Stephen Lyon joins as inaugural dean of AKU’s new Faculty of Arts and Sciences 

Karachi, September 16, 2022 (PPI-OT):Professor Stephen Lyon took the helm as the inaugural dean for the Aga Khan University’s new Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS). Professor Lyon is a cultural anthropologist with an interest in social organisation, cultural systems, conflict and development in rural and urban Pakistan. He was the President of the Society for Anthropological Sciences (2019-2021) and the Treasurer of the Pakistan Studies Group (2000-2020), that organised the annual Pakistan Workshop in the Lake District. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Social Science Computer Review (a SAGE journal).

Moreover, Professor Lyon has deep ties to Pakistan. He completed part of his high school education at the Lahore American School and has lived and worked in a rural village in Attock District, Punjab, on and off, since 1998.

“Returning to Pakistan for this exciting position as Inaugural Dean of FAS fills me with a great sense of warmth and pride – it feels like I am coming home. I believe in the transformative power of an arts and sciences education for a country like Pakistan – one that is diverse in every way, rich in its culture and forward looking while honouring the past.”

He has been with AKU since 2018 as the Head of Educational Programmes at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. Since his time with AKU, Dr Lyon has been instrumental in the development of the FAS programme, curriculum and structure. FAS will build on the work of AKU-ISMC, including its research on governance, popular culture, development, digital humanities and cultures of the Indian Ocean, as the leading arm of the humanities and social sciences at the University.

AKU’s President, Dr Sulaiman Shahabuddin noted that “Our world is changing at a remarkable speed. AKU’s new FAS draws on the rich tradition of arts and sciences education while adapting it to the Pakistani context and infuses it with our distinctive values. Professor Lyon will provide outstanding leadership and strategic direction to the programme and herald in a new AKU in Pakistan which focuses on undergraduate education in the arts and sciences.”

AKU’s new Faculty of Arts and Sciences will launch with its first cohort of students in September 2023. The programme will include four majors: Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; Social Development Studies; Philosophy, Politics and Economics; and Human and Environmental Biology. There will also be an experiential learning component to allow students to undertake internships – either locally in Pakistan or internationally – in order to apply their classroom-based learnings in real-life situations.

The mission of FAS is simple: to educate future leaders through a transformative education that is endlessly challenging, stimulating and mind-opening – one that prepares graduates for innovative thought and consequential action. Leaders who can be change makers not only for Pakistan but for the world. Applications open in December 2022. For more information, please visit www.aku.edu/faspk or email FAS.query@aku.edu.

For more information, contact:
Media Executive
Department of Public Affairs
Aga Khan University (AKU)
Stadium Road, Karachi
Tel: +92-21-34930051
Fax: +92-21-34934294, +92-21-34932095
Cell: +92-301-8258028
Email: rasool.sarang@aku.edu, public.affairs@aku.edu​
Website: www.aku.edu

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