In a three-year collaboration between George Mason and the University of Karachi, sponsored by the U.S. State Department's University Partnerships Program, Professor Jim Witte led and trained doctoral students from the University of Karachi's Department of Public Administration in statistical survey techniques in order to promote empirically based research in policy-making. Some of the students - all doctoral candidates - came to Mason's Fairfax campus in 2014 for one month of training, and during the conference this past week they presented on various aspects of the Karachi Megacities Survey that was the product of the academic partnership.
Student and faculty presentations in Karachi this week were made on the topics of health, education, water and sanitation, urban governance, youth, and transportation (see full conference program here). The conference began with a panel on the comparative study of megacities, including presentations on Istanbul, Sao Paulo, and New Delhi.
Mason anthropologist Rashmi Sadana and Ken Button, from the Schar School of Policy and Government, gave keynote presentations at the conference. Sessions were attended by over 300 students, faculty, journalists, and others, including Dr. Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, Governor of the province of Sindh, Pakistan, Dr. Arshad Abdullah Vohra, Deputy and Acting Mayor of Karachi, and Grace Shelton, U.S. Consul General in Karachi.
The conference, "Managing Megacities 2016", was focused on the issues facing the city of Karachi, and how evidence-based research was a way to counter the politics and prejudice that often seep into policy-making the world over. The conference held from Sept. 20-22, 2016 at the University of Karachi marked the culmination of a three-year project between the two universities; however, both sides are planning to continue to collaborate.
September 22, 2016
