Critical Knowledge
Pioneering Comparative Liberal Studies at Habib University:
A Symposium
Date: December 15, 2018
Time: 9:30 am to 6:30 pm
Venue: H. M. Habib Auditorium, Habib University
At a critical crossroads in Pakistan’s history, Habib University has set itself a unique mission: to offer a cutting-edge curriculum that is at once globalist and reconnects with our rich heritage. On December 15, 2018, Habib University will inaugurate its flagship program and major, Comparative Liberal Studies, bridging four branches of knowledge: history, philosophy, religious studies, and literature.
Departing from existing programs in Pakistan, CLS courses expose students to both a rigorous investigation of modernity, as well as our expansive and dynamic inheritance. The program is theoretical and practical: students learn in the classroom, but also by conducting hands-on fieldwork across Pakistan to recover local spiritual and historical traditions; investigating unexplored primary sources; engaging in traditional sacred arts and music; or by being introduced to meditation within diverse local traditions – whether Islam, Buddhism, or Hindusim.
The CLS launch will be a day-long event, featuring leading international scholars in addition to the CLS faculty. The keynote speakers include Dr. Abbas Amanat, one of the eminent historians of Iran and Persianate world who has taught at Yale University for almost four decades and Dr. Jo-Ann Gross, at the College of New Jersey, an authority on Sufism and the Ismaili tradition in Central and South Asia. The speakers will introduce prospective students and the public to the philosophies and approaches underlying the program, and to the importance of interdisciplinary education in the humanities.
Ultimately, the CLS program strives to produce socially conscious citizens and professionals grounded in Pakistan’s rich philosophical, intellectual, and cultural traditions, who can seek thoughtful, historically rooted solutions to the challenges that we face today.
View Event Poster
