To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Pakistani Arts.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pakistani Arts'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 24 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Pakistani Arts.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Zafar, Muhammad Hasan. "Pakistani documentary : representation of national history and identity (1976-2016)." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2017. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8386/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents a study of Pakistani documentary, with a focus on the ways in which it represents Pakistan’s national identity and history. The study examines three sources of documentary production – state media, commercial television channels, and independent filmmakers – as three distinct voices of Pakistani documentary. The study argues that the discourses of these institutions are governed by their respective ideological, political, and economic priorities. These factors result in two competing approaches to Pakistan’s national history and identity: right-wing and left-wing. The Islamic ideology of the state governs the discourse of state-sponsored documentaries. The commercial television documentaries take an anti-establishment position, however, they remain faithful to Islamic ideology of the state to a large extend. The independent filmmakers, on the other hand, offer a liberal perspective of history and a secular identity of Pakistan. Hence, they offer a critical view of the state’s Islamic ideology as a governing principle of historiography and identity formation. The notion of representation entails the issues of authenticity, credibility, and truth-value, associated with the various methods adopted by the filmmakers. Hence, attention is paid to the styles and modes of documentary, with a reflection on the documentarian’s individual approaches to realism. The documentaries have been placed within historical and political contexts considering Pakistan as a postcolonial state, which also functions as a critical framework of this study.
2
Iqbal, Samina. "Modern Art of Pakistan: Lahore Art Circle 1947-1957." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4359.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation focuses on the modern art of Pakistan from 1947-57, more specifically, the role of six important artists who founded the Lahore Art Circle (LAC) in 1952. The group played a pivotal role in the formulation of modernism in Pakistan after its establishment as an Islamic Republic. Framed within postcolonial theories and criticism, this study will address the role of modern art in developing new artistic sensibilities in the nation of Pakistan. In order to understand the context of LAC’s framing of “modernism” and “nationalism” in terms of specific historic and hybrid nexus,my research will provide an investigation of works of only the founding members of the Lahore Art Circle including: Shakir Ali (1924-1975), Sheikh Safdar Ali (1924-1983),Moyene Najmi (1926-1997), Ali Imam (1924-2000), Ahmed Parvez (1926-1979) and Anwar Jalal Shemza (1928-1985). In analyzing the works of individual artists and the role of LAC during the first decade of the establishment of Pakistan as a nation-state, this study provides a framework to understand the specific condition of modernism in Pakistan that was dictated by these artists’ careers and works. Thus, this research investigates how the framing of modernism for these artists took on highly personal, international, incipiently national and distinctly local forms in the early years of the Pakistan after the Partition of 1947. Lastly, it will also examine how the individual LAC artists situated themselves in the discourse between constructing a newly established Pakistani identity within the larger paradigms of international modernism.
3
Pamment, Claire. "The bhānd mode in Pakistani performance." Thesis, Central School of Speech and Drama, 2013. http://crco.cssd.ac.uk/459/.
Full textAbstract:
Bhānds are wandering comedians, widely dispersed in Pakistan and North India. While their art constitutes a persistent mode of performed practice in Pakistan, it is not given recognition by dominant culture. The thesis explores the caste, class, ethnic and literary biases that motivate this ostracism, and in turn how bhānds play with these status distinctions in performance. This interaction creates a dynamic mode, which is able to expose, negotiate and subvert hegemonic power structures, and, in so doing, continually adapts itself to changing socio-cultural contexts. Appreciation of these practices and their effects on the social norm has hitherto been lacking, precisely because of the cultural marginalisation which attempts to place the bhānd within a fixed definition of identity. In order to redress this imbalance, I explicate the bhānd’s aesthetics and socio-cultural mediation through multiple contemporary and historical manifestations. Contemporary reinventions range from stand-up comics in the nuptial rites, to carnivalesque comedians of the popular Punjabi theatre and socio-political commentators on satellite television. By extracting the bhānd from the prejudices of historiography, the thesis explores historical lineages between the bhānd and Sanskrit jesters and Sufi wise fools, arguing that this Indo-Muslim synchronism perpetuates the bhānd's presence in South Asia. This re-reading aims conceptually to release the bhānd from contemporary and historical constraints as a shape-shifting mode, which may be seen to continue generating innovative forms and practices for theatre and performance in Pakistan today.
