Overview
The landscape of English Studies is undergoing a dynamic transformation. Globalization, with its interconnectedness and cultural exchange, challenges traditional perspectives on literature and language. This conference invites scholars, educators, and students to engage in critical dialogue through expanding perspectives on inclusion and diversity within the field
We invite scholars, educators, and students with a passion for English Studies, globalization, inclusion, and diversity to join us for this stimulating and thought-provoking conference!
The conference will feature
- Keynote addresses from leading scholars in the field of globalization, inclusion, and diversity in English Studies
- Panel discussions on a wide range of topics related to the conference theme
- Paper presentations by academics and graduate students exploring their research in these areas
- Workshops designed to equip educators with practical strategies for fostering inclusion and diversity in their classrooms
- Networking opportunities for scholars, educators, and students to connect and share ideas
This conference is a vital platform for
- Reimagining English Studies as a truly global discipline
- Promoting critical engagement with issues of power, representation, and identity within the English language
- Enriching teaching practices to reflect the diverse experiences of our students
- Building a more inclusive and equitable future for English Studies in an interconnected world
Topics
- Decolonizing the Curriculum
- Global Englishes and Linguistic Diversity
- Environmental Humanities
- Digital Humanities and Global Literature
- Cultural Exchange and Translation
- Pedagogies of Inclusion
- AI in Literature, Language Learning and Teaching
- World Englishes and the Internalization of Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities
- Decolonization of Epistemology
- Ethical Considerations of AI in English Studies
- AI and Future Directions of English Studies
- Emerging Trends in ELT
- Eco-linguistics and Ecocriticism
- Literary Theories
- The Interface of Language, Literature, Culture and Technology
- Translation Studies
- Speculative Fiction: Fantasy, Science Fiction and• Horror Studies
- Travelogues and the Tourist Discourses
- Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature and Language Studies
- Multilingualism
Sponsors
MEDIA SUPPORT
Conference Brochure/Poster
Important Dates
| Title | Date |
| Abstract Submission: | 30th October 2024 |
| Abstract Acceptance: | 1st - 2nd November, 2024 |
| Fee Submission: | 05th December 2024 |
| Conference Dates: | 13th-14th January 2025 (Time: 08:30am - 04:00pm) |
Guest of Honour
Dr Aroosa Kanwal
Dr. Aroosa Kanwal is Associate Professor at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad and recently held a postdoctoral fellowship at Lancaster University, UK. Previously, she worked as an Assistant Professor in English Literature at the International Islamic University, Pakistan. She is the author of The Routledge Companion to Pakistani Anglophone Writing (Routledge, 2019) and Rethinking Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction: Beyond 9/11 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2015). Her monograph received the KLF-Coca-Cola award for the best non-fiction book of the year 2015. She is a recipient of the 2018 UK Alumni Professional Achievement Award. She is currently working on her third book, contracted to Routledge, UK. She is also a Node-Leader (Pakistan) for “Muslim Women Popular Genreâ€, AHRC-funded project. Her chapters and articles on these connections can be found in Claire Chambers and Caroline Herbert (eds), Imagining Muslims in South Asia and the Diaspora (Routledge, 2014), Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe (ed.), Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts (UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), Journal of Gender Studies, (Routledge, UK), Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies (Routledge), Journal of Commonwealth Literature, (Sage Journal, UK) and Journal of International Women’s Studies, (US).
Dr. Ali Usman Saleem
Dr. Ali Usman Saleem is a Ph.D in English from University of Bedfordshire, UK. He is currently working as Professor of English at Government College University Faisalabad. His research interests include Anglophone Pakistani Fiction, Transcultural Studies, Postcolonial Literature, 9/11 and War on Terror discourse. He visited United States in August 2024 under SUSI Scholar program. He has published book chapters with Routledge and Peter Lang on Transculturality, Paracolonialism, and Taliban’s use of modern technology in the northern areas of Pakistan along with a number of research articles in peer reviewed journals.
Key-note Speakers
Prof. Dr. Jette G. Hansen Edwards
Prof. Dr. Jette G. Hansen Edwards is the Professor of Applied English Linguistics and Chair of the Department of English at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities and served as a Humanities Panel Member for the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) by the University Grants Committee (UGC). She has been a Fellow of CW Chu College since 2010.
