Academic collaboration: ITU partners with Harvard researcher on partition studies

LAHORE: Professor Jennifer Leaning, the François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Practice of Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, visited the Information Technology University (ITU) on Friday to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU), said a press statement.

The statement said, “the IT University is the first varsity in Pakistan to have signed a cooperative contract with the South Asia Institute at Harvard University. Professor Leaning is leading a cross-country research into the humanitarian and demographic effects of the partition of British India in 1947. This research includes creation of an online repository of materials on the partition from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

Speaking on the occasion, ITU Registrar Zaheer Sarwar said, “The ITU stands for academic excellence. The partnership with Harvard University on this important project shows our commitment to cutting edge research that will enable us to understand important aspects of our own history.”

Professor Leaning, also the director of the FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights, noted, “I am delighted to partner with the ITU on this initiative. With its dynamic and innovative vision, the ITU is a natural partner for the project in Pakistan.” Later, Professor Leaning visited the Punjab Archives and the Civil Secretariat Library.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2016.