Political Science

We are pleased to share that Asma Khalil and Sana Shaheen from the Batch of 2026 have produced the best SPROJ from the Political Science Stream at MGSHSS.

Asma and Sana’s senior project "Welfare, Women, and the Vote," set out to answer a very layered question: Does receiving a BISP/Ehsaas cash transfer actually change how a woman votes?

Through in-depth interviews across Bhakkar, Upper Chitral, and Lahore, their research found that the answer isn't in the program itself, but in the social and political structures the cash lands in, ultimately leading them to see when a welfare receipt can translate into a political voice for these women and when it can't.

English 

Congratulations to Sara Ilahi, Batch of 2026, who has won the Razia Waseem Award for producing the best Senior Project from the English Major!

Sara’s project, "Currying Flavor, not Favour " explores the culinary practices within South Asian diaspora fiction. Through observing the culinary practices in The Namesake (2003) by Jhumpa Lahiri, Mistress of Spices (1997) by Chitra Banerjee Divakruni & Serving Crazy with Curry (2004) by Amulya Muladi, her paper establishes the preparation and consumption of South Asian delicacies within these novels as dynamic tools of self-articulation, resistance, and gastro-political agency for immigrant communities.

Comparative Literature and Creative Arts (CLCA)

We are delighted to announce that Alina Izhar from the Batch of 2026 has been awarded the Best SPROJ from the CLCA Stream, for her project: “Aik Thā Bādshāh…”: The Dastan-e-Amir Hamza as Children’s Literature.

Alina’s SPROJ examines the retelling of the Indo-Persian Dastan-e-Amir Hamza as children’s stories by Maqbool Jahangir, a digest writer from Lahore, in 1960s and 1970s Pakistan. She argues that the dastan’s form and language are completely altered from an oral tradition to children’s storybooks, and yet despite such alteration, the Dastan-e-Amir Hamza resists complete assimilation into the moralistic world of Pakistani children’s literature. In doing so, it manages to retain its intricate world-building, inspiring contemporary Pakistani’s children’s literature and media through its otherworldly, fantastical elements.

History 

Please join us in congratulating Maheen Mashhood, (Valedictorian, Batch of 2026) for producing the Best SPROJ from the History Stream at MGSHSS!

Maheen’s Senior Project, "Transformations in Translations: China-Pakistan Literary Engagements from the 1950s-80s" focused on the reception of Chinese literature in Pakistan, which was arriving here in the 20th century as an instrument of the PRC's approach to third world internationalism.

Her research focused on the lack of a physical archive as well as limited cultural memory of these engagements in the Pakistani context, and relied on alternate archives such as letters, travelogues, interviews, and translations to piece together the breadth of literary exchange. Through assessment of this literature, its impact and ephemerality, her project also sought to question the perceived strength and stability of Pakistan-China friendship through time, and ascertain the geopolitical exigencies that are served by this perception.

Anthropology and Sociology 

Congratulations to Zaid Irfan for producing the best SPROJ from the Anthropology and Sociology Stream at MGSHSS!

Zaid’s project, The Digital Adda: Cars, Comments and the ‘Captain’, focuses on the online taxi industry and ride-sharing platforms, adding to the existing conversations on informality and the economy  by exploring what does and does not change in the experience of labor and sociality when gig work is mediated through digital platforms where the market of work is shaped by the calculations of an algorithm.