Forman’s Geography Department celebrated its 100th Anniversary during late November and early December under the tagline “Mapping the Century.” Special events included a series of lectures, starting on November 27 with a timely talk on the impact of air pollution and ways to mitigate it. Subsequent lectures featured Ms. Javeria Qais on SDGs and Climate Change and Dr. Samawia Rizwan on Disaster Management.
The series concluded on December 9 with an international discussion titled Geography: Past, Present, and Future organized by Department Chair Dr. Khadija and Ms. Hafsa, among others. This centennial event featured Dr. Safdar Ali Shirazi (former Director of the Institute of Geography at the University of Punjab) as the keynote speaker and included participation from Dr. Salman Qureshi (Humboldt University), Dr. Shakeel Mehmood (Government College University), and Dr. Sahar Zia (Lahore College for Women University). As one participant noted, “The celebration also featured heartfelt student testimonials, with alumni sharing personal stories of how their experience in the Geography Department had shaped their academic and professional paths.”
As part of its continuing Writer’s Lounge series, Forman’s English Department hosted Dr. Shahid Siddique for a talk on December 13 titled Language, Gender, and Power: The Politics of Representation. Currently the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Lahore School of Economics, Dr. Siddique studied in both Canada and the UK and previously served as Vice Chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University. A prolific author, his books include Language, Gender, and Power and Hegemony and Education Policies in Pakistan, both published by Oxford University Press. He has also published literary works in Urdu, Punjabi, and Pushto.
Other events included a Flavors of the Language program on December 11 and a Christmas gathering for Christian faculty on December 12. Additionally, Dr. Fatima Syeda and Dr. Faiza Zaheer attended a panel discussion on the recent book Transcultural Humanities in South Asia by Dr. Waseem Anwar and Ms. Nosheen Yusaf at Government College University (Lahore).
Finally, English MPhil students enrolled in South Asian Literature and Transcultural Literature organized A Seminar on Monstrosities Across Diverse Cultures, an innovative teaching tool supervised by course instructors Ms. Sadiqa Maqbool and Dr. Subbah Mir. Participants came dressed as “monstrosities” from various backgrounds—an event where a single photograph likely tells the story best!
Speaking of innovative teaching approaches, I appreciated a note from Adeel Khalid, a lecturer in our English Department, who mentioned that he, along with Alvina Wasim, led a field trip involving Linguistics students to the National History Museum and the Walled City of Lahore as part of their coursework related to Critical Discourse Analysis and Digital Humanities. In addition to experiencing the rich linguistic diversity of Pakistan, students were introduced to folk tales of the Indus Valley Civilization and oral histories recalling partition and the establishment of Pakistan in 1947.
Also, Dr. Ayra Indrias Patras joined with Dr. Abeeda from the Political Science Department in accompanying 40 students taking her course on Pakistan’s National Government to the Punjab National Assembly. Thanks especially to Punjab Assembly Member Salma Butt who helped obtain the permissions required for this field trip.
From the January 2025 Rector’s Update