The new Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at Aga Khan University will welcome its inaugural class in September 2023. This world-class four-year undergraduate programme will provide a transformative experience and will educate the youth to be leaders of the future. FAS offers students a journey of learning and discovery into the arts and sciences through literature, history, politics, economics, and the social and natural sciences—the fundamental disciplines which underlie contemporary knowledge creation.
This transformative programme is built on two mutually supportive philosophical positions. First, the ethos of service in support of improving quality of life by collaborating with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and adherence to the University’s guiding principles of impact, quality, relevance, and access (IQRA). Secondly, curricular content and processes are framed by understanding that meaningful learning occurs if it is integrated in context and experiential in nature.
Our faculty will be outstanding teachers and accomplished researchers who will come to us from within Pakistan and around the world. They are a dedicated community whose teaching prepares students for wide-ranging careers, multiple career pathways and lifelong learning.
The academic structure comprises three cornerstones: a
Core Curriculum for breadth,
Majors for depth, and a
Senior Thesis to develop research skills and intellectual independence. In the first two years students will take courses in the Core Curriculum. At the end of their second year, they will choose from one of the following interdisciplinary majors:
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Asian and middle Eastern Studies
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Social Development Studies
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Philosophy Politics and Economics
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Human and Environmental Biology
In addition to the academics, FAS will offer an experiential learning component to encourage community engagement and connect theories and concepts in the classroom to real-world situations. Experiential learning will include a residential retreat, at least once during the four-year degree, internships in Pakistan and abroad with agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network and a range of other activities.
FAS graduates will have the communication skills, analytical skills, critical thinking skills and capacity for innovation to choose from multiple career pathways. Graduates will have the tools to pursue higher education and professional degrees or succeed in the workforce in any field – business, government, the non-profit world, or creative fields.
The new Development Lab will inspire innovation and give students an opportunity to problem-solve and tackle challenges with creative and imaginative solutions. Students can also leverage the data sciences and its evolving relationship with the liberal arts and physical sciences.
Moreover, FAS will play a pivotal role in AKU’s continuing trajectory of excellence. The faculty will not only provide a world-class education to its undergraduate students, but also provides an arts and sciences foundation for students in AKU’s professional schools across its three campuses.
Whether this is your first encounter with the Arts and Sciences or you are already a member of our AKU community, I invite you to learn more about the brilliant learning experience at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Anjum Halai
Founding Dean Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Pakistan
