The Essence of Diversity

Last spring, I have been to Washington D.C where I visited my brother whose doing medicine residency in the states. It was a beautiful place filled with many buildings and awesome cuisine.

However, one of the things that had grabbed my attention is how the art and the theme of the place is different than from what I have seen in Doha. In Washington DC, the buildings have this Greek theme that emphasizes the earliest forms of Republicanism. Also the parks are green and filled with many historic-reflective statues such as Abraham Lincoln statue at the National Mall.

Whereas, in Doha, the architecture of the buildings is more headed towards the future. There are these tall buildings with smooth semi-cylindrical shafts that can be found in the west bay districts as well as these glossy zigzag shaped buildings. Also there are so many indoor malls here and there.

I believe that the contrast of such cultural objects that we see in Washington D.C and Doha is important because each symbolize the culture and heritage of the country and its people. If all cultural objects were uniform, there would be no point to traveling to faraway places because there would be no art diversity which makes things seem more vibrant and interesting. Likewise, my trip to Washington D.C would not have been as interesting if I have not been exposed to new and different aspects of infrastructure and building architecture. Of course, the variance of the themes in each region occur because of social forces such as the background of the country, religion, and economy. For instance, the city planners and architectures along with other individuals are basically influenced by such social forces, therefore, implementing different kinds of themes for their respective regions.

Sociology on the road

Instead of learning from the typical power points presentations in class, our Sociology Professor, Geoff Harkness, decided to take us to the Al-Mathaf museum last Thursday during our 80 minute long class. We all showed up on time, which illustrates how disciplined we are to our role obligations. While we were all in the bus heading to the museum, we were all quiet and uncertain about how the trip will integrate the contents of our sociology syllabus. One of the students was brave enough to tell to Professor Harkness that museums are boring. Professor Harkness played his role wisely by responding “When I was younger, I didn’t appreciate museums, but as I grew older I started to gain this appreciation.”








Once we arrived, we were welcomed by the Head of Education Michelle Dezember who has a sociology degree. We spent the first 15 minutes discussing the formal organization of the museum. First to define formal organization; it is the coordinating mechanisms that bring together people, resources, and technology and then channel human activity toward achieving a specific outcome. So at the entrance, there were desks with computers that store the data about the visitors. An example of a formal dimension of the museum is asking the visitors about their nationality, gender, age and their visiting status to the museum. About the organizational values, the museum is quite flexible to the type of exhibitions it hosts. It’s not limited to a specific type of culture. It accepts exhibitions from various cultures, which highlight the involvement of significant cultural diffusion.





The museum had some norms like not entering to the Gallery hall with food and beverages and also not taking photos of the art work inside. The exhibition that we saw was called the Swalif project which means short stories. There were a plethora of traditional Arabic paintings but we only had time to analyze two paintings. The first painting was by Jassim Zaini and it was called oil on panel. The painting showed how the Middle East has gradually progressed towards urbanization. On the right of the painting, there were women on a rowing boat just simply sitting, and a young boy fishing with a stick. But moving onto the middle and left side of the painting, there was a man holding a book and switching on an industrialized oil panel. There were also two men lifting some heavy objects and a man fishing with a huge fishing net. The painting explained an aspect of the gender roles in Arab countries which was that men are the ones expected to work hard and engage in some physical labor and technology, while women are expected to just take care of the family and support them. The background of the painting had some buildings which is a symbol modernism. There were also palm trees and a sun, which are quite common in the material culture of the Middle East.

The next collection of paintings was done by Sultan and they elaborated again the role of women in the Arabic society. The paintings showed women in their homes, sitting on the ground and grinding bread or cooking. The women were wearing their long traditional dress and burqa,which explains how conservative the Middle Eastern culture is. Also, the women in the picture had many serving plates beside them, which reflect the symbol of generosity and hospitality of the Arabian culture.



Head of Education Michelle Dezember

The trip was immensely enjoyable and educational at the same time. Many thanks to our Sociology Professor ,Geoff Harkness, for his creativity in planning for our class and making us more interested in the study of sociology.

The link between food and culture

Every country has its traditional food. Like any other country, Qatar has certain types of food that represent the culture of the country. However, some of these types of food originated from other countries and then brought up in Doha. There are a several main dishes shared in Doha and amongst the Gulf countries as well which shows the cultural levelling amongst these countries. The main dish that is cooked in Doha is The Thibeeha, which is known to be a symbol for celebrations or occasions. This dish is composed of rice and herbs with meat. The Thibeeha is a very important aspect of our culture and beliefs, since it is to show respect for the guests. Welcoming a guest in the Qatari society is very important.

As a tradition, Arabic coffee must be served with dates. Dates are also part of the Muslim culture, and the production season of dates usually increases during Ramadan, which is the holy month in Islam. This is due to the reason that when its time to break our fast, we have to have at least one date before starting to eat.

There’s a cultural diffusion in Qatar when it comes to food. Food companies have been brought from all over the world to Doha, providing all types of food available. There is a wider selection where one can choose from. For example: Chinese, Lebanese, Moroccan, Indian, American, French and many other types of food. These range of different types of food allows Qatar to have selections and options for tourists to choose when they visit Qatar for the first time.

There are a few norms

when it comes to eating in Qatar. For example in gatherings, the youngsters should always allow the elders to sit first on the dining table and serve them anything they would request. This shows respect for the eldest. There are certain types of food in Doha that are preferably eaten using the hands. Fish and crabs for example are eaten using the hands. However, not everyone follows this rule but this is how most Qatari citizens eat fish and crabs.