Education City is an educational and research hub in Qatar situated in Al Rayyan Municipality and forming a key part of the Doha Metropolitan Area.[2] Developed by the Qatar Foundation, the 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) property houses various educational facilities, including satellite campuses of eight international universities.
Education City
المدينة التعليمية
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Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Administration building under construction, Backyard of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Bicycle path at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Road in Education City, 'Discover' art installation, Latticework at Ceremonial Court
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| Country |  Qatar |
| Municipality | Al Rayyan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12 km2 (5 sq mi) |
| Website | qf.org.qa/education-city |
Education City was launched by Qatar Foundation in 1997. The same year, Virginia Commonwealth University became the first institute to establish itself on its campus.[3] The city was officially inaugurated in 2003.[4]
Over the past 20 years, Education City has grown from a single school to a multi university campus with students from over 50 countries and an enormous research fund, offering significant opportunities for the advancement of knowledge and research across a variety of disciplines.[5]
In the last five years Education City has transformed itself into a full-fledged community adding a 219-bedroom Premier Inn Hotel, a 33-hole Golf Course called Education City Golf Club, Qatar National Library and Oxygen Park.[citation needed]
Six American universities, one British university and one French university have branch campuses at Education City. It also has one local university. These are as follows:
Other educational centers located at Education City include:
Several centers based at Education City focus on science and research. These include:
Three separate stations of the Doha Metro's Green Line (also known as the Education Line) serve Education City: the Education City station, the Qatar National Library station, and the Al Shaqab station. All three stations were opened to the public on 10 December 2019.[10]
American universities which have established campuses in Education City have been the subject of ongoing criticism of whether it is appropriate to maintain a campus in Qatar, given the alleged Qatari links to state-sponsored terrorism, the lack of freedom of speech in the country and the country's absolute monarchy. In an interview with Gulf News Journal, Herbert London, president of the London Center for Policy Research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said "universities I think have compromised themselves" by having campuses in a country like Qatar where academic freedom and freedom of the press are severely limited.[11]
In Qatar, the monarchy has absolute authority over all aspects of life; as such, the nation adheres to a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia.[12] Despite the country itself stating that educational and research institutions have total academic and intellectual freedom.
In 2014, Love Comes Later, a book by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, English professor for Georgetown University in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, was banned by the State of Qatar with no explanation.[13] Rajakumar has stated that she wrote the book with the Qatari “sensibilities of the public culture” in mind, meaning that the book did not include the main three objections: sex, atheism, and politics.[14] Some art that has been displayed at VCUarts Qatar has had to be taken down as some Qatari students found it to be disrespectful to their culture, an issue that reflects the differences in conservatism and social practices that are present at the Qatari campus.[15]
In an article by The Washington Post, Susan Dun, an assistant professor of communication at NU-Q said that some professors do exercise caution with statements, written work, or speeches that may reach a wider audience than just the Education City community.[16]
Everette Dennis, the dean of NU-Q, led a six-nation survey in 2015 that was financed by the Qatar National Research Fund and asked questions such as if people think their country is “headed in the right direction”. While the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia all had answers to the question, there was no data from Qatar as the government blocked the question from being asked to survey participants.[15]
25°18′54″N 51°26′03″E / 25.31500°N 51.43417°E / 25.31500; 51.43417
