Habib University encourages undergraduate social science research

Habib University’s Social Development and Policy Programme held its first undergraduate research conference on Saturday to highlight the research contributions of its senior students and alumni as well as class projects.Dr Ambar Darr, senior research fellow at the Center for Law, Economics and Society (CLES), discussed the impact of democracy on law reforms and the importance of a transparent and accountable decision making process.Students presented their thesis papers regarding important themes in social science research such as sustainability, issues in education, feminist research, cultural heritage and anthropology and more.The research ideas focused on the many problems that Pakistan was facing in a variety of domains, be them policy and governance, environment and resources management, relations with foreign countries, corporations and institutions, political instability and radicalism and women’s conditions.Of particular relevance in carrying out these studies had been the constant connection between theory and practice, one of the guiding principles at the SDP Programme. The diversity and reach of the different projects presented at the conference reflected the Programme’s interdisciplinary nature. The Faculty supervised the projects featured Pakistani and international scholars, who offered courses in every major field of the social sciences, including sociology, economics, public policy, anthropology and political science.The SDP Program seeks to endow graduating students with critical insights to better understand the core values of development and progress, aiming to train a new generation of social scientists and practitioners. Essential in this process was to incorporate lived experience and contextual understanding into policy and programme design at organisational, national and international levels.The conference sought to offer Habib University SDP graduating seniors the possibility to present their work in an academic setting and showcase their year-long research projects to the wider public.Some of the presentations included the impact of the CPEC on Pakistan, mental health and the social standing of first-born males, Hindu and Muslim musical traditions in Lasbela, the consequences of e-waste in developing countries and an analysis of the Zina Ordinances under General Zia ul-Haq.The conference was also the occasion for launching Tezhib, the first undergrad research journal at Habib University, which aims to publish and record the work produced by students, primarily from the school of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences of the varsity.

from The News International - Karachi http://bit.ly/2ULCozz