From the Dean’s Desk Dear Colleagues, Students and Friends, CONTENTS The third issue of Guftugu is here. Slowly Events at MGSHSS this is becoming a tradition, as it enables us to share news regarding MGSHSS and to introduce the various accomplishments Centre Events by our faculty and students. Among our many achievements, we are most Interview with Author and Visiting proud of the four-week Advanced Summer Learning Initiative (ASLI) that Faculty – H.M. Naqvi The Newsletter is the we organised for students who needed official voice of the extra help outside of the classroom. In MGSHSS Faculty and Popular Media Office of the Dean, Fall 2018, MGSHSS also launched its Core in Pakistan Mushtaq Ahmad Curriculum and after some mild hiccups Gurmani School of we were off to a great start. Further, our Humanities and Social advising unit now has an online advising Faculty News Sciences, LUMS. system which the three tiers of our advising system—staff, faculty, and peer Undergraduate Core Curriculum at advisors—use to more effectively provide We would like to thank academic advising to MGSHSS students. MGSHSS Anam Fatima Khan and In addition, throughout the semester our Ateeb Gul for their work Learning and Mentoring Center served The Study of Environment and on this issue and for students who needed assistance in Ecology at MGSHSS their contributions to it. English and Maths. We are also grateful to Along with these progresses, we have Nazish Riaz for helping been busy with hiring new faculty, Student Advising at MGSHSS out with the pictures. consolidating new programmatic Special mention must initiatives, organising innovative lectures Advanced Summer Learning be made of the Karachi- and seminars, and creating a vibrant Initiative (ASLI) based writer, journalist, cultural life on campus. All this and more and photographer is covered in the pages that follow. As Vaqar Ahmed and always, Guftugu represents the best of Student Contributions LUMS alumnus Sophiya what we offer as a School and highlights Tauseef, whose pictures the creativity, dedication to excellence, In Memoriam – Dr. Ahmad Bilal Awan have been used for and the vision of our faculty, students, the front and back and staff. covers, respectively. #MeToo at LUMS The layout has been Our guftugu continues. designed by Muhammad Frankenstein’s Verbs Junaid. We also thank authors who not only provided us with write- ups but also pictures to go along with them. 1 Events at MGSHSS Workshop on Pakistan General Elections 2018 Dr. Yunas Samad Speakers focused on different aspects of the elections, examining critical issues in a scholarly manner. Starting with an overview of the electoral process in Pakistan, Dr. Mohammad Waseem looked at the institutional arrangements that were used to achieve a desired result. By examining past precedents in the management of electoral results, it is possible to conclude that the recent polls were a process of selections and not elections. The Political Science stream at the Under this overview, other speakers Gurmani School organised a workshop explored more specific dimensions on the 2018 General Elections on of the hustings. Dr. Sameen Mohsin September 26, 2018. The lineup of a team examined the administration of of leading specialists with considerable the elections, concluding that in expertise and insights on the elections comparison with previous hustings Samad Yunas Dr. drew an encouraging response from the procedures and processes were was paralysed leading to ineffective the student body of LUMS as well as better managed even though there governance during this period. from the faculty. The Faculty Lounge were some important caveats in the The rest of the speakers focused was packed with standing room only process, and whatever malpractice on questions of political and social during the proceedings. An intense that took place was at the pre-polling change and the election of a new display of interest and high level of stage. However, it was pointed out government that heralded these engagement by the audience lead that having a caretaker government claims. Dr. Hassan Javed picked up the the workshop to run over time. meant that the entire bureaucracy question of electables. When their role 2 in supporting nearly every political party and who are not promoters of Given the intense interest and robust and non-political government was Siraiki nationalism. The possibility of discussion that took place, the Political explored, it became clear that they provincial boundary reform remains Science stream will be holding a were the bastion of the status quo and slim because of the constitutional conference dedicated to this theme are an impediment to change. Only mathematics required to introduce next semester and will invite speakers with the emergence of policy-driven boundary change in the provincial and from the wider LUMS community and politics with cadre-based parties is real national assembly. Finally, Dr. Umair