Digital, media revolution must be considered in curriculum development

Rawalpindi: Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) in collaboration with Association of Media and Communication Academic Professionals (AMCAP) with Punjab Higher Education Commission organised Doctoral Spring School 2021. International Academia along with national resource persons delivered lectures and individually advised the students on research proposals.

In the nine day doctoral Spring School, forty PhD scholars, researchers and faculty members are being trained in research within the field of media studies. International media professors including Extraordinary Professor Dr. Nico Carpentier, Prof. Dr. Pille Pruulmann, Dr. Fatyma El Sayed Dr. Vaia Doukaki and other professors from various institutions across the country have delivered lectures during the workshops. Chief guest of the closing ceremony was Prof. Dr. Fazal Ahmed Khalid, Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission, and Dr. Shahid Munir, Vice Chancellor University of Jhang and renowned Media person Syed Fahd Hussain also grace the closing ceremony of Second Doctoral Spring School Organised in Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU).

Prof. Dr. Fazal Ahmad Khalid, who has experience of industry, teaching and research, congratulated all the participants of the doctoral school. He said “new normal is creating lot of challenges as the technology is not divided equally in all parts of the country”. He added that Pakistan is trying to bring local research at par with international standards and PHEC is committed to the excellence of Higher education in Punjab. Dr. Bushra Haneed-ur-Rehman, President AMCAP, elaborated the spirit of this Doctoral Spring School which is aimed at improving the quality of PhD level research in the field of Communication and Media Studies.

Ten international and seven national foreign qualified scholars guided the research students in designing their PhD and MPhil level research project. Dr. Saima Hameed worthy Vice Chancellor, Fatima Jinnah Women University, thanked the Chairman PHEC for his support for the Doctoral Spring School and informed him that Women University is swiftly moving towards the internationalisation of its departments and we at FJWU highly encourage the national and international collaborations for the future development of our degree programs. Speaking on the occasion, Syed Fahd Hussain said that the inability to understand the role of media in a democratic society is what hinders the development of a state and Media can improve only if the academia is providing quality education applicable in the practical field of media.

He talked about the fundamental challenges in the field of journalism and suggested that academic liaison with the media industry is the solution for these problems. Dr. Shahid Munir, Vice Chancellor University of Jhang, suggested PHEC to initiate a council or regulatory body to promote professionals in Media industry so that only journalism degree holders work as a professional journalist.