www.thepeninsulaqatar.com CAMPUS | 3 MARKETPLACE | 7 ENTERTAINMENT | 12 1,500 former QU MAX&Co Fashion Priyanka Chopra students gather for Show at invited for dinner Alumni Reunion Lagoona Mall at White House THURSDAY 7 APRIL 2016 Email: [email protected] thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which conjures up the fictional village and castle/wizarding school of author J K Rowling’s vivid imagination, officially opens today at Universal Studios Hollywood. P | 4-5 POTTER MAGIC IN HOLLYWOOD THURSDAY 7 APRIL 2016 | 03 CAMPUS 1,500 former QU students gather for Alumni Reunion ver 1,500 alumni and their and Partner Relations manager Rana friends and relatives gath- Al Falasi, and QU alumni Trade and In- ered at Qatar University Li- dustry Department director at the Co- Obrary courtyard for the 2016 operation Council for the Arab States Alumni Reunion recently. In its 8th in- of the Gulf Dr Hilal Almukhaini (class of stalment, the event aimed to recon- 1983) and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait nect graduates with their alma mater, Strategic Alliance & Other Fess Income and to encourage mutual support and Department head Khaled Farooq Sabri interaction between the institution Al Khatib (class of 1983), as well as sev- and its graduates. eral QUAA members. Organised by QU Alumni Associa- The programme featured a short tion (QUAA), the annual gathering is an film screening on the Association, en- opportunity to bring together friends, tertainment activities by Embrace Do- faculty and QU leaders to re-energise ha, and live performances including the spirit of pride, friendship, and loy- poetry recitations by well-renowned alty and to remind alumni of their last- Qatari poet Hamad Al Daiya. Also on ing connection with their alma mater. the program was a kids’ zone organ- Thani (Class of 1987) for Distinguished gory. Mohamad Alhasel won 1st place Attendees included QU President Dr ised and supervised by QU Early Child- Alumni, College of Pharmacy Chap- in the Photography Competition, while Hassan Rashid Al Derham, members hood Center. ter for Distinguished Chapter, and CAS student Farah Dawwas and student of QU leadership and college deans, Awards were presented to Sheikh student Fatima Alsheeb for the Design Abdelaziz Issa won 2nd and 3rd place QUAA president Dr Saif Al Hajri, Alumni Hamad bin Thamer bin Mohammed Al Competition Alumnus & Alumna Cate- respectively. HBKU students visit Rice University Baker Institute tudents from Hamad bin Kha- Alya Bint Mohammed and Mohammed lifa University (HBKU), a mem- Al Buenain travelled to Houston, Texas, ber of Qatar Foundation for with Dr Mohammed Evren Tok, the co- SEducation, Science, and Com- ordinator of Public Policy in Islam pro- munity Development (QF), recently gram at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Stud- visited Rice University’s James A Bak- ies, a college of HBKU. The cohort dis- er III Institute for Public Policy (Baker cussed current issues in public policy Institute) as part of the Public Diplo- and Dr Tok shared information from his macy and Global Policy making Pro- forthcoming book with the program gram (PDGP). The program seeks to participants. A book, entitled Policy promote cross-cultural understanding Making in a Transformative State: The and facilitate dialogue on public policy Case of Qatar, is co-edited by Lolwah and diplomacy issues among students Al Khater and Leslie A. Pal and will be from the United States and Qatar, with available in May 2016. this year’s PDGP exchange supported As part of the week-long learning by Qatar Development Bank. trip, each student presented a policy Established in 2013, the PDGP ex- memo, written under the supervision change program offers students the of Dr Tok as a key component of the opportunity to experience Arab or PDGP program. Students offered their American culture in an effort to learn perspectives on a wide range of poli- US and Qatari Middle East foreign pol- Hamad Al Obaidly said: “The how cultural identity, political context, cy issues, such as preventative health icy. Various topics pertaining to devel- Baker Institute is one of the leading and geography affect policy. Eight Qa- care, science diplomacy, energy sus- opment were discussed, with the HB- policy institutes in the world. Our tari students: Hamad Al Obaidly, Lat- tainability, the development of knowl- KU students also commenting on Qa- group was proud to represent Qa- ifa Al Amri, Noof Alejji, Mona Al Saa- edge-based economies, interfaith di- tar National Vision 2030 and Qatar’s tar in this exchange and we learned di, Abdulla Al Shaiba, Ahmad Al Jassim, alogue, the role of social media, and growing entrepreneurship ecosystem. so much.” 04 | THURSDAY 7 APRIL 2016 COVER STORY Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Hollywood By Alex