A Not-for-Profit University Fall 2019-20 Newsletter of the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences 1 From Dear Colleagues, Students and Friends, CONTENTS the Dean’s Desk We have come a long way since the first issue Lums Young Writers Workshop 2019 of Guftugu came out more than two years back (this being the fifth). Our conversations within Workshop for Humanities Graduate and outside this newsletter have grown across Applicants disciplines, schools, and even the University. Today, building on the past hard work of faculty and Humanities and Social Sciences administrators, MGSHSS stands as an example of what an excellent programme in the humanities Seminar Series and the social sciences can aspire to be in any part of the globe, let alone our own region. To take a few History and English Seminar Series examples, no other University, at least in Pakistan, can boast having a group of more than twenty PhDs Brown Bag Series in Economics from some of the best universities in the US and Europe, teaching in one department. Gurmani Centre for Languages and Similarly, we have a mix of excellent junior and Literature senior political scientists in our growing programme. The Newsletter is the Our history faculty is changing the contours of Saida Waheed Gender Initiative official voice of the Office the field by publishing pertinent and provocative of the Dean, Mushtaq research. In the past few years, MGSHSS faculty has SWGI Film Screening: Schokofeh Ahmad Gurmani School published in highly-ranked journals and authored Kamiz’s After Sabeen of Humanities and Social books with internationally-recognised Presses. Sciences, LUMS. Mahbub Ul Haq Research Center We are not sitting back and merely basking on our laurels, but constantly creating opportunities We want to thank Anam Faculty News to further improve ourselves by participating Fatima Khan, Ateeb Gul, in international conferences and also organising New Leadership at the Centre for and Shafaq Sohail for their workshops, symposia, and seminars. In addition to work on this issue and this, we have hired new faculty and consolidated Continuing Education: Dr. Ali Raza their contributions to it. new programmatic initiatives. Most importantly, New Leadership at the We are also grateful to our excellent faculty, invigorated advising system, Nazish Riaz for helping out and the overall supportive environment have meant Mahbul-Ul-Haq Research Center: Dr. with the pictures. a better learning experience for all our students Ali Cheema who continue to excel in their academic and future Special mention must be work-related endeavours. Moreover, MGSHSS has Faculty Interview: Dr. Tania Saeed pioneered special weekly classes in English and made of photographers year-long tutoring in English comprehension and MGSHSS Welcomes New Heads of Raavi Muzaffar Asdar, mathematics for those students who require it. In Departments whose picture has been the same vein, our third Summer programme for used for the front cover, academically-weak students will commence in Tenured Faculty at MGSHSS Fall and Mustafa Hameed, June-July. Our effort is directed towards the entire whose work features on University as we are committed to the idea of lifting 2019 the back cover of the all boats together. As we enter another new year, we Exchange Semester: Turkish Cay and issue. re-dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of knowledge in order to serve our students and faculty alike. a Box of Baklava The layout has been Our guftugu continues. Exchange Semester: Surrounded by designed by Nazish Riaz. Black Hills We also thank the authors Sincerely, who not only provided us Christmas and Diwali at LUMS with the write-ups but also pictures to go along Student Solidarity March with them. Professor and Acting Dean Climate March 2 Workshops at MGSHSS LUMS Young Writers Workshop 2019 Mahnoor Ishtiaq Lone The LUMS Young Writers Workshop is the only residential creative writing workshop in Pakistan. Established in 2012, the annual workshop selects eight talented writers through an open short story contest. The workshop is organised and conducted by Bilal Tanweer (Associate Professor, Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies) and has featured guest speakers such as Sanam Meher, Saba Imtiaz, Mohsin Hamid, and Omar Shahid Hamid. The workshop is made possible by the generous support of the Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd. The eighth LUMS Young Writers Workshop (LYWW) took place from August 5 to 9, 2019. Out of the 550 writers who submitted their short stories for consideration, eight promising entrants were selected to participate: Minahil of writing and reading each day. The writers. Near the end of the workshop, the Abideen (GCU), Asna Nusrat, Fatima Farhad sessions focused on the craft and practice participants expressed their (Fatima Jinnah Women University, of writing, and included sessions on appreciation for this guidance. “I felt an Rawalpindi), Mahrukh Mohsin publishing. “LYWW not only allowed immense gratitude,” Aaisha Salman said, (University of Karachi), Aaisha Salman