NU-Q appoints new director for its journalism programme

Craig LaMay has been named director of Journalism and Strategic Communication Programme at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner.

NU-Q dean and chief executive Marwan M Kraidy described Prof LaMay as an academic leader at Northwestern University in the US and at NU-Q."His experience – both in academia and professionally as a journalist – will provide our programme with visionary leadership as the media industry continues to evolve and change,” Kraidy said.LaMay is a professor at Northwestern’s Medill School and a professor in residence at the NU-Q.He has been actively involved with the NU-Q campus since its founding, both as a professor and the school’s acting dean in 2020.He has also served as associate dean at Medill.LaMay’s plan for the programme includes integrating the Dama Lab – a creative space for experimentation with innovative forms of storytelling and research – with journalism courses to create original reporting projects that focus on underreported issues in the region and the Global South.Another area of focus for LaMay will be advancing the strategic communication minor to combine conceptual learning and hands-on applications.His vision for the programme includes preparing the students to become skilled professionals who are trained in all aspects of marketing communication, from corporate storytelling and strategy development to media and audience insights, media planning, and social media marketing.He teaches courses in sports media, sports diplomacy, sport and human rights, and comparative media law.He is a member of the International Society of Sports Sciences in the Arab World, and Middle East editor of the *International Journal of Sports History.LaMay began his career as a newspaper reporter in North Carolina.For several years, he was the editorial director of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Centre at Columbia University and editor of the *Media Studies Journal.He has worked as a reporter and editor in Southeast and Central Europe, Central America, and Southeast Asia.He is a long-time practitioner in the field of international media development and is an advisory board member of the Centre for International Media Assistance in Washington, DC.