Prof. Hansen Edwards has a diverse range of research interests including second language/ multilingual phonological acquisition, variation, and use; World Englishes (with a focus on Hong Kong English); and second language writing. At the heart of her work is challenging the hegemony of English as a global language in order to empower multilingual learners and users of English. Her research has primarily focused on learners and users of English in Asia, aiming to transform pedagogical practice in the teaching of English to multilingual speakers.
Professor Hansen Edwards has published widely in her research areas and is the co-editor (with M. L. Zampini) of Phonology and Second Language Acquisition (2008 & 2011, Studies in Bilingualism, John Benjamins), a seminal volume in L2 phonology. She has recently completed a book entitled The Sounds of English around the World: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (Cambridge University Press, 2022). This book is the first to place World Englishes and sociolinguistic variation at the centre of the discussion of English phonetics and phonology.
As part of her work on challenging linguistic hegemonies and transforming pedagogical practice, Professor Hansen Edwards has also developed open-access website entitled Telling stories: Linguistic diversity in Hong Kong. Funded by a Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) grant, the project aims to: raise awareness of the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of Hong Kong as well as the cultural and linguistic richness found among ethnic minorities and members of the deaf community in Hong Kong.
Dr Mazhar Hayat
Prof Dr Mazhar Hayat is an accomplished professor of English literature with long-standing teaching experience of 37 years at GC University Faisalabad where he had served as Chair of the English Department for twelve years. He has been serving as member of academic bodies (Academic Councils, Faculty Boards & Boards of Studies) in various universities.
Dr Hayat has participated in more than 50 national & international conferences as a keynote and national speaker in Pakistan as well as abroad. He has also served as member Board of Governors at Area Study Center, QAU Islamabad. Dr Hayat has to his credit membership of the prestigious “South Asian Literary Associationâ€. His research journey spans over 25 years as a researcher, supervisor, evaluator and reviewer. Dr Hayat has produced 7 PhDs in literature. At present, Prof Dr Mazhar Hayat is serving as Chairperson, Department of English Linguistics & Literature at Riphah International Faisalabad.
Prof. Deborah Madsen
Prof. Dr. Deborah Madsen is Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of
Geneva in Switzerland. She began her academic life with a specialism in literary allegory, which
has led to a research career largely devoted to the ways in which different forms of rhetorical
expression respond to political and cultural crises: American Exceptionalism, Feminism and
Ecofeminism, race-based immigration, US settler colonialism and Critical Indigenous Studies.
She is currently working on two projects: the analysis of Indigenous video games as digital
environmental narratives; and she is Principal Investigator of the project funded by the Swiss
National Science Foundation entitled “Vegan Literary Studies: An American Textual History,
1776-1900.†Most of her publications are available in full-text from UNIGE's Open Access digital
repository (https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch).
Dr. Farid Mohammadi
Dr. Farid Mohammadi is a lecturer in the English Department at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia. His doctoral thesis investigated J.R.R. Tolkien's portrayal of space, place, and atmosphere in The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955) through the analytical framework of Environmental Aesthetics. He specialises in teaching courses on ecocriticism, literary theory and criticism, as well as Romantic and Victorian literature and culture. His research primarily concerns the intersection of environment, aesthetics, and continental philosophy. He has published several scholarly papers and has presented his work at international conferences, addressing subjects such as Tolkien, 19th-century literature, contemporary art and aesthetics, knowledge production and decolonisation. Additionally, he has moderated various academic panels and discussions.
Dr. Esra Mirze Santesso
Dr. Esra Mirze Santesso is Professor of English at the University of Georgia. She is the author of Disorientation: Muslim Identity in Contemporary Anglophone Literature (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), Muslim Comics and Warscape Witnessing (Ohio State UP, 2023), and co-editor of Islam and Postcolonial Literature (Routledge, 2017). Her essays have appeared in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Religion and Literature, Critical Muslim, Postcolonial Interventions, Recherche Littéraire / Literary Research, The Comparatist, and Postcolonial Text. Her interview with Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize winner for literature in 2006 came out in PMLA. She teaches courses on postcolonial theory, human rights narratives, and immigrant literature.
Dr. Shafat Yar Khan
Dr. Shafaat Yar Khan is currently Associate Head for Literature at University of Central Punjab, Lahore. He retired in 2020 as Professor of English from Higher Education Department of Punjab Government. From October 2020 to September 2022, he served as Head of the School of English at Minhaj University Lahore before joining the University of Central Punjab in September 2022 . He briefly served at GCU Lahore from 2007-9. He has served as visiting faculty at Punjab University, Kinnaird College for Women, NUML, and University of Lahore. He headed two schools for Bloomfield Hall School System and two for Beaconhouse School System.
