A Talk on "The epistemics of philanthropy: Reflecting on the role of giving in research"

ENG | 14-Jul-24

The Department of English, Green University of Bangladesh, organized a talk on “The epistemics of philanthropy: Reflecting on the role of ‘giving’ in research” by Dr. Obaidul Hamid, Associate Professor of TESOL Education at the University of Queensland, Australia, on July 11, 2024 at 3:30 PM at the Syndicate Room.

Dr. Obaidul Hamid’s research focus is on TESOL policy and practice in developing societies. He is a co-editor of Current Issues in Language Planning, and is a member of the editorial boards of 1) Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 2) English Teaching Practice & Critique, 3) Journal of Asia TEFL and 4) Asiatic. He is the co-editor of Language and sustainable development: Policies, practices, and perceptions in Bangladesh (Routledge, in press). He writes a regular column on language, education, and society in the Dhaka-based English daily New Age.

The program started with the welcoming speech by Dr. Md. Elham Hossain, Associate Professor, Department of English.

Afterwards, Dr. Obaidul Hamid started the talk on  “The epistemics of philanthropy: Reflecting on the role of ‘giving’ in research.” In his talk, Dr. Hamid drew on an international research project that is currently underway in Australia, Bangladesh, England, and Singapore titled “Beyond global discourses of data: Storying data in schools.” He shared his experience on collecting data while conducting research as an act of ‘giving.’ Also, he emphasized on how researchers can give back to the community. To him, ‘giving’ is pervasive in research in general and international research collaboration in particular. Dr. Hamid also shared about social research contingent upon generous giving by research participants.

Honorable Vice Chancellor of Green University of Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Shorif Uddin graced the program as the chief guest. He mentioned the necessity of research to promote outcome-based education and encouraged the department to organize this type of program.

Honorable Pro Vice Chancellor of Green University of Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. Khawza Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed joined us as the special guest. He mainly focused on the dimension of collaborative research activities and motivating faculty members and students for international collaboration.

Honorable Dean (Acting), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Chairperson, Department of English, Prof. Dr. M. Shahidullah, presided over the program. He enlightened on collaborative research activities and assistance from the speaker. Finally, he made concluding remarks by thanking Dr. Hamid for giving a talk on such an important topic and also, he thanked the organizers for making the program a succes