From the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to the jungle of flyovers and underpasses in Lahore, the development of infrastructure in Pakistan has rapidly transformed the country’s landscape. This process has been accompanied by both critique and approval within Pakistani society. Hence, we seek answers to questions surrounding both the desire for and rejection of infrastructure. Through a conversation between artists and academics, we hope to understand infrastructure not only as a predetermined fact, but as a process entangled with social and political implications. What is the relationship between infrastructure and development? What kinds of politics does infrastructure enable or obstruct? We hope to explore the particularities of infrastructural production and experience in Pakistan to more fully comprehend the complex and multi-faceted aspects of infrastructure in Pakistan today.

Nausheen Anwar (Department of Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi)
Majed Akhter (Department of Geography, Indiana University)
Hafeez Jamali (School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Habib University, Karachi)
Zahra Malkani (Gandi Engine Commission, Karachi)
Shahana Rajani (Gandi Engine Commission, Karachi)
David Gilmartin (Department of History, North Carolina State University)

This conference has been organized in conjunction with the Pakistan Students’ Association, and is co-sponsored by U-M's Office of the President; Institute for the Humanities; Departments of History of Art, Anthropology, Urban Planning, and Asian Languages and Cultures; The Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design; Science and Technology Studies; Islamic Studies Program; Residential College; Office of Multi-Ethic Student Affairs; the LSA Central Student Government; the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies; and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

Program and other information here: http://ii.umich.edu/csas/news-events/events/conferences.html