First Annual Social Sciences Conference at Lahore School of Economics

February 28-March 1, 2013

Day 1: Language, Literature, and Education: South Asian Context (Report: Javeria Siddique)

 The First Annual Conference on Social Sciences took place at Lahore School of Economics on Feb, 28^th –March 1^st, 2013. Renowned scholars, academician and researchers took part in this conference. The first day of the conference i.e. 28^th March 2013 focused on ‘Language, Literature, and Education: South Asian Context”.

The first day of the conference began with the opening remarks by the rector of Lahore School of Economics Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry. The theme for the first session was Language, Politics and Identity and it was chaired by Dr. Sabiha Mansoor, the Vice Chancellor of Lahore College for Women University. During this session, Dr. Shahid Siddiqui Head and Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Lahore School of Economics presented his paper on “Language policies and the politics of linguistic choices in Pakistan”.

Dr. Tariq Rahman fascinated the audience with his interesting research on “Personal names and identity-construction in Pakistan: An exercise in onomastics” and Prof. Dr. Samina Amin Qadir, Vice Chancellor, Dean Graduate Programs, English, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi brought “Construction of political identity through language in media” to limelight.

The second session was chaired by Dr. Amra Raza, Chairperson Department of English Language and Literature, Punjab University for which the theme was South Asian Literature. 

Dr. Waseem Anwar, Ms. Rumessa Naqvi and Dr. Nukhbah Taj Langah were the presenters for this session who presented their papers on “Pakistani Creative Writing in English Today: Tracing the Tradition, Embracing the Emerging”, “ ‘The Other Question’: A Study of the Marginalized Gender in Girish Karnad’s Hayavadanna” and “‘Ambivalence’ in the works of contemporary South Asian writers”, respectively.

Language, Literature, and Education was the theme of the third session for which Dr. Isabel William, Dean of Professional Studies, Kinnaird College for Women acted as the Chair. The first paper for the session was presented by Dr. Tayyaba Tamim Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Lahore School of Economics on “Languages Teaching and Learning in Government and Private Schools in Pakistan: A capability based comparison”.  

Dr. Munazza Yaqoob followed with her work on “Cognitive models for teaching literature” and Dr.  Ayesha Bashiruddin, Professor and Head of English Department, Institute for Educational Development, Aga Khan University, Karachi who was the last presenter of the day came forward with her paper on “Teaching and learning of English in multilingual context”.

The conference attracted a large number of audiences from other institutes in Lahore. Faculty and students interested in research in Language, Literature and Education from Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University, Kinnaird College for Women, Forman Christian College, Government College University, University of Management and Technology, Beacon house National University, COMSATS and Ali Institute of Education participated in the two day event and took part in the interactive sessions.