Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali, Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Pakistan Studies, was recently featured in a video where he presented his aspirations for Critical Pakistan Studies to be a high-standard, first-rate, and top-tier interdisciplinary source of information on Pakistan. Critical Pakistan Studies is a new open-access journal published with the support of Cambridge University Press that tackles broader interdisciplinary issues in addition to Pakistan and Pakistanis.
You are here
Workshop Series in Pakistan
AIPS has received funding from the US Embassy for a series of three workshops in four different subject areas, where the same participants attend all three workshops within one particular series. Four series of workshops are scheduled for the upcoming months.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workshop Series Theme: Visual Analysis: Art, Architecture and Media
Organizer: Iftikhar Dadi
Iftikhar Dadi, Cornell University, is organizing a workshop series based on the theme of Visual Analysis: art, architecture and media. A series of three seminars on methodological questions and case studies on these areas will be offered during 2015. Participants will include faculty in the higher education sector from across Pakistan. The seminars will focus on assisting participants in developing their own curriculum and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and provide them with frameworks useful in furthering their individual research projects. The seminars are divided into 1) modern and contemporary art, 2) architectural history and theory of South Asia, and 3) South Asian media cultures: history, theory, and criticism.
Workshop I was held in January 19-23, 2015. It was an intensive 5-day workshop on art history and visual studies. Led by Iftikhar Dadi, associate professor at Cornell University in the Department of History of Art, the workshop included twelve participants from various institutions of higher education from across Pakistan. Besides Dadi, the workshop was also led by two guest instructors, Zahid Chaudhary, associate professor at Princeton University, and Hammad Nasar, director of research at Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop II is proposed for 2015. The aim of the workshop is to critically evaluate the discourse on South Asian architecture, through a close analysis of primary sources and secondary literature. The aim is to introduce the workshop members to the methodologies of architectural history and theory.The city of Lahore will be our case study, with a focus on the Mughal, British, and modern periods. In-class seminars will be complemented by site visits. Seminar participants will be expected to lead discussions and produce a brief research abstract at the end of the workshop. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop III is also proposed for 2015 and to be led by Bhaskar Sarkar, Film and Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara. The focus is on South Asian Media Cultures: History, Theory, Criticism. Methodologies for the study of cinema, television, and digital media, including narratology and textual analysis, ideological analysis, archival research, media ethnography, media materialities, industrial and policy analysis. Partition and cinema; emerging videocinemas; documentary; media materialities; media and the arts; media piracy.(Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workshop Series Theme: Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management
Organizer: Mark Kenoyer
J. Mark Kenoyer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, organized a workshop series on teaching Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management. The objectives of this series was to provide examples of how archaeology is being taught in both large and small US Universities. Invitations were sent to universities that have active programs of teaching archaeology and cultural heritage management. Selected participants attended all three workshops to receive the full benefit of this series. Kenoyer partnered with Quiad-i-Azam University for the delivery of the series.
Workshop I was held for five days, from February 2 – 6, 2015 with teaching sessions and two field trips. It was led by Dr. J. Mark Kenoyer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.The goal of the workshop was to strengthen the teaching of archaeology and cultural heritage in Pakistani Universities through the development of appropriate teaching pedagogy and goals. was attended by 15 faculty (6 women and 9 men) from universities in Balochistan, Gilgit/Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop II was held for five days, from June 8-12, 2015,and led by Katie Lindstrom of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The different sessions focused on the following topics and special readings were provided to the participants in advance of the workshop so that they will be prepared to actively participate in discussions and working sessions: 1. Creating a syllabus, establishing learning goals, and building in assessment that aligns with your learning goals; 2. Creating hands-on assignments that apply archaeological concepts without going into the field; 3. Teaching the principles of archaeology as both a science and social science and 4. How to use Powerpoint Presentations to effectively to engage students. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop III will be held later in 2015 and will be led by Uzma Rizvi of the Pratt Institute, New York and Qasid Mallah of the Shah Abdul Latif University. This final workshop will focus on the following topics special readings will be provided to the participants in advance of the workshop so that they will be prepared to actively participate in discussions and working sessions: 1. Teaching about Politics and the Past; 2. Teaching about Archaeology and the Public; 3. Teaching about Art, Community Development, and Social Change and 4. Teaching World Archaeology and Global Heritage.The fifth day of the this final workshop will be involve presentations by the participants. This will allow them to share with each other how the workshops have helped them to develop stronger teaching practices in their home universities and to propose new ways of enhancing the teaching of archaeology and cultural heritage management. (Find the narrative report and workshop photo here)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workshop Theme: Peace-building and Conflict Resolution
Organizer: Paula Newberg
Paula Newberg, University of Texas at Austin, is organizing a series of workshops on the theme of Peace-building and conflict resolution. The intended audience for these workshops is social science and law faculty.
