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Conferences & Workshops in Pakistan 2016-2017

Fourth International Karachi Conference 
Conference Organized by: Karachi Conference Foundation and funded by CAORC at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi
December 9-11, 2016

Fourth International Conference on Karachi was a three-day conference organized by the Karachi Conference Foundation and co-sponsored by AIPS using its ECA funds. The conference was held in National Museum Auditorium, Burnes Gardens, Karachi, Pakistan. The conference addressed topics such as: Urbanization Trends in Karachi; Memory, Tradition and Community; Governance & Citizenship; Development and Civil Society; and Environmental Degradation.

Eighth Karachi Literature Festival
Conference Organized by: Oxford University Press Pakistan and funded by CAORC at Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi

Date: February 10 – 12, 2017

AIPS co-sponsored (ECA funded) Karachi Literature Festival is a literary festival that brings together international and Pakistani writes to promote reading and showcase writing at its best. The festival features debates, discussions, talks, English and Urdu mushaira, a book fair, book launches, readings, singings, satire, theatre, film screenings, music and dance. AIPS Vice President Matthew A. Cook and AIPS Trustees Anita Weiss and Ayesha Jalal attended this festival. Matt Cook was part of several important sessions at the festival and Anita Weiss launched her book Interpreting Islam, Modernity, and Women’s Rights in Pakistan.
Ayesha Jalal (AIPS Trustee), Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Bobby Sager, and Mohammed Hanif delivered this year’s keynote addresses.

Montstuart Elphinstone: Between Local and Global Forces Conference
Conference Organized by: Prof. Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, American Institute of Afghanistan Studies (AIAS) and funded by CAORC at Jnanapravaha, Mumbai, India

April 20 – 21, 2017

This AIPS (co)sponsored Conference was held in Jnanapravaha Mumbai on April 20 – 21, 2017. The Conference, which was funded by ECA funds and organized by Prof. Shah Mahmoud Hanifi of James Madison University, brought together 28 scholars from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United States. This conference examined the enduring intellectual and political impact of Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779 – 1859) through consideration of knowledge formations he represented and those he engaged in South Asia. During the course of two days, participants compared shared histories and divergent historical experiences arising from a) the production and institutionalization of colonial knowledge formations during imperial era; b) the simultaneous destabilization and reinvigoration of colonial knowledge formations in the context of nationalism and national education programs; and c) the emergence of trans-national intellectual communities and scholarly networks in the contemporary period of neo-liberal globalization. The conference was modeled upon a series of inter-South Asian ORC conferences. The Elphinstone Conference highlighted Afghanistan’s deep historical, cultural, and organic relationship to South Asia and will be a pathway for increasing communications between AIAS and other South Asian ORCs.

Research Methodology Workshop
Conference Organized by: US Department of State at Margalla Hotel, Islamabad

September 29-30, 2017
The Research Methodology Workshop was held on September 29-30, 2017. This AIPS (co)sponsored workshop was facilitated by COSS/Women University of Peshawar and led by AIPS member Dr. Julie Flowerday.  This conference brought together 20 participants. Majority of the participants were junior scholars and women.