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Conferences & Workshops in the US 2011-2012

Deciphering Pakistan and US-Pakistan Relations

Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT

September 30-October 1, 2011

The Wesleyan International Relations Association invites you to its 2011 Conference, "Deciphering Pakistan and US-Pakistan Relations" organized in collaboration with the Wesleyan South Asian Studies Faculty and Wesleyan Pakistan Flood Relief Initiative. The conference includes panel discussions, a key note talk, a sufi-rock concert by Junoon and a movie screening of Ramchand Pakistani.

The conference aims to increase understanding and awareness about Pakistan from its culture to its politics, and US-Pak relations. The conference's speakers are among the top commentators, officials and scholars on Pakistan and US-Pakistan relations, and the event will be open to the students, faculty and the larger public.

Panelists and Guest Speakers:
Shahid Javed Burki (Former Vice President of World Bank and Former Finance Minister of Pakistan)
Stanley Wolpert (Emeritus professor of History in University of California, LA, focuses on political and intellectual history of modern South Asia)
Najam Sethi (the editor-in-chief of The Friday Times and of Geo News in Pakistan. He is the only Asian journalist to receive three international press freedom awards in a decade).
Ambassador Howard B. Schaffer (Former Ambassador of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh; spent 36 years of foreign service career focusing on US relations with South Asia)
Asim Khwaja (the Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School and the faculty chair of the MPA/ID program).
Humeira Iqtidar (Research fellow at the Centre of South Asian Studies and at Cambridge University. She focuses on secularism, feminism and Islamism).
Najeeb Ghauri (the founder, Chairman and CEO of NetSol Technologies, Inc, and Vice President of US-Pak Business Council).

Social Events:
Junoon Concert by Salman Ahmed. Junoon is a sufi rock band from Pakistan and is considered one of Pakistan's most successful band; the Q magazine regarded them as "One of the biggest bands in the world" and The New York Times called Junoon "the U2 of Pakistan." Ahmed is the pioneer of Sufi rock, author of Rock n Roll Jihad and UN ambassador for peace (Sample Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQQLeB7efog)

Ramchand Pakistani Screening and Q&A with director, Mehreen Jabbar. Ramchand Pakistani is a Pakistani film that tells a true story about a boy who inadvertently crosses the border between Pakistan and India and the following ordeal that his family has to go through. The film has won the Audience award at Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland. (Trailer: http://www.ramchandpakistani.com/Preview.htm)

Schedule here.

Proceeds from the conference will go to Wesleyan Pakistan Flood Relief Initiative.

For more details, please contact our team at wira.conf@gmail.com.


40th Annual Conference on South Asia

The 40th Annual Conference on South Asia was held on October 20 - 23, 2011 in Madison, WI. The Conference was hosted by the Center for South Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Annual Conference on South Asia attracts over 650 scholars and other interested parties annually, who travel from countries all over the world and much of the United States. The conference features nearly 100 academic panels and roundtables, as well as association meetings and special events ranging from performances to film screenings. Several pre-conferences are held in conjunction with the Annual Conference on the Thursday prior to the event and are open to all attendees. Another important component of the conference is our exhibit space which allows University presses and independent publishers to provide conference participants with high quality resources and the best publications on South Asian topics.

With the dramatic growth and economic transformation of South Asia in recent years, there has been a deepening sense that its major cities are in crisis.  For the 2011 conference, we encouraged the submission of panels and papers that address modern and historical perspectives on the social, economic, and cultural contours of the South Asian city.


Cultural Heritage Training Workshop in the US

July 15-August 15, 2012

One of the most important areas in which AIPS can assist Pakistani universities and museums is to help develop local capacity in cultural heritage management and preservation and facilitate linkages with scholars in India.  In 2007 in collaboration with the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) Professor Kenoyer (AIPS President at the time) helped organize and lead a one-month workshop for 10 individuals, four of who were from Pakistan, four from India and two from Sri Lanka. Most of these individuals have now been hired in major positions in their respective countries and have contributed significantly to their respective fields.

This program brought 8 Pakistani and 5 Indian archaeologists and museum specialists to the US for a month long workshop on cultural heritage issues that took place in Washington  DC at the American Museum of Natural History and other Smithsonian museums. The group then traveled to Madison Wisconsin for additional workshops and site visits. The program was led by Dr. J. Mark Kenoyer as workshop director, and a staff escort Nihad Shabbar,

A post-workshop follow-up will include visits by the program director to the Ministries and major institutions to present the results of the workshop back in Pakistan and in India in December 2012 (Pakistan) and January 2013 (India).

Please see the full report for a list of activities and visits.