LUMS- Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Partnership

LUMS has entered into a partnership with the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) (www.asianstudies.org), which is the largest US based organization focusing on Asian studies. The AAS has initiated a $2.68-million project in collaboration with Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) with the aim to enable research initiatives in conflict and post-conflict-stricken regions in South and South-East Asia. This generous grant titled, “Cultivating the Humanities and Social Sciences and Supporting Under-Represented Scholars of Asia” will be available to 4 universities in Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, and India over a period of 4 years.

This project will develop the research capacity of local universities and enhance the academic knowledge, research skills, experience, and resources of their scholars in the humanities and social sciences, with a particular focus on junior faculty, graduate students, senior and independent scholars, women and ethnic minority groups. The project intends to support scholars, working in the Humanities and Social Sciences, located in less economically advantaged regions through four routes built around enhancing individual and institutional research capacity. These include short and long-term research grants, graduate student travel allowances, and residence fellowships for individuals from under-represented groups. In addition to research grants, the project also aims to facilitate research capacity building for scholars located in selected countries, organize AAS-in-Asia conferences and trans-regional workshops as well as encourage academic publications.

In South Asia, AAS will collaborate with the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS) at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as their implementing partner in Pakistan. As a major partner, LUMS will act as a “regional hub” in the project to help identify and build the capacity of other universities located away from larger cities in the region. This collaboration was initiated by Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali now President of AAS and formerly interim provost, LUMS.  The initiative was actively taken up by former LUMS provost, Dr. Farhat Haq.  Dr. Furrukh A. Khan, Associate Professor at MGSHSS is the current Hub-Lead of this Project.