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Erudite Vernacular and Arcane Tripe: Addressing the Inaccessibility of Academic Writing

28Apr

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Op-ed

Erudite Vernacular and Arcane Tripe: Addressing the Inaccessibility of Academic Writing

By: Rida ArifDespite my intention to major in English, after my first two weeks of freshman year, I was convinced that I did not know how to read.Subjects I had studied for the past four years of my school life were suddenly cloaked in ambiguity as my professors assigned sixty-page supplementary journal articles, adorably termed “readings.” To my dismay, they were far from adorable--they were convoluted, dull, and extremely lengthy. Being the concerned first-year that I was, I spent hours in the library poring over a single reading and making meticulous notes: a feat rarely tackled by anyone past their first semester in university. I would ask myself: why are humanities readings so difficult to understand when in class, the professor demystifies the daunting jargon in the span of ten minut...

Saida Waheed Gender Initiative: Paving the Way for Gender and Sexuality Discourse on the LUMS Campus

9Apr

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Features

Saida Waheed Gender Initiative: Paving the Way for Gender and Sexuality Discourse on the LUMS Campus

By Mahrukh Murad S aida Waheed Gender Initiative (SWGI) at LUMS operates as an academic center and focuses on bringing research and conversations around gender to the fore. However, a survey conducted by The Post found that 60% of respondents were unaware of SWGI’s work.Ms. Aimen Bucha, Program Manager for SWGI, spoke to The Post about her role in running the initiative, “I am responsible for coordinating and handling the financial aspect of the canter. I am involved in the day-to-day running of the canter, putting out the events, coordinating with folks. I'm not only a part of the logistics but also help in planning events.”She went on to add, “SWGI has a Steering Committee that consists of faculty across the five Schools, who have an interest in gender studies on an academic and individu...

Zoom, Mute, and Study: How Study Groups Help Students Stay Afloat During a Global Pandemic

7Apr

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Campus News

Zoom, Mute, and Study: How Study Groups Help Students Stay Afloat During a Global Pandemic

By Maryam Narejo At this very moment, I am clicking away on my laptop while being on camera with three of my college friends who have their own assignments to complete. Usually, the idea of sitting in front of a screen for a few hours and communicating with strangers isn’t very appealing. However, with Zoom being essential to students’ lives over the lockdown, many have developed a bittersweet relationship with the app.Handling one semester without any on-campus facilities was difficult enough. With the spring semester being partially online, LUMS students have been finding new ways to regain motivation and focus to bring back some form of the college experience to their room’s isolation. One way is to organize silent Zoom group studies to create a library-like environment where students c...

18Feb

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Campus News

Outdoor Classrooms

By Syeda Aiman Zehra In the quiet, green plains behind the SDSB — where the rustle of autumn leaves and memories of birthdays and swing rides reign — there now stands a white canopy over a congregation of desks and chairs. In the middle, affixed between two poles, is an empty white board full of possibilities for the upcoming semester.This makeshift outdoor classroom is one of the developments that the admin has made to, as stated in the Vicechancellor’s email on 25th November, take the LUMS body towards a return to campus in a manner that is safe and convenient during the ongoing pandemic. Similarly, Dr. Adnan Khan, Dean of SSE, explained to The Post: “many universities have shifted to temporary outdoors classrooms to have in person classes during the COVID outbreak. This is done in order...

Creativity in Times of Adversity: Social Media Eateries and the Women That Run Them

25Jan

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Arts & Culture

Creativity in Times of Adversity: Social Media Eateries and the Women That Run Them

By: Rida ArifFrom budding freshmen to alumni, many female entrepreneurs have decided to make use of the pandemic to take the plunge into food-related start-ups. This seems to be an anomaly considering the industry of both home-businesses and commercial restaurants are dominated by men; in 2018, Food & Wine magazine reported that only 6 percent of women owned restaurants or ran kitchens. Similarly, a 2015 report by the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland showed that the majority of home-based business owners are male (66 percent). These gendered statistics show that the following women are defying the norm to establish their eateries and are using social media and even the lockdown to their advantage. Aleeha Shah ‘24, started her baking venture, Aleeha’s Pantry, during quarantin...

