It also furnished a foundation of a useful forum for the participants to share their experiences and get hold of opportunities leading to extended collaboration in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities among individuals and institutions. A total of 12 keynote speeches and 220 research papers split over in 5 sessions were presented in three days. Chairman, Higher Education Commission Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony and Prof. Dr. Nizamuddin, Chairperson Punjab Higher Education Commission graced the event as chief guest at the closing ceremony.
HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar praised the performance of Dr. Naveed A Malik as founding Rector of VU. He also praised VU student, who recently qualified for 2nd ICT Skills Competition to be held in China organized by HUAWEI with the collaboration of HEC. Talking about social sciences in Pakistan, he said that from past four years HEC had doubled the research grant for social sciences. He further urged research scholars to send good research proposals to HEC. He said Pakistan was the best research region of world. He asked researchers to get empirical data and come up with the solutions of social issues. He also asked them to help the society with applied research to know the logical reasons behind social behavior issues. “HEC has increased the budget for social science sector. Pakistan is facing terrorism, extremism and other complicated social problems. To settle these issues social scientist can play their vital role,” he added.
An international lineup of keynote speakers included Dr. Malcolm J. Odell, Jr. , Appreciative Planning and Action Specialist, Dr. Marcia Odell, Senior Director of Gender Equality for Plan International, USA, Prof. Dr. Chok Hiew, University of New Burnswick Canada, Dr. Adil Najam, Professor, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University USA, Prof. Dr. Anita M. Weiss University of Oregon USA, Prof. Dr. Chok Hiew , Professor of Health Psychology, University of New Brunswick Canada, Prof. Dr. Irene Frieze Professor of Psychology, Business Administration, and Women’s Studies University of Pittsburg USA, Prof. Dr. Livia Holden, University of Padua & Senior Research Fellow - Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford and Prof. Dr. Shaista E. Khilji, Professor of Human and Organizational Learning & International Affairs,The George Washington University Washington, DC – USA.
The sessions were chaired by eminent educationists included Dr. Rasool Baksh Rais, Dr. Mughees-uddin Sheikh, Prof. Dr. Najma Najam, Dr. Munawar Sultana Mirza, Dr. Mehmood Ahmed Bodla, Dr. Samina Qadir, Dr. Rabia Akhter, Dr. Mohsina Munir, Dr. Anjum Zia, Dr. Ruhi Khalid, Dr. Sarah Shahed, Dr. Waseem Anwer, Munzir Elahi and Dr. Ghazala Irfan.
Giving an overview of the three-day conference, Dr. Naveed A Malik, Rector Virtual University of Pakistan said that this platform will explore new horizons for Social Sciences and Humanities understanding their unique perspectives and draw attention to the possible challenges of the new millennium for Pakistan. He thanked everyone involved in making the conference a great success and expressed his appreciation for the support provided by partner institutions and sponsors. One-minute silence was also observed to pay tribute to Army Public School martyrs during the closing ceremony.
The conference was attended by a large number of dignitaries included Malik Ahmed Khan, Spokesperson of Government of Punjab, Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed, Vice Chancellor University of Sargodha, former federal minister Javed Jabbar, Dr. Adil Najam, ex vice chancellor LUMS, renown educationists, business executives, government representatives and scholars of various academic institutions. The ceremony concluded with the distribution of shields, souvenirs and certificates for the organizers of the Conference.