4
Siddiqa-Agha, Ayesha. "Pakistan's arms procurement decision-making, 1979-94." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.318478.
Full text
5
Whiles, Virginia N. "Miniature manoeuvres tradition and subversion in Pakistani contemporary art /." Online version, 2006. http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/31478.
Full text
6
Dunne, Justin S. "Crisis in Baluchistan : a historical analysis of the Baluch Nationalist Movement in Pakistan /." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2006. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/06Jun%5FDunne.pdf.
Full text
7
Bluth, Christoph, and U. R. Lee. "India and Pakistan: An Analysis of the Conventional Military Strategic Relationship." International Conference on Economics and Security 2019, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/17202.
Full text
8
Thies, Douglas G. "Influence through airpower security cooperation in Egypt and Pakistan : lessons for Iraq /." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Naval Postgraduate School, 2007. http://bosun.nps.edu/uhtbin/hyperion-image.exe/07Dec%5FThies.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2007.Thesis Advisor(s): Russell, James A. ; Khan, Feroz. "December 2007." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 25, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-107). Also available in print.
9
Khurshid, Kamran. "Instability in presidential and parliamentary systems : the cases of Costa Rica and Pakistan." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 1999. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/66.
Full textAbstract:
This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Political Science
10
Schneider, Jeffrey W. "What Drives Defense Spending in South Asia?: An Application of Defense Spending and Arms Race Models to India and Pakistan." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31345.
Full textAbstract:
India and Pakistan are two of the world's poorest countries, yet each devotes a substantial portion of its resources to defend itself against the other. What drives these expenditures? Are they internally or externally driven? If externally, how do the countries interact with each other?
To try to answer these questions, we apply five models widely used in defense spending studies. If the model performs well, we will assume that the underlying driver of defense expenditure or change in defense expenditure is present. If the model does not perform well, we will assume the driver is absent. Our goal is not to find the single "best" model, but to see if a consistent pattern of behavior emerges for each country through the combination of the models.
We conclude that existing models do shed light on the defense spending behaviors of the two countries, although they are by no means the final word and have only limited value for forecasting. The patterns that emerge from empirical testing of the models indicate that:
India is far more sensitive to Pakistan's spending than Pakistan is to India's. India is concerned with maintaining a certain level of superiority over its rival, but shows little inclination to spend Pakistan into the ground.
Pakistan has run up against its resource constraint and Pakistani leaders have opted to spend what they feel they prudently can on defense rather than try to engage India in an arms race that they would assuredly lose.
On the other hand, Pakistan' defense spending bureaucracy is stronger than India's, so that Pakistan finds it more difficult to cut defense spending than does India.Master of Arts
11
Zahra, Samreen Mrs. "Virsa: The Contemporary Value Chain." VCU Scholars Compass, 2015. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3833.
Full textAbstract:
"Handicraft" means a useful or decorative object made by a craftsman who has direct control over all stages of production. Handicrafts have always had a greater value, an identity of their own that is reflective of their place, culture and materials, as well as a sense of belonging to a particular place and time. With the ever-growing mass production that followed the Industrial Revolution, we lost those crafts to multiple reasons: one being cheaper, industrial-made products reducing the demand for handicrafts, and another being a shift in consumer tastes. Most craftspeople hardly earn enough to survive and fulfill their basic needs, and naturally seek greater economic stability. In hopes of making a better future for their children, they send them to schools to gain knowledge that could help them gain employment and be able to make better livings for themselves and their families, halting the passing of knowledge. Hence, the heritage of skills that had been passed for generations in a family comes to end. This risks the loss of a craft that once was a source of pride and joy for these artisans – and for the larger community
There are a number of efforts going on around the globe to preserve the indigenous crafts of different cultures, and to allow that knowledge to be passed down to new generations. My focus in this paper is a specific object (the charpai) from the Jandi craft, and its preservation through innovation. My work seeks to advance and preserve the skills and traditions of the artisans, while designing a new set of products inspired by the craft that hope to reconnect more artisans to the craft and empower them in terms of knowledge and finance.
