The Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSS&H), arranged a seminar on “Psychology of Extremism: A Psychosocial Perspective”. Dr Shahzad Shafqat was the guest speaker. The seminar began with the recitation of the Holy Quran followed by a welcome note by Prof Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, Head, Department of Psychology. Prof Dr Abdul Hameed, Dean SSS&H, graced the occasion with his presence along with the faculty of social sciences.
During his lecture, Dr Shahzad Shafqat highlighted that context is very important in order to comprehend the general analysis of our understanding of extremism. A series of exclusive studies conducted for this research across different methodological strengths in psychology was presented. Finally, findings from these studies were crystallized towards providing a platform for furthering the discourse on extremism. He has taken sample from all inhabited continents, across age groups, nationalities, religions, and beliefs. It was a truly multi-cultural, diverse, and pioneering attempt at understanding extremism. The findings open new frontiers, given that they digress from the existing mainstream approach employed in research on extremism. This was followed by a question and answer session.
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At the end, Prof Dr Abdul Hameed concluded the seminar and expressed his views on extremism; he highlighted the importance of indigenous research in the area of extremism in Pakistan, acknowledged the guest speaker and invited him for another series of similar seminars in future with Pakistani context. Later, Dr Abdul Hameed, along with Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, presented souvenirs to the esteemed guest as a token of gratitude.
It may be noted that Dr Shahzad Shafqat has a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Cambridge. Over the past decade, he has specialized in several domains of psychology including aviation, clinical, criminal, human resource, social, and developmental. He has also served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Pakistan Air Force. His current research on the ‘Psychology of Extremism’ is aimed at re-conceptualizing extremism from a psycho-social perspective.
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