also from outside of the university. social and political change possible. Javed emphasised that a sociological This message was reinforced by Dr. change is taking place at the mezzo Asma Faiz who argued that the demand and micro levels and that this will Dr. Yunas Samad is Visiting for the province of South Punjab have an impact on the institutional Faculty at the MGSHSS. is being spearheaded by electables framework, which seems unchanging. who broke away from the ruling Goonj (Echo) — Suhaee Abro Younis Bin Azeem On October 5, 2018, the Dean’s Office at received training from the acclaimed the Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani School Sheema Kermani. She specialises in of Humanities and Social Sciences Bharatanatyam but also choreographs (MGHSS) organised the first ever solo and performs in other genres. She has dance performance titled “Goonj- also studied contemporary dance at the Echo by Suhaee Abro” at the Lahore Nuova Officina Della Danza in Torino, University of Management Sciences Italy, and has graced stages in Pakistan, (LUMS). The event, co-sponsored by India, China, Nepal, Germany, and Italy. the Gurmani Centre for Languages and The event began with the Dean Literature (GCLL) and the Saida Waheed of MGSHSS, Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali, Gender Initiative (SWGI), was held in introducing Suhaee Abro and thanking B3, the largest auditorium in LUMS. her for appearing at LUMS. As he The artist of the night, Suhaee Abro, at left the stage, two projector screens just 25, has been performing for over 15 dropped on the stage and a man Suhaee Abro years as a professional dancer and has wheeled out a suitcase. The screens 3 both displayed a video of dancers with epilepsy. The dance performance a variety of styles and also includes a in a forest with a similar suitcase which was just shy of an hour had certain amount of theatre influence, next to them. The audience gasped been entirely choreographed by Suhaee which to the best of her knowledge in disbelief as perfectly in sync with herself and the music, too, was for the is unique to herself. As for those who the video, Suhaee Abro, who had most part original scores by Sarah hoped to enter the field, she smiled contorted herself to fit in the suitcase, Sarhandi and Ahsan Bari. There was and answered that her only advice eloquently unzipped it from the inside even a track titled ‘Kerr,Kaun,Who’ by is practice; practice without any and came out to thundering applause. Suhaee herself which she sung live breaks extending over a lifetime. Suhaee then began her dance during one of the performances, and The event concluded with the performance which followed a format of which reflected her being trilingual Dean thanking Suhaee for her her narrating transformative incidents and how language impacts her performance, and how he hopes they in her life and how she had interpreted lifestyle. At the close of Suhaee’s last build on this event and have further them through dance. The audience act of the night, the entire audience dance performances at LUMS. was taken through Suhaee’s entire life rose to give her a standing ovation. journey and was left spellbound as Suhaee then took some questions she interpreted an array of incidents from the audience and satisfactorily Younis Bin Azeem is Research which ranged from her reactions to answered questions such as the Assistant at the Gurmani Centre for when her sister used to scare her in genre she identifies her act with and Languages and Literature, LUMS. childhood, to the loss of a loved one her advice to dancing hopefuls. She and to her dealing with life as a dancer answered that her genre cuts across 4 Alumni Return to School On Friday, November 30, MGSHSS Center for Economic Research in mentioned by the panelists as being welcomed back four of its alumni for Pakistan), and Fatima Khan (Research crucial in providing them with the a panel event. This was the second Associate, Strategic Reforms Unit, skills that gave them an edge over event in a series (arranged by Dr. Chief Minister’s Office). The speakers others either in the job market or in Sameen Mohsin, graduate Assistant school. The Professor, speakers also HSS) in which noted that alumni from their career the MGSHSS paths were spoke to shaped by students about taking on their time at a variety LUMS, their of summer graduate internships education, during their and their time at careers thus far, LUMS and and how their encouraged humanities students to and social apply widely sciences major/ and frequently courses helped to internship them get to programmes. where they In tracing are today. their careers, The panelists were, from the right, reflected on their time at LUMS, each panelist commented that their Zainab Saeed (Head of Research and emphasising the importance of trying time at LUMS pursuing a humanities Development, Kashf Foundation), Farhan new courses and activities as a student.