Workshop I was themed on rights and the rule of law in building peace was held from March 10-14, 2014. Goals of the workshop were to provide a background in the fundamentals of the subject, gain familiarity with tools of the trade, and help create a syllabus, or teaching module, in one or more elements of the subject. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop II was themed on Peace and Conflict Studies and was held in January 12-16, 2015. It was led by Paula Newberg, UT Department of Governance. (Find the interim report and workshop photos here)
Workshop III is proposed for later in 2015 with the theme of building peace and resolving conflicts. The workshop is focused on state structure and constitutionalism, political processes at nation, provincial and local levels; traditional dispute resolution mechanisms; tools for building peace (pre- and post-conflict), and mitigating peace (during conflict). (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workshop Theme: Pakistan and Peace Studies-Methods and Making
Organizer: Yasmin Saikia
The questions surrounding the study of peace are many, and the need for answers urgent. What do we mean by peace and non-peace? What are the dynamics between the self and Other that can either lead to peace or non-peace? What is the place of such concepts as trust, hospitality, neighborliness, friendship and tolerance in transforming relationship between self and Other? Are there different cultures and traditions regarding the relationship of self and Other? Are there contemporary social ideologies that either limit or enhance the capacity for understanding between self and Other and for working toward peace? If so, what are they and how can we best study them? Pakistan is an ideal location to carry out this work. With its many different ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, and its long history of both peace and non-peace, Pakistan offers numerous cases that, if studied and taught from a scholarly angle, hold tremendous possibilities for contributing to this field in ways that will benefit both Pakistan and peace studies globally.
The three-part seminar series will address these questions from theoretical and methodological angles, with a clear teaching and/or research outcome. Each workshop will run for a full week, and will include readings, case studies, and guest lectures. Each seminar participant will be asked to specify a concrete outcome that they will produce from the workshops—either a new or revised syllabus or a research-based conference paper. A central component of each workshop are assignments designed to apply the readings, case study and lecture information to the syllabus or paper development, which will be presented and defended by the participants in a final culminating workshop. Proposed workshop topics and questions include:
Workshop I: What is Peace? How does it apply in Pakistan?
Workshop Leader: Dr. Yasmin Saikia
This workshop is designed to explore the meanings of peace from multiple and often conflicting perspectives. Peace is often perceived as a universal monolith; preserved as an icon and an ideal, it is thought of as a singular vision for humanity to realize. Yet just as we study different types and forms of violence—political, social, religious, economic, cultural, and environmental—this workshop will examine different modes of peace and explore their relevance through different sites of contestation. Some of the theoretical questions that will be engaged include: the relationship of religious and secular notions of peace and human rights and their application to the political and social sphere; the notion of everyday ethics and adab to the cultivation of peace; diverse systems of justice, particularly systems of restorative justice, and their role in transforming conflict; issues of economics, including trade, tourism, regionalization and globalization in exacerbating or reducing conflict; and the role of media in peace and conflict. Relevant issues for case studies include: Sunni-Shia relations; the impact of the drones on youth outlook; the relationship of India and Pakistan; the role of the media; and the need for an enemy in the construction of identity. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop II : What methods can we use to study peace? How can we incorporate social media in our teaching and research?
