- Dean's Distinguished Speaker Series
From Vision To Practice: Heenat Salma, Sustainability, and Heritage
The Dean’s Distinguished Speaker Series returns this fall with Ambassador Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah. Ambassador Al-Attiyah previously led Qatar’s National Food Security Programme before serving as Qatar’s Ambassador to Russia and then the United Kingdom. He is also the founder and owner of Caravane Earth and Heenat Salma Farm. Drawing on that experience, Ambassador Al-Attiyah will talk about how Heenat Salma Farm came to be, what he has learned from building it, and how its work connects sustainability with Qatar’s cultural heritage. The conversation will also consider what those lessons might mean for Qatar’s future. Professor Patrick Laude will moderate.
Speakers
Ambassador Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah
Ambassador Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah worked as a government legal counsel, food security planner, organizer of UNFCCC-COP18, and a diplomat with a strong military background. These areas of expertise have all shaped his outlook as a recognized supporter of global environmental issues and resource sustainability driven by a true passion for service.
Ambassador Al-Attiyah has previously worked as the Executive Chairman of the Qatar National Food Security Programme, delivering a National Food Security Plan for Qatar, a Board Member of the World Water Council, and a Legal Counsellor in the Amiri Diwan (official office of the HH The Hier Apparent of the State of Qatar).
Ambassador Al-Attiyah is considered a leading expert on food security in dry lands and has shared his views at multiple events and forums around the globe, including the UN General Assembly, World Future Energy Summit, Global Green Growth Forum, and a TED talk titled ‘A Country With No Water’ to name a few. He has served on different boards and has overseen and participated in the efforts of many institutions and committees, such as the Legislative council in Qatar, Permanent Water Resources Committee, World Water Council, FIFA 2022 Legacy Committee, and RAND-Qatar Policy Institute.
As a diplomat, Al-Attiyah served as the Ambassador of Qatar to the Russian Federation from 2017 to 2020, working tirelessly to develop partnerships and strengthen relations between the two countries. During his diplomatic service in Russia, he served as a non-resident ambassador of Qatar to the Republic of Finland and the Republic of Estonia. He continues to support Qatar’s diplomatic missions around the world and was until recently the ambassador of Qatar to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Al-Attiyah also founded Caravane Earth Foundation to support local communities all over the world, which aims to promote social, cultural, and ecological transformation in the space of architecture, agriculture, textiles, and creativity.
Professor Patrick Laude
Patrick Laude is Professor of Theology at Georgetown University in Qatar. His scholarly work is in comparative religion with a focus on contemplative and metaphysical traditions.
Professor Laude has authored a dozen books, including Surrendering to the Self: Ramana Maharshi’s Message for the Present (Hurst Publishers, 2021), Keys to the Beyond: Frithjof Schuon’s Cross-traditional Language of Transcendence (State University of New York Press, 2020), and Shimmering Mirrors: Reality and Appearance in Contemplative Metaphysics East and West (State University of New York Press, 2017). He has contributed numerous chapters to books, including, most recently, to Knowledge, Tradition, and Civilization: Essays in Honour of Professor Osman Bakar (Beacon Books, 2022), Coming to Terms with Timelessness: Daoist Time in Comparative Perspective (Three Pines Press, 2021), and The Problem of Religious Experience (Springer Nature, 2019). He has published over a hundred articles in journals, including Studies in Spirituality, Philosophy East and West, Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques, Dix-septième siècle, Gandhi Marg, and Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Tradition. In March 2023, he organized the Theology Colloquium “The Spirit and the Law” at GU-Q.
Professor Laude was the recipient of two grants from the Qatar National Research Fund on interfaith initiatives and interconfessional relationships. He has been a member of the Georgetown faculty since 1991—first in Washington, DC, and then in Doha since 2006. Professor Laude was the 2021-2022 recipient of the GU-Q Teacher of the Year Award.
Professor Laude is a former student in philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He received his M.A. in philosophy at Paris IV-Sorbonne and his Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington, with a dissertation devoted to poetic representations of Southeast Asian religions.
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