DEVELOPMENT STUDIES- A YEAR IN

VIEW (JAN-DEC 2017)

PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

Department of Development Studies began its academic operations in 2011, as part of

PIDE University, Islamabad. Over the course of eight years it has developed many avenues for

students to gain a knowledge base of sharp analytical skills and research practices. As the Head

of the Department I, along with my team, have worked hard to venture into academic territories

that can be conducive to students and for their learning.

In the forthcoming text a glimpse of the departmental activities and initiatives for the year

2017 are presented for the viewers.

Dr. Zulfiqar Ali,

Head of Department

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Development Studies Seminar Series

Dr. Asim Sajjad Akhtar gave an

illuminating talk on Changing

Global Political Economy

French feminist Ms. Lucie Azema

talked the students and department

faculty through a comparative

view of sexual minorities and their

status as these exist in Europe and

Asia.

In the month of May 2017, Dr.

Fouzia Saeed, executive director

from Lok Virsa gave a talk on

cultural heritage and its

articulation with development.

In September 2017, Mr. Zeeshan

Hashim from PRIME presented a

few excerpts from his book which

is based on Liberal Capitalism in

Pakistan.

Mr. Khalil Ahmed Tetlay, from

Rural Support Network Program

gave a talk on Social

Mobilization.

Mr. Taha Jamil from French

Higher Education talked students

through Education in France and

last seminar by

Dr. Maooda Bano from Oxford

University was on Shifting

Frontiers of Development Studies.

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Development Studies Interactive Sessions

Dr. Fouzia Saeed from Lok

Virsa discussed with Dr.

Zulfiqar about academic

coalitions between her

organization and the

Department of Development

Studies.

Dr. Anita Weiss, Oregon

University, USA discussed

with DS MPhil students about

their research, and future

academic prospects.

Mr. Rolf Pasch, Country

Director, FES and Sidra

Saeed, Programme

Coordinator, FES discussed

the possibilities of futuristic

academic coalitions with the

department Head, Dr. Zulfiqar

Ali.

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Development Studies Student Activities

Mr. Khawar Mehmood (MPhil

DS, 2016) in collaboration with

Women Through Film organized

one day workshop on "The

Climate Backp-hacker". The

purpose of the workshop was to

educate our students on

environment and climate based

entrepreneurship and business

modeling. Maxime Jullian from

United Kingdom conducted the

workshop alongside Madeeha

Raza, Director, Women

Through Film.

DS MPhil (Evening Batch)

screened their documentaries

which were based on different

development and social issues

(gender, food insecurity, early

childhood education, politics,

and tourism.

Mr. Muddasir Shah (MPhil DS,

2016) in collaboration with

DELL organized a workshop in

which students were provided

free training on CV writing,

career building and interview

skills. Those who owned DELL

laptops were provided free

services and information for

DELL laptop loan schemes from

Meezan Bank were available.

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Ms. Fareena Iqbal (MPhil DS

2016) presented paper titled Sati

Practice in Sindh: A Case Study

of Tharparkar in 1st International

Conference on Sindh Studies,

Karachi, Pakistan, November

2017.

Mr. Asif Javed (MPhil DS 2015)

presented paper titled Religious

Commodification: A Case Study

of Shrine of Bari Imam,

Islamabad in 3rd International

Sufi Conference, Karachi,

Pakistan, May 2017.

Mr. Saifuddin (MPhil DS 2016)

presented paper titled Threats to

Kalash Culture in International

Conference on Archaeological

Heritage of Pakistan, Lahore,

Pakistan, October 2017.

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Development Studies Policy Briefs and Views

Eleven DS Policy Briefs were

published from January-December

2017 based on the themes of

Ethnographies and Communities,

and Development as Discourse.

Four DS Views were published from

January-December 2017 based on the

themes of Mental Health and Academia,

Importance of Libraries, Honor Killings,

Social Capital, and Housing Societies.

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Thesis Defense and Proposal Defense

Twenty Six DS MPhil students defended

their research from January 2017 to

December 2017.

Nine DS MPhil students defended their

research from January 2017 to December 2017.

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Development Studies Faculty

Dr. Zulfiqar Ali (Department Head)

Paper Presentations

1. Religion, Kinship and Politics in Pakistan: The Case of District Jhang, International

Academic Conference on Social Sciences, University of Barcelona, July 2017, Spain

2. Patterns of identity/Carvings and Wusum on Camels in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,

Saudi Archaeology Convention, November 2017, Saudi Arabia

3. Identity of Udasis in Modern Sindh, 1st International Conference on Sindh Studies,

Karachi, Pakistan, November 2017.