12
Baroni, Sofia <1992>. "Le "miniature" contemporanee del Pakistan tra identità, tradizione e innovazione." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/14346.
Full textAbstract:
Il presente lavoro di ricerca intende indagare una produzione preziosa e complessa, la “miniatura” pakistana moderna e contemporanea. Pertanto, al fine di comprendere come questa forma d’espressione si sia sviluppata, reinventata e reinterpretata in chiave moderna, si è ritenuto indispensabile accompagnare il lettore in un viaggio che muove da una riflessione sulla definizione stessa di “miniatura” e sulla sua correttezza, e procede a ritroso nel tempo, delineando le origini e gli sviluppi di questa pratica nel subcontinente fino al periodo del dominio britannico. Infatti, nonostante la forte associazione della produzione a cui si guarderà con la moderna nazione del Pakistan, il genere – sino ad ora definito - della “miniatura” contemporanea ha radici nella più vasta produzione artistica indiana, sia in termini di tecnica, sia nella ripresa dei contenuti. A tal riguardo un ruolo di centrale importanza, per gli sviluppi che si prenderanno in esame, è da assegnare alla pittura Moghul (1526-1857), che ha dominato la scena artistica sud asiatica tra il sedicesimo e diciannovesimo secolo. Ritenuta la tradizionale forma d'arte del Pakistan, soprattutto a causa di un patrocinio soprattutto islamico, la pittura Moghul è la risorsa più popolare e preferita per le opere moderne e contemporanee qui analizzate. Tale recupero visse un grande slancio a partire dal Novecento, quando l’artista Abdur Rahaman Chughtai (1897-1975) ha ridefinito il proprio stile attraverso un recupero cosciente dello stile Moghul. Sebbene questa sua tendenza non trovò un immediato seguito, a partire dagli anni ‘80 del Novecento un nuovo gruppo di artisti, la maggior parte provenienti dalla scuola di Lahore, iniziò a trarre ispirazione dal suo lavoro e a produrre quelle che oggi vengono generalmente definite “miniature contemporanee”. La scuola di Lahore, fondata dagli inglesi come Mayo School nel 1872, nacque con l’intento di stimolare la produzione di artigianato locale ai fini del commercio internazionale. Dopo la spartizione dell'India e del Pakistan, essa fu riorganizzata come National College of Arts (NCA) ed è proprio in tale importante istituzione culturale che si è formata la maggior parte degli artisti contemporanei che verranno presi in esame, i quali hanno sicuramente il merito di aver permesso a questa forma d’arte di sopravvivere ed evolversi.
L’obbiettivo della tesi è dunque quello di comprendere come il recupero della pittura Moghul e la creazione delle “miniature” abbia rivestito un ruolo chiave nella costruzione dell’identità storico-politica del Pakistan attraverso la ripresa di una tradizione “islamica”. In ultima battuta si esamineranno la fruizione, la percezione e il mercato di tali opere che nel corso degli ultimi decenni hanno ottenuto un notevole successo non solo a livello nazionale, ma anche internazionale.
13
Rehman, Sadia. "This is My Family: An Erasure." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1492399220029598.
Full text
14
Masud, Rahat Haveed. "Materialising the spiritual in contemporary painting in Pakistan : an artist's exploration of figurative art and Sufism." Thesis, Kingston University, 2010. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/20229/.
Full textAbstract:
This practice led doctoral thesis explores the meaning of spirituality and its manifestation in figUrative art in the wider historical, religious and artistic contexts of Pakistan, alongside the presentation of a new body of artistic work which explores the contemporary possibilities of materialising spirituality in a predominately Muslim culture. The illustrated thesis engages with these two interconnected but distinct forms of research which underpin its two-part structure. The first part, Section A, comprises four chapters which investigate the various cultural and religious contexts of figurative art with particular reference to Muslim painting; Islamic attitudes to figurative art based upon the study of Islamic law and the various interpretations of the Qur'an and the hadith. It assesses the impact of colonial and postcolonial politics on the arts produced in the Indo Pak Sub-continent and the specific area that later came to constitute Pakistan (a pre-dominantly Muslim country) after the Partition of 1947. The section concludes with im exploration of Islamic spiritual ideals of truth and beauty, through Sufi thought, including the significance of for Allah and