Pulaski decade interpreting Rowling’s vision. The Washington Post Alan Gilmore awaits us at the train sta- tion, where wisps of steam escape the stack of the Hogwarts Express, a loco- motive that transports the young witch- ollywood, having spent a centu- es and wizards who populate Rowling’s ry perfecting the art of escapism, books. (Note: If you are a Muggle, or per- is unveiling its latest bit of magic. son of non-magical ability, like me, you ar- H The Wizarding World of Har- rive here on foot.) ry Potter, which conjures up the fiction- Leaning against a wall, Gilmore ap- al village and castle/wizarding school of pears to all the world as just anoth- author J K Rowling’s vivid imagination, of- er park visitor behind mirrored sunglass- ficially opens today at Universal Studios es. But he is the supervising art direc- Hollywood. This marks Universal’s fourth tor, and this world is, well, his world, right foray under the ultra-popular Potter ban- down to the faux owl droppings on the ner. (Two such worlds are connected in Owlery’s floor and the gently worn edges neighbouring theme parks in Orlando, of a shop’s doorsteps - as if they’d been and a third opened in July 2014 in Osa- there for hundreds of years rather than ka, Japan.) dozens of weeks. Gilmore tackled the art If, like me, you’ve chased your chil- direction of three Potter films and was in- dren through the countless pages and strumental in breathing life into previous eight films that chronicle Harry’s adven- Potter theme-park worlds. Rowling hasn’t tures, this qualifies as another quantum walked these cobbled Hollywood streets, leap in the theme-park universe. And so, but Gilmore says on a daily basis he relays during Universal’s soft opening, I find my- questions and details — especially those self towed inexorably behind an eager involving words — to acclaimed film pro- 10-year-old (my daughter, Sophia) be- duction designer Stuart Craig, who in turn neath a welcoming arch and into view of vets them with Rowling. the snow-topped shops of Hogsmeade “The reason I’m here is to make sure Village, with forbidding Hogwarts Castle it looks like the movie sets,” Gilmore says. looming ahead. “The textures and colors are identical to Caught up in the moment, she issues what you see in the movies, but here you commands in rapid succession: can touch it. We designed this place with “Let’s get a wand.” durability in mind.” “Let’s go to Zonko’s.” Designers approached Hogsmeade as Are these the spells our children em- if it had its own script, Gilmore says. The ploy to ensnare us? Or Hollywood’s sly in- slate-gray buildings are similarly cloaked cantations at work? Either way, they suf- in snow, and the “older” edifices — the fice. We do it all, immersing ourselves in Owlery and Three Broomsticks tavern — Harry’s world, guided in part by an artistic are beginning to cant because of their magician who has spent much of the past age. THURSDAY 7 APRIL 2016 | 05 COVER STORY Designers had a confined Sophia does happily select foamy, drink at Three Broom- space of six acres to work in, but an interactive oak wand whose sticks and grab another to go Gilmore says the layout’s inti- properties, according to a scroll from a cart. I spy extendable mate feel was intended to mim- that Gilmore told us had been ears in the window of Zonko’s ic an old-style European village. penned by Rowling, are de- Joke Shop — perfect for eaves- “People who travel a lot feel signed to fit the following per- dropping. they’re back in Europe. It trig- sonality: “Oak people are confi- The magic is inescapable: gers a memory,” says Gilmore, dent and optimistic, with great Visit a restroom, and the breath- who carts his own catalogue of inner strength, and a deep well less voice of Moaning Myrtle, a childhood memories from ex- of knowledge.” ghost straight from the books ploring Irish castles and villag- Thus armed, we proceed on and movies, will keep you com- es with his mother, an artist and successive days to find a series pany. Welcome or not. historian. of 11 magical windows sprinkled If Hogsmeade lures visitors This land is similar, but not throughout the village. With the into the Potter books’ pages identical, to the first Potter right wrist snap and incantation, through its warm and whimsi- world built in Orlando. For ex- cauldrons stop bubbling, sheet cal embrace, neighbouring Hog- ample, the Ollivanders (mak- music whizzes through the air, warts Castle propels us even ers of fine wands since 382 BC) and teacups stop spinning. deeper with a dose of adren- shop, which suffered from its It’s not just kids’ stuff. aline. Outside, the Weasleys’ vast popularity in Orlando, was Outside a facade of Madam crashed Ford Anglia rests at an redesigned here to add a lobby Puddifoot’s tearoom, I watch angle, alas, never to fly again, to thin crowds.