The Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) and Virtual University (VU) will jointly host an international conference on social sciences this year. The website for the conference was launched in a ceremony held at the VU’s MA Jinnah campus here on Wednesday.
VU Rector Dr Naveed A Malik and LCWU Vice Chancellor Prof Rukhsana Kausar also signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of their institutions during the ceremony. Officials from both varsities were present on the occasion to discuss various strategies for the international conference.
The ‘Social Sciences and Humanities in the New Millennium: Challenges and Prospects’ conference will be held from 14-16 December this year. The heads of both institutions said that the website will provide comprehensive details for interested scholars to be able to participate from home and abroad.
The LCWU vice chancellor said that the social sciences play an important role in moulding the behaviour of any society and therefore social science disciplines held a special significance in academia. “Research and development in the fields of economics, political science, psychology, and sociology have brought positive changes to human life,” she said. In a wider sense, social sciences also include some fields in the humanities such as anthropology, archaeology, jurisprudence, history, and linguistics, she added.
The VU rector said that social scientists were involved in solving many of the world’s biggest issues, such as violent crime and health issues. Dr Malik added that among the many important roles that social sciences play, one was fighting the spread of infectious diseases. A perfect example is the Ebola crisis in West Africa, he said. While a part the solution to the issue naturally rested on developing a clearer understanding of the pathogens involved and increasing investment in drugs, there were a number of social scientists needed as well, Malik claimed.
The MoU envisages collaboration between the two institutions in academics, research, and human and infrastructural resources. Apart from the collaboration in research projects, this linkage provides collaboration options such as sharing of academic data, publications, and information. Both institutions agreed to share access to research laboratories, facilities, joint seminars, workshops, and other areas.