Reiche published Success and Failure of Countries at the Olympic Games in 2016 with Routledge. His proposed model to explain sporting success received positive reviews in academic journals and extensive media coverage. For example, CNN host Fareed Zakaria referenced the book in his weekly Washington Post column. Professor Reiche also edited with Tamir Sorek (University of Florida) a volume entitled Sport, Politics and Society in the Middle East, which was published in 2019 with Hurst/Oxford University Press. His peer-reviewed articles have been published both in area study journals (such as International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics and Journal of Energy Policy) and in broader-oriented journals, such as Third World Quarterly or The Middle East Journal. Dr. Reiche is co-founder of the Sports Scholars in Lebanon Network (LESSN) and chair​ of the Political Studies Association’s Sport and Politics Study Group.

Dr. Reiche has given invited lectures around the world at universities including Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Cambridge. He has been frequently quoted by major media outlets including ESPN, Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and interviewed by podcasts, radio stations, and TV programs including Al Jazeera's Inside Story, CNN, and Sky. He has also written op-ed's for newspapers including The Washington Post and Der Spiegel.

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Professor Danyel Reiche, Georgetown University in Qatar, spoke with five members of the Georgetown University in Qatar (GUQ) community about their experiences while working at the FIFA World Cup 2022. The panelists included:

- Mohammed Al-Zeyara, a GUQ student (Class of 2024), majoring in International Politics, was part of the Guest and Protocol Team during the FIFA World Cup of 2022.

- Farasha Jaleel graduated from Qatar University and works as an Economics specialist at the Office of Academic Services. She was part of the workforce management team at two stadiums.

Two students worked with Overseas Leisure Network, an international hospitality company:

- Jeta Kreka, a GUQ student (Class of 2023), majoring in International Politics and minoring in Economics and Arabic.

- Mohamed Noeman, a GUQ student (Class of 2024), majoring in International Politics.

Professor Reiche’s son, Johan Reiche, a 7th grader at the German International School, was a flag bearer at the World Cup.

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GUQ Professor Danyel Reiche talked to Farkhunda Muhtaj, captain of the Afghanistan women’s national football team and professional player with the Dutch team Fortuna Sittard, and Dr. Arni Thor Arnthorsson, Vice President of Student and Institutional Advancement at the American University of Afghanistan and a former football player. They discussed how Qatar helped prior to the FIFA World Cup 2022 football players and students from Afghanistan.

Dr. Arni Thor Arnthorsson is the Vice President of Student and Institutional Affairs at the American University of Afghanistan. He holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration with specialization in Marketing from the University of South Carolina where he was a varsity soccer player from 1984-1987. Arnthorsson was born and raised in Iceland where he played in the top football league at an early age. He has experience as a coach as well. Arnthorsson has spent most of his career in Academia, and has lived in many countries in the world. Currently he lives in Madrid, Spain where he works remotely for his university. Arnthorsson has been in charge of relocation efforts of students and staff of AUAF in the last year. Recently 78 students have arrived in Qatar to be a part of Education City life as students at AUAF through his efforts.

Farkhunda Muhtaj is an Afghan-Canadian professional footballer and social activist. She is the Captain of the Afghanistan Women’s National Team and plays for Fortuna Sittard in the Dutch Eredevisie. Muhtaj earned two degrees from York University; a BSc degree in Kinesiology and Health Sciences (2019) and a B.Ed degree in Science and Physical Education (2021). She captained York University’s Women’s Soccer Team and later joined the York Lions as an Assistant coach after spending 5 seasons as a player. She has won many academic and athletic accolades each year. Most recently Muhtaj was recognized as a Top 30 York Alumni Under 30 for her active dedication toward social justice. In 2021, she played an instrumental role in the evacuation of 300 + Afghans including the Afghanistan Youth National Team to Portugal after the Taliban came into power in August. Muhtaj is committed to developing and implementing sustainable humanitarian and sport projects locally and globally to help advance equitable and diverse opportunities for refugees and newcomers, women and girls, and underserved communities to feel empowered and become impactful leaders. She is heavily involved in many sport and social justice related initiatives including: The co-founder and director of Scarborough Simbas, a non-profit organization that uses sport to help ease the settlement journey of refugees and newcomers to Canada. Director of Conscience and Culture at the Respect Group Inc Humanitarian ambassador for Penny Appeal Canada. Where she helps spread awareness on humanitarian issues globally. Active member of Common Goal’s Anti-racism project, a reputable organization committed to tackling social challenges through football and serves on the board of Common Goal’s Quality Seal Committee.

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Georgetown University Professor Danyel Reiche talked to Jack Thomas Taylor, Associate Curator and Manager of Exhibition Planning at The Media Majlis, a university museum located at Northwestern Qatar, about the current exhibition in the museum, titled “Is it a Beautiful Game?”, and how it relates to the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Jack Thomas Taylor is the associate curator and manager of exhibition planning at The Media Majlis at Northwestern University and the curator of Is it a beautiful game? Taylor is a doctoral student at King's College London, researching culture, media, and the creative industries. He holds two master's degrees, one in Culture, Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins at the University of Arts London with a thesis observing the values that pertain to Universal Expositions (World Expos) and his second, an MBA in Culture and Enterprise, jointly awarded by Birkbeck Business School and his alma mater Central Saint Martins, with a dissertation with distinction questioning if business strategy tools can be used in the arts and culture domain.