4. Interface Between Asceticism and Sufism: Reflections on Syncretic Traditions in

Sindh, 3rd International Sufi Conference, Karachi, May 2017

5. Dhamal- Transcends Religious Boundaries, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Conference at

Sehwan, May 2017, Karachi, Pakistan.

6. Lesser Known Heritage of Sindh, Conference on Barriers in Promoting Cultural

Tourism at Lok Virsa, May 2017, Islamabad, Pakistan.

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7. Sufism: Legacies of Assimilation in our Times, Panelist, Islamabad Literature Festival,

April 2017, Islamabad, Pakistan.

8. Heritage and Social Mobilisation in Post-conflict Reality, Session Moderator,

Islamabad Literature Festival, April 2017, Islamabad, Pakistan

9. Indus Valley: Evolution of Languages and Cultures, Pakistan Mother Languages

Literature Festivals, February 2017, Islamabad, Pakistan

10. UNESCO workshop on Preservation and Promotion of Kalasha Culture, Islamabad,

Pakistan, January 2017, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Research Project

Survey and Documentation of Buddhist Rock Carvings in Sindh-Kohistan under HEC thematic

research grant 2017. Dr. Ali conducted fieldwork for his project from August 2017 till mid-

January 2018.

Conference Proceedings

1. The Issue of the Conservation of the Picture Wall of Lahore Fort, Pakistan published

in World Heritage Watch Report 2017.

2. Religion, Kinship and Politics in Pakistan: The Case of District Jhang published in

International Academic Conference on Social Sciences, Conference Proceedings, July

2017.

Books

1. Memorial Stones Tharparkar, published by Endowment Fund Trust for Preservation of

the Heritage of Sindh, February 2017.

2. Studies in Kalhora History: Economy and Architecture, published by Sindh Books

Karachi, April 2017.

Newspaper Article

1. Syncretic Sadh Belo published in The Friday Times, December 2017

2. Sindh’s Cattle-stealing Heroes and Satis, The Friday Times, June 2017.

Courses Taught (DS MPhil)

1. Anthropology and Development

2. Research Methods

3. Globalization and Development

4. Tourism and Development

Thesis Supervision

10 students defended their theses under Dr. Zulfiqar’s supervision.

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Dr. Huma Haque

Courses Taught (DS MPhil)

Anthropology and Development

Research Methods

Gender and Development

Power, Governance & Development

Thesis Supervision

4 students defended their theses under Dr.

Huma’s supervision.

Dr. Muhammad Jehangir Khan

Courses Taught (DS MPhil)

Development Economics

Econometrics and Quantitative

Techniques for Development

Research.

Thesis Supervision

4 students defended their theses under Dr.

Jehangir’s supervision

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Mr. Muhammad Aqeel Anwar

Courses Taught (DS MSc)

Globalization and Development

Food Insecurity

Community Driven Development

Social Change and Development

Research Project

On behalf of Socio-Economic division at the

Centre of Excellence-CPEC (CoE-CPEC), Mr.

Anwar‟s research proposal titled Job Creation

in CPEC through Power Generation

Component- An Exploratory Study under the

Competitive Policy Research Grant-2017

(Phase 1) was accepted.

Mr. Fida Muhammad Khan

Courses Taught (DS MSc)

Introduction to Economics

Colonial History and Development

Religion and Development

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Mr. Fahd Zulfiqar

Courses Taught (DS MSc)

Introduction to Development Studies

Research Methods

Cultural Economics

Development in Post-colonial Era

Theories of Development Studies

Publication

Issues on Explaining Legal Recognition of

Marital Rape in Islam in Pakistan, published

in International Journal of Civic and Political

Studies, Vol. 12, Issue. 1. Common Ground

Publishing.

Conference Presentations

1. Narrative Analyses of Female

Representation in Contemporary Sufi Music

of Indian Feature Films in 3rd International

Sufi Conference, Karachi, Pakistan, May 2017.

2. On decontextualizing archaeology in

Cinema: A Visual and Socio-Semiotic

Analysis of Indian Feature Film, Mohenjo

Daro, ICHAP, Lahore, Pakistan, October 2017.