Message of the Dean

Pakistan is passing through such a critical juncture of its history that its image in the social and economic front is not fairly soothing and stable in front of new generation on the one hand and among comity of civilized nations on the other hand. The country has no doubt made great progress in many economic and political fronts but the social profile of the communities living in various parts of the country is not worth appreciating because of the conflicts and chaos across various lines. In this context, there is dire need of social transformation and cohesion among masses so as to compete the world in sober and saluting manners.

Universities play a pivotal role in imparting quality education and transforming the societies from mere followers of foreign knowledge to trend setters keeping traditional cultures and values alive. Intellectual grooming of young generation is as important as the academic grooming. The latter focuses on knowledge and learning by transmitting hard attributes of education while the former enhances the logical capabilities via installing soft attributes of education. This is the core idea behind setting up a new Faculty of Social Sciences in which all the soft issues of human sciences could be thoroughly researched in departments of Anthropology, Education, Economics, Humanities and Sociology. Some other subjects of Social Sciences like that of Philosophy, Psychology, Political Science, Journalism and Communication, International Relations, Criminology, Peace and Gender studies.

This faculty would act as a soft bridge among various faculties in the university so as to add socio-economic flavor in all the postgraduate research and faculty projects. All the thesis and research projects to be pursued in the Faculty of Social Sciences would have some components of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering, Pure Sciences, Veterinary and animal Sciences. Moreover, this faculty would act as an external window for other institutes and funding bodies for providing advisor y and policy services. Capacity building programmes related to agriculture and allied disciplines would be the hallmark of this Faculty. The faculty has already started a biannual Research Journal with the name of International Journal of Social Footprints (IJSF). A monthly "Policy Reflections" is being started very soon. A Policy Incubation Centre (PIC) has also been proposed for providing advisory services to the business community on the one hand and Policy input for the provincial and Federal Governments in Pakistan.

DR. ABDUL SABOOR, DEAN, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES