The dramatic transformation of the Arabian Gulf since the Discovery of petroleum resources has called for a new perspective on the situation of women in the region. Qatar is an example of fast-paced industrialization, modernization and profound socio-cultural changes. As the environment transforms literally from day to day, new identities are being forged and social roles renegotiated. The leadership’s vision for the country speaks of gender equality and opportunity for all. This article asks how young Qatari women’s personal stores fit into the national narrative of change and what they see as the best path to agency and empowerment.

ADespite growing interest in the lived experience of Muslim women in Arab countries, there is still a dearth of studies on the Gulf region. This article focuses on Qatar, a Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) country, to explore its changing sociocultural landscape and reflect on Qatari women's agency within the framework of the traditional gendered space model. Applying Grounded Theory methodology to data collected from a variety of scholarly and non-scholarly sources, the author offers a themed overview of factors that facilitate and constrain Qatari women's mobility. The findings testify to a significant increase in female presence and visibility in the public sphere-specifically in the spaces of education, employment, and sports. They also show that young Qatari women exercise agency through navigating the existing systems rather than question traditional socio-cultural norms. The paper identifies this search for a middle ground between tradition and modernity and its ideological underpinnings as the area of future research that should be led by Qatari women themselves.

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This paper describes an attempt to improve the reading comprehension and writing skills of students coming from an oral culture. The proposed approach involves using voice and dialogue understood literally and metaphorically as a tool in teaching students how to engage texts and write with a reader in mind. The author discusses a pilot study incorporated into a writing course in the Pre-medical Education Program at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

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