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Linking Young Minds Together
     Volume 2 Issue 60 | March 16 , 2008|


  
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Feature

SASC AT IUB
Knowledge initiatives needed for tolerable transformation of society

Dr. Hussain Zillur Rahman, Advisor of Education and Commerce, Government of Bangladesh, is addressing the two-day South Asian Sociological Conference, hosted by Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB).
The two-day South Asian Sociological Conference which concluded on , Tuesday, March 11 at Independent University, Bangladesh focused on the role of sociologists in finding out the internal as well as external causes of social tensions and divisions in South Asian societies and its consequential impact on socio-economic progress.

The Conference, chaired by IUB Vice Chancellor Professor Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, was inaugurated by the Education and Commerce Adviser Dr Hussain Zillur Rahman who in his speech stated that economic or political crisis has deeper roots in society and sociologist are to locate the social cause. The Chief Guest of the concluding session was the well-known industrialist, Mr. Towhid Samad, Chairman, IUB Trust and it was chaired by Prof A H M Zehadul Karim, Member, University Grants Commission of Bangladesh. Convener of the Conference was Prof Nazrul Islam, Director, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, IUB and Organizing Secretary of the Conference was Dr S M Shamsul Alam, Associate Professor, Southern Oregon University, U S A and now Visiting Scholar at IUB.

The deliberations of the conference, participated by well-known sociologists from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka identified the specific areas which included, among others, gender discrimination, social exclusion, women health, national identity, fundamentalism, effects to globalization and new mode of colonialism, and stressed upon the necessity of research and formulation of directional policy to address the problems for their resolution and tolerable transformation of society.

The participants also called upon the sociologists of the sub-continent to work together for exchange of ideas and mutual contributions as the issues are transnational and the root cause is not confined to the boundaries of one nation. The society needs “knowledge initiatives” so that the respective governments get academic support from sociologists to evolve implementable programmes for social and economic advancement of the South Asian nations.

Some of the papers presented were “Women and Health”, “Religion, Society and Public Sphere”, “Post-Colonialism: What Sociology Has to Do With It?”, “Gender and Society”, “Globalization and Social Policy”, “Sociology in South Asia: Recent Trends and Future Prospects”, “Female Domestic Cooks”, “Sexual and reproductive health needs”, “Media, Middle Class, & The Problem of National Identity”, “Globalization as a Neo Colonial Mode of Domination: The Case of Bangladesh”, “Impact of Higher Education and Economic Self-reliance on Empowerment”, and “The Politics of Neo-Liberal Economic Reforms”.

Some of the scholars, among others, who presented their papers and participated in the deliberations were: Prof Uttamrao Bhoite, President, Indian Sociological Society, Dr Partha Nath Mukherjee, Former President, Indian Sociological Society, Prof K Tudor Silve, University of Peradeniya, Kendy, Sri Lanka, Prof P K B Nayar Former President, Indian Sociological Society, Dr Parimala, University of Delhi, Dr Prem Sagar Vivek, University of Mumbai, Anita Tagore, Jawharlal Nehru University, Professor Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, Independent University, Bangladesh and Dr KAM Saaduddin, Former Professor of Sociology, University of Dhaka, Dr. S.M. Shamsul Alam, visiting scholar at IUB, Samina Lutfa Nitra, IUB, S. Aminul Islam, University of Dhaka, Piash Karim, BRAC University, Fateh Muhammad Burfat, President, Pakistan Sociological Association, Mokarram Hossain and Shahid M. Shaidullah, Virginia State University, Omar Faruque, University of Dhaka, and Sudha Menon, ICFAI Business School, India.

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