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Dr Amal Al-Malki roles you play
God created us women with distinguished physical and psychological make-up to be able to bear the responsibilities of playing several roles simultaneously. I’m a career woman and a mother and cherish both roles equally. My role as a university professor is not limited to teaching and research. It goes beyond that to affecting change – no matter how small it is. Mentoring students and witnessing how powerful knowledge can be on young minds makes it worth the hard work and the long hours.
Loving what you do
I’m one of the lucky ones who love what they are doing for a living. I love it each time I attract a student’s attention with something I have said and see his or her face light up when understanding a new concept or coming up with an original analysis. I love it when students approach me for advice and guidance. I love it when students show interest in my own research and ask to get involved. In some career lines, people wait for long to see the impact of their good work, maybe in the form of a bonus, or a letter of praise. I see it on daily basis. For example, Nada has taken all of the courses I offer. She excelled in all of them, but she showed a unique talent in the Writer’s Craft course – which is a creative writing course. Her passion was ignited in the course but didn’t stop there. She has become the Teacher Assistant of the course. She also was
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March 2011
the Project Manager of the Writer’s Craft book that’s published by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, and will launch next month.
Inspired by
I get my inspiration from every woman who has made a difference – regardless of the scale of difference. Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned has no doubt single-handedly changed women’s position in the whole country – it is a large scale change that has benefited me as a Qatari woman among all other females, regardless of their nationalities, living in Qatar. On a smaller scale, my mother had and still inspires me. She has managed to raise four strong women – each successful in her field. This isn’t an easy task and I take my hat off to her.
To be a woman in this century
It is a time of challenges – the century that has witnessed the rise of women’s movements; that has exposed their mistreatments and inequalities. It has witnessed revolutions of information, technology and the revolution of the youth against old orders. It is the age of globalisation and multiculturalism. To live through all of this as a woman is amazing as you live history and participate in creating it. It’s neither easier nor harder- as there is a huge discrepancy between the conditions the women live under from one region to another; and within the region itself. Still, I’m lucky to be a woman living in Qatar in this specific time and age.