Taylor curated the inaugural exhibition at The Media Majlis Arab identities, images in film (2019) and has since gone on to curate Breaking News? how the smartphone changed journalism (2020), and Is it a beautiful game? (2022) at The Media Majlis. Other curatorial work includes Mind the Gap at Tashkeel (Dubai, 2017), Heritage: A User’s Manual at the Southbank Centre Archive Studio (London, 2016) and Inert Matter, Then Live Wire held at Central Saint Martins (London, 2016). Since 2009, he has held various positions in the arts, culture and creative domains in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, and Qatar across exhibitions, branding, visual arts, programming, and publishing.

Taylor has wide-ranging experience in creative services, including with BOND Creative Agency as studio manager, strategist and producer (Abu Dhabi office) and as an independent cultural and creative strategist with TAYLOR Strategy and Design Advisory. Publishing work includes Brownbook (Dubai) and Arabian Magazines (Bahrain), as well as founding Alef Magazine in Qatar in 2013.

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GU-Q professor Danyel Reiche speaks to Abdullah Al-Arian, an Associate Professor of History at Georgetown University in Qatar and editor of CIRS's recently released book “Football in the Middle East,” about the main findings of the publication.

Abdullah Al-Arian is an associate professor of History at Georgetown University in Qatar. He received his doctorate in History from Georgetown University, where he wrote his dissertation on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt during the decade of the 1970s. He received his Master’s degree in Sociology of Religion from the London School of Economics and his BA in Political Science from Duke University. He is editor of the "Critical Currents in Islam" page on the Jadaliyya e-zine. He is also a frequent contributor to the Al-Jazeera English network and website. His first book, entitled Answering the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat's Egypt was published by Oxford University Press in 2014. Professor Al-Arian teaches introductory courses on the history of the Middle East, as well as advanced topics courses covering the history of modern Egypt, Islamic social movements, and the history of US policy towards the Middle East.

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GUQ Professor Danyel Reiche speaks to Abdulla Al Mulla, director of the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympics and Sports Museum, and Andy Pearce, curator of the football exhibition that will be shown during the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Abdulla Y. Al Mulla comes to the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum with more than 35 years of professional experience with international and local organisations in sports, protocol, event management, media and public relations, human resources and administration. As an expert on international protocol and media, Mr Al Mulla has advised sports organisations around the globe. In addition to his role at 3-2-1, he is also Media & Broadcasting Director for the Asian Athletic Amateur Federation, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Protocol Chief, Protocol Director for the Olympic Council of Asia and a Board Member of the International Table Tennis Federation. He has worked with the United Nations under the leadership of the secretary of the United Nations, Dr Antonio Costa, as a peacemaker on various collateral diplomatic relationships.

Andy Pearce has over 35 years experience in the museums and heritage sector. He began as an educationalist developing and delivering museum learning programmes for many different age ranges and abilities, using many different collections, from art to industrial archaeology. After successfully completing a course of professional development aimed at emerging new leaders in the late 1990s, he moved into senior museum management, including both Director and Project Director roles.

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In part 2 of this podcast, Firat Oruc, Georgetown University in Qatar, speaks to Stacey Balkan, Assistant Professor of Environmental Literature and Humanities at Florida Atlantic University, and Swaralipi Nandi is an Assistant Professor of English at Loyola College, Hyderabad, India.

Stacey Balkan is Assistant Professor of Environmental Literature and Humanities at Florida Atlantic University.  She is co-editor of Oil Fictions: World Literature and our Contemporary Petrosphere (Penn State Press, 2021); and she is the author of Rogues in the Postcolony: Narrating Extraction and Itinerancy in India (West Virginia University Press, 2022).  Stacey’s current book project is titled Black Anthropocene Vistas; and her recent work also appears in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Revue Études Anglaises, Energy Humanities, The Global South, Global South Studies, Mediations, and Social Text Online.

Swaralipi Nandi is an Assistant Professor of English at Loyola College, Hyderabad, India. She is the co-editor of The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics, and Science Fiction (McFarland), Spectacles of Blood: A Study of Violence and Masculinity in Postcolonial Films (U Chicago/Zubaan), and  Oil Fictions: World Literature and our Contemporary Petrosphere (Penn State Press, 2021). She is currently working on extractivism and colonial commodity frontiers of India in Bengali fictions of wood, coal and indigo.

In part 1 of this episode on World Energy Literature, Stacey Balkan, Assistant Professor of Environmental Literature and Humanities at Florida Atlantic University, speaks to Firat Oruc, Georgetown University in Qatar. 

Stacey Balkan is Assistant Professor of Environmental Literature and Humanities at Florida Atlantic University.  She is co-editor of Oil Fictions: World Literature and our Contemporary Petrosphere (Penn State Press, 2021); and she is the author of Rogues in the Postcolony: Narrating Extraction and Itinerancy in India (West Virginia University Press, 2022).  Stacey’s current book project is titled Black Anthropocene Vistas; and her recent work also appears in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Revue Études Anglaises, Energy Humanities, The Global South, Global South Studies, Mediations, and Social Text Online.