19Jan

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Campus News

M-5 Converted to a Female Dorm

By Menahel KhanOn December 10, 2020, a wave of happiness ran through the student body of LUMS as they received the much dreamed-for email by the OSA Dean Adnan Khan about housing on campus. With a reassurance of calling everyone back on campus as long as the government orders stay in favor, the Dean OSA also raised the major issue of accommodating the hostelites while remaining COVID compliant. Preference has been given to the female student body and hence, the Junior and Graduate male batches have been relocated to Askari XI. This is done in light of accommodating the female students in M5 as no more than two residents are allowed per room. All hostel facilities with a 3-time-a-day shuttle service, no curfews, and 24/7 access to the campus is being provided to the relocated students. Host...

When Grief is A Bureaucratic Process: Strengthening Support Systems for Students During COVID-19

29Dec

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Editorial, Op-ed

When Grief is A Bureaucratic Process: Strengthening Support Systems for Students During COVID-19

Petitions, Prayers, & Obituary Emails Written & illustrated by Maira Asaad ‘21With words from Amina Omar ‘22 & Mahrukh Murad ‘24The pandemic has, in many ways, changed the way we’re able to mourn the loss of our loved ones, and what the grieving process looks like; the global community is still registering how the social fabric has been altered by a year saturated with losses. As we approach a hybrid Spring semester, it’s important to reflect on how our education system can continue to expand and strengthen its available support mechanisms for its community.The changing faces of grief in 2020In late November, I attended the funeral of an extended family member who had passed away. It wasn't until I arrived at the funeral home did the full weight of the pandemic sink in: wh...

10Dec

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Arts & Culture

Writer’s Block

By Maryam Narejo To paint a picture, it’s a pleasant Sunday morning and you have an assignment due in a couple of days. You sit down on your desk, open your laptop to write your essay, and before you know it an hour goes by while your fingers hover over the keyboard. You are contemplating what to write while self-doubt slowly creeps into your thoughts. As terrifying as this scenario sounds for a creative writer, it has become all too familiar in an online semester. Writer’s blocks occur when a writer feels truly stuck and cannot continue their work. They have several causes such as stress, pressure, anxiety, burn out etc.One reason a blank page can often seem intimidating is exhaustion. When the mind is tired due to overwork, one can get caught up in the details and end up procrastinating ...

Towards Egalitarian Interpretations: “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with Asma Barlas and LRS

20Nov

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Campus News

Towards Egalitarian Interpretations: “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with Asma Barlas and LRS

By Hajrah Yousaf Select events in the past have put The LUMS Religious Society (LRS) into the center of controversy; LRS cannot entirely control what a speaker says, and oftentimes given the profile of their speakers, some talks can turn out to be, and have been in the past, controversial. Moreover, a lot of the events held by the Masjid at LUMS are misattributed to LRS, and any negative reception of them gets projected onto the society. However, this semester, LRS is proud to have hosted an event titled “The Quran, Gender Roles and Patriarchy” with the esteemed academic, Asma Barlas. The talk took place on 14th November and was, according to LRS Vice President Zainab Farooq ‘21, the most attended event by LRS this semester. When the organisers reached out to Dr Barlas early in September 2...

5Nov

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Features

Rebuilding LUMS from memory, block by block

By Mohammad Basit KhanHow the O’Week Co-ordinating Committee brought the campus experience to first yearsHow can a proper welcome to university with all its vibrant culture be emulated online, a space that has become infamous among 2020’s students for bleak interactions through LCD screens? Being on campus is itself a rite of passage, but what alternative could possibly inspire the same feeling with a new batch of students who have never stepped foot on campus grounds? As the 2020 LUMS O-week Co-ordinating Committee came together in late May, the prospective juniors and seniors quickly realised that they might have to completely reinvent the wheel in preparation for a fully online fall.Madeeha Akbar ‘22, Junior Coordinator and friends, Ahmed Farid Khan ‘21 and Saad Siddiqui ’21 were lookin...