Dr. Shafaat has a long and varied experience of teaching English literature and language, teacher training, and curriculum and syllabus development. He was the Chair of the committee for the provincial revision of the Single National Curriculum and also acted as the implementation lead at the signing off of the SNC in April 2023.
He is a popular mentor of English language for competitive examinations. He was engaged by National Management College (NIPA) and National Institute of Management, (NIM) Lahore for teaching Analytical Writing to serving bureaucrats from 2015 to 2020. His doctoral research is on narratology of pre-partition Indian travelogues.
Dr. Uzma Anjum Satti
Dr. Uzma Anjum Satti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Air University, Islamabad. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics from National University of Modern Languages (NUML). Her PhD research was on a dying language spoken in Bandi shungli area of Mansehra district, with 500 speakers. Dr Uzma’s study became instrumental for enlisting this language in the linguistic map of Pakistan by Ethnologue, which is a World Wide Web for languages and linguistics diversity. This study was brought forward by a US university and won a very prestigious funding from National Sciences foundation, USA. Dr Uzma’s latest research is on reduplication, lexical borrowing and structural ambiguity of Pahari/Pothohari language. Her students have defended these researches successfully, and currently she is working on publishing these researches.
Dr. Rooh Ul Amin
Dr. Rooh Ul Amin earned a Ph.D. in English with a concentration in Applied Linguistics from the University of Memphis, TN, USA. He has 18 years of extensive work experience at the university level. Currently, he is working as a Professor at the Department of English, Rawalpindi Women University, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi. His former highest positions have been as Professor of English, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sialkot, and Director, Student Affairs. He has also worked as a Professor of English and Associate Dean at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Foundation University, Islamabad. He has expertise in qualitative research particularly ethnographic, grounded theory, and phenomenological research. In addition, Dr. Amin also has a good knowledge of teaching the essentials of rhetorical and analytical skills necessary for quality academic reading and writing. His ongoing research concentrates on teachers’ and learners’ identity in classrooms, teachers' and learners’ habitus, language policy and planning, ESL pedagogies, language and gender, and im/politeness. He also has an extensive list of publications in renowned research journals. It also merits mentioning that in addition to winning Pre-STEP Ph.D. Scholarship for the US, Dr. Amin was also awarded The International Research Foundation (TIRF) Doctoral Dissertation Grant (DDG) for the year 2015, a prestige that very few have earned, and is a member of TESOL, AAAL, AILA, and LAP. He has completed two research projects on access to English in the under-resourced areas of Pakistan and (un)equitable education in Pakistan. He has attended several national and international conferences and also has several academic conferences and workshops organization to his credit.
Dr. Hala Abdelghany
Dr. Hala Abdelghany is a linguist specializing in psycholinguistics, sentence processing, and the semantic-prosody interface, with a particular focus on ambiguity in Arabic sentence production and perception. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she trained in psycholinguistic lab experimentation with leading researchers in the field. Currently, Dr. Abdelghany works as an Associate Arabic Linguist, contributing to data analysis for machine learning and NLP applications, and teaches Arabic language courses at CUNY, where she has also developed innovative materials for smart language learning. Among her publications are The Nature of the Relationship between Sounds and Their Meanings (2022) and aDeep Semantics and the Evolution of New Scientific Theories and Discoveries (2019), both co-authored with Tom and Kathy Adi.