me to learn essential tricks of the trade “because it gave us the space and time to (IBA), Rida Khan (IBA), Aisha Hamid, and from critically acclaimed novelists,” said write, to consider ourselves writers, Syeda Rabeea Ahmed (IBA). The residential Mahrukh Mohsin, “but also provided me mentorship to consider our writing workshop was fully funded, covering the with deeper insight into what it means to practices in new ways, and to share our cost of food, accommodation, and study be a practicing writer.” words with each other.” Mahrukh Mohsin materials. In order to prepare for the explained how the workshop taught her workshop, the participants were sent a Renowned author and journalist to go “beyond superficial ideas of selection of books to read in advance. This Mohammed Hanif spent one morning structure and form … [to] … write without year’s reading list included The House on session with the students and offered any inhibitions, letting go of … Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Ghachar critique on their work. He discussed the boundaries and safety nets.” She said that Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, Red Birds strengths and weaknesses of each story this allowed her “to explore the many by Mohammed Hanif, A Room of One’s while giving each student advice on how ways in which words can be used to Own by Virginia Woolf, and the short to better achieve the project of their story. express ideas and stories.” stories of Franz Kafka. During the week The students then asked him questions long workshop, participants discussed about his latest novel, which they had In the past, LYWW alumni have formed and close-read these texts. They were read before the workshop. He also shared long lasting bonds with their fellow also given timed writing assignments and his experience of being an author and participants, providing them with a subsequently asked to closely read and a journalist, and how he balances both writers’ support group long after the critique each other’s work. roles. workshop’s end. Many of the workshop’s graduates have also gone on to receive full The workshop followed an intensive LYWW has always been centered around scholarships at many top creative writing schedule, with an eight-hour session providing detailed, individualised MFA programmes in the United States. feedback to hone skills of budding 3 Workshop for Humanities Graduate Applicants Ali Mehdi Zaidi The Gurmani Centre of Languages and And finally, Dr. Dubrow enlightened to something as specific as not citing a Literature held a one-day workshop on participants from the perspective of key academic intervention made in the August 3, 2019, designed to assist graduate school application committees. discipline over the past few years. Pakistani students applying to humanities graduate schools in the In the second part of the session, Perhaps most importantly, the speakers United States and Canada. participants got the opportunity to work urged students to fully understand the one on one on their statements and practicalities of the admissions process, Led and organised by Dr. Maryam writing samples with the panelists. In such as the importance of emailing Wasif Khan (LUMS), Dr. Jennifer Dubrow addition to the workshop, this event professors in advance, finding the right fit, (University of Washington), Zain R. Mian also inaugurated an online portal where soliciting good recommendations, scoring (University of Pennsylvania), and Nabeel students can not only access guidance on well on the GRE, and that it is not Jafri (University of Toronto), the workshop specific parts of the application but also expected of the students to have actually consisted of two sessions. In the first view successful samples from previous worked on the project they initially part, all four contributors presented their years. Available freely, this portal serves as propose. After the workshop, rather than own perspective on the graduate school a useful repository of information for a seamless systematic process, the application process. Dr. Khan shared her prospective students both within and graduate application emerged as insights from her extensive work with outside LUMS. The panelists pointed the dependent on some level of prospective graduate applications in the various mistakes, pitfalls, and acts of arbitrariness and luck that can humanities and focused on the process of negligence which lead to rejections from nevertheless be prepared for. Overall, selecting a university and a programme. graduate schools. These include the workshop was a well-designed and Mr. Mian presented on the intricacies of something as simple as applying to a well-executed attempt to make the the personal statement while Mr. Jafri department that works on Asian unnecessarily obscure process slightly commented on the writing sample. Languages and Literature with a project less confusing. that works solely with English texts 4 Events at MGSHSS Humanities and Social Sciences Seminar Series Dr. Asma Faiz The HSS Seminar Series is organised by construction of the national narrative Dr.