A Wellesley College student from Topeka recently traveled to Qatar to present a research paper on the socioeconomic transformation of Iran.
Mary Kenefake, a 2009 Topeka High School graduate and 22-year-old Wellesley senior completing a history degree with a minor in Middle Eastern studies, said she presented her research paper at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Middle Eastern Studies Students’ Association Conference from March 21 to 23 in Doha, Qatar.
Kenefake said she learned about the conference’s call for research papers from a Wellesley professor.
“I wrote (the research paper) for a class last semester,” she said. “I decided to submit the paper on a whim.”
Kenefake was among 22 undergraduate students from U.S. and Qatar universities interested in the Middle East who presented their work to students, educators and policy practitioners at the conference. Her paper, “The Socioeconomic Transformation of Iran: Reform and Revolution 1973–1985,” analyzed the economic conditions in Iran before and after the revolution.
The trip was paid for by Georgetown University, she said.
Other than Qatar being the home of the Al Jazeera media network, Kenefake said she knew little else about the sovereign Arab state in western Asia. Although the majority of her time was spent at the conference, she was able to tour Al Jazeera’s headquarters and several cultural sites in Doha, the capital city.
Kenefake said she was surprised by the development and construction going on to modernize and industrialize Doha. The city’s Educational City is home to several branch campuses of Canadian, Qatar and U.S. universities, including Texas A&M University and Weill Cornell Medical College.
“They’re trying to create a capital of education and culture because they’re aware their natural resources won’t last forever,” she said. “They’re trying to invest in human capital and infrastructure while they still have their wealth.”
Kenefake said she saw newly constructed shopping malls, museums, hospitals and tennis courts and preparations being made for the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition.
After she graduates in May, Kenefake said she wants to work for a couple of years as a broadcast journalist in a major city and then possibly seek a graduate degree in journalism or Middle East studies.
In the meantime, she said she will be revising her research paper to reduce the word count so it can be published in an academic journal.