PROF. DR. MUHAMMAD SAEED AKHTER
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saeed Akhter is a member of the academic staff and Former Head of the Department of English at Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, and Pakistan. He is also Convener of the Board of Studies, and a member of the Board of Faculty. He has been Chairperson of the Department of English, Convenor of the Board of Studies, and Director of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research (BASR) at Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Bagh, Azad Kashmir. He has been a visiting member of the faculty at various universities and other prestigious institutions. He has been a member of the Boards of Studies of the University of Punjab Lahore, Riphah International University Faisalabad and Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan. He has been a member of the National Curriculum Revision Committee of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. He has a career as teacher trainer as well. He is a member of the Editorial Boards, and Peer Reviewer of various research journals. He is a member of various diplomatic and academic organizations. He is an Ambassador of Peace and a recipient of the Best Academic Award (2024) of Institute of Peace and Development (INSPAD). He has formerly held various positions, including the top-most office of Programme Coordinator, of Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT), Islamabad Chapter. Apart from his formal degrees of Masters and Doctorate in English (Pakistan), he has professional degrees of Postgraduate Diploma in English Language Teaching (Pakistan), Diploma TEFL (Pakistan), Certificate on Crossing the Border: from Teaching to Training (England) and many other short courses on his credit. The research areas of his interest include Postcolonial Studies, Linguistic Imperialism, Multilingualism, Language Policy and Planning, and Syllabus Designing, with special focus on Pakistan and Asian countries. He has an eminent status of HEC Approved Supervisor. He has supervised a range of research scholars. He has published research articles in national and international journals. He has participated in NELTA Conference (2012), Nepal, ELLTA Conference (2017), Thailand, LLLD International Conference (2023), Iran, Eighth International Conference (online) (2023) (2024), Russia, Malaysia International Conference (2023), Malaysia, SPELT International Conferences, Pakistan, and International Conferences in prestigious universities in the country in various positions of keynote speaker, plenary speaker, chair, and presenter. He is a speaker in various national and international seminars. He appears as a guest speaker on various TV channels. He has multifarious intellectual interests.
Dr. Maimoona Abdulaziz
She is a dedicated academic professional with a PhD in Applied Linguistics and a robust career in teaching, research, and academic leadership. Currently serving as Head of the Department of English at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Faisalabad Campus, She also oversees the Departments of Social Sciences and Languages. With over five years of experience as an Assistant Professor, she specialized in developing and delivering advanced curricula, supervising MPhil research, and fostering academic growth in diverse disciplines.
My research interests include Corpus Linguistics, English Language Teaching (ELT), Eco linguistics, Phonetics and Phonology, and Critical Discourse Analysis. I have a proven track record of impactful publications in X- and Y-category journals and hold positions on editorial boards of reputable academic journals.Beyond academics, she has played pivotal roles in organizing international conferences, implementing quality assurance systems, and mentoring research initiatives. Her multilingual proficiency and expertise in modern research tools, combined with a passion for education and innovation, enables her to contribute effectively to the advancement of linguistic and literary studies. She thrives in dynamic academic environments where she can inspire students, collaborate with peers, and drive meaningful research to shape the future of language and communication studies.
Guest Speakers
Dr. Ghulam Murtaza (Book Session on Proemistry)
Prof. Dr. Ghulam Murtaza is the Chairperson, Department of English, and Director, Directorate of Undergraduate Studies, Government College University Faisalabad. His PhD is in Native American Literature. His interests include CDA, Pakistani Literature in English, Poetry, Translation and Creative writing. He has introduced Proemistry, a new sub-genre of English poetry, a postmodern experimental blend of poetry and prose, media and history. He has produced two books of this genre: Straggling through Fire: An Anthology of Proemistry and Dreambox: Second Anthology of Proemistry. He has also authored Istifsar, a collection of Urdu poetry. In Search of a Dream is his poetic translation of Manzoor Saqib’s selected poetry.
Dr. Asma Aftab (Discussion on Securing Project Grants)
Prof. Dr. Ghulam Murtaza is the Chairperson, Department of English, and Director, Directorate of Undergraduate Studies, Government College University Faisalabad. His PhD is in Native American Literature. His interests include CDA, Pakistani Literature in English, Poetry, Translation and Creative writing. He has introduced Proemistry, a new sub-genre of English poetry, a postmodern experimental blend of poetry and prose, media and history. He has produced two books of this genre: Straggling through Fire: An Anthology of Proemistry and Dreambox: Second Anthology of Proemistry. He has also authored Istifsar, a collection of Urdu poetry. In Search of a Dream is his poetic translation of Manzoor Saqib’s selected poetry.
Instructions for Authors
Authors are requested to prepare the abstract according to the following template.
Click here to dowload Abstract Template
Submit your Abstract as per template on the following email address gides@uow.edu.pk. Please do not resubmit your same paper twice.
Organizing Committee
Patron in Chief
- Prof. Dr. Jameel-Un Nabi, Vice Chancellor UW
Chief Organizer
- Professor Dr. Asim Karim
Organizer
- Department of English
Conference Date: 13th-14th January 2025
Location: University of Wah, Quaid Avenue, Wah Cantt (Hybrid Mode)
Important Dates:
Abstract Submission: 30th October 2024
Abstract Acceptance: 1st - 2nd November 2024
Organized By:
University of Wah
Download event poster:
Please contact gides@uow.edu.pk in case of any query related to Book of Abstract.