Workshop Leader: Chad Haines, maybe accompanied by Hasan Davulcu
This workshop will explore different methodological approaches from the humanities and social sciences for studying peace. Some of the methods that will be explored include qualitative methods such as ethnographic, historical, and discourse studies; quantitative methods such as survey research; and new methods that combine traditional and computational/digital methods. Workshop participants will learn to distinguish between interpretive, analytic and normative studies, with a particular emphasis on exploring how different methods produce different outcomes. A central component of this workshop will be a field research practicum that will involve participant observation. Specifically, seminar participants will be asked to consider ways in which different communities, including the local, state or national government, produce peace in the public or civic space. Seminar participants will also be shown how to use computer-based technology to produce a “web ethnography” so as to examine more critically claims about social media versus what is happening on the ground.
Workshop III : Building Peace into Education and Research: Peer-Review of Syllabi/Conference Papers.
Workshop Leader: Benjamin Broom and Yasmin Saikia
This workshop will be structured around a peer-review process in which seminar participants will present either the syllabus that they created or their conference paper for critique and revision. During the previous workshops, sessions will be held that focus on framing questions for teaching and research that incorporate relevant theoretical and methodological approaches, and demonstrating how those components are reflected in the different academic products. Participants preparing syllabi will be asked to defend their work through the following components: 1) syllabus outline; 2) annotated bibliography; 3) assignments, their objectives and relevance; 4) teaching one topic from the syllabus; and 5) how they incorporated use of the internet in their syllabus. Participants preparing a conference paper will be asked to defend the following: 1) Thesis: Why is this topic and approach important? How does it contribute to the understanding of peace and Pakistan? What is the original contribution the work is making? 2) Revisions: How do you know when your work needs revision? Who is there to help you? What is your process for revising? 3) Next Steps: What do you want to do next--submit to conference or revise it for publication? What is your plan for accomplishing that goal? Who will help you? 4) Sharing Research in a Public Medium: How do you revise scholarly work for public consumption? What are the components of a good public piece?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Workshop Theme: Cataloging and Librarianship Workshops & the Cataloging and Preservation of the Rare Collection of the Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu Library
Organizer: Christopher Ryan Perkins & Pushkar Sohoni
Anjuman-i Taraqqi-I Urdu (ATU) Library is one of the most valuable of early Urdu and Persian printed materials. These materials, however, were cataloged on cards in the mid-twentieth century. The cataloging requires enhancement and an upgrade to new technology to meet the needs of scholars today. In addition, there is a need for libraries in Pakistan to update their systems to integrate more fully with the global community of libraries whereby materials can be located and accessed. In order to improve the catalog at ATU and other libraries in Pakistan and provide education, this workshop series proposes input from expert librarians, the hiring/training of catalogers, two workshops, and the use of a digital platform to host the catalog and integrate it with OCLC WorldCat. These steps will improve awareness of current library practices, provide access to the ATU's collections, and bring them to the forefront of Pakistani literary studies while making them available to scholars of South Asia and the greater Persianate world.
Workshop I
Workshop Leaders: Dr. C. Ryan Perkins & Dr. David Hirsch
This will be thematic workshop over two days with content on the following: a) library sciences and the role of a research library, b) technological changes in the research library, c) cataloging and romanization standards, d) linked data and WorldCat, and e) controlled vocabularies and subject headings.
On the first day, the leaders will teach about the broader field of library science and the role of research library. How have technological changes transformed the field and the practice of the library? What are the key components for having a robust research library in the 21st century? On the second day, the question will pertain to the importance of cataloging to international standards. What is OCLC/WorldCat? The emphasis will be on cataloging standards, controlled vocabularies, subject headings, and access points for individual records. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)
Workshop II
Workshop Leader: Dr. C. Ryan Perkins
This will be a two-day workshop to train hands-on skills. The focus of this workshop will be on creating catalog records and uploading them to OCLC/WorldCat. Several technical aspects of cataloging, including the use of diacritics, authority files, subject headings, and Romanization will be addressed. MARC and RDA cataloging standards will be the basis for performing accurate cataloging operations. The skills covered in this workshop include: a) creation of MARC records, b) Use of authority files, c) Library of Congress subject headings, and d) uploading records to WorldCat. (Find the narrative report and workshop photos here)