Qatar University (QU) Gulf Studies Center will host an international conference titled ‘Social Change in the Gulf Societies in the 21st Century.’ The conference will examine the processes through which Gulf societies experienced great social changes from a multidisciplinary perspective, focusing on the impact of economic transformation, education, social media, migration, and the COVID-19 pandemic. By bringing together 34 experts from around the globe, including South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, and China, the conference will provide opportunities for an assessment of the state-of-the-art and learning from best practices as well as offering practical solutions for policy interventions.
In light of the constraints and concerns posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the five-day conference will take place online from November 15 to 19 in the form of synchronous webinars. To accommodate the various time zones of conference presenters, the sessions will be held between 9 am to 12.30 pm Doha time (except for the session on November 18, which will take place between 3 pm 6.30 pm. The conference will feature an inaugural address by Dr. Mahjoob Zweiri, Gulf Studies Director and professor at Qatar University.
“Our annual international conferences have served as a platform for scholars to discuss a variety of topics significant to the Gulf. They have also been an opportunity for people interested in the Gulf region to understand better the region’s economic, political, and social dynamics. We hope that this important conference will provide insights on the social transformation in the Gulf region triggered by economic and political changes,” said Dr. Zweiri. The conference will consist of ten sessions that will examine social and cultural dynamics, education, social media, art and urbanization, political crisis, economics, transnational generations, transformation in the Gulf families, the COVID-19 pandemic, and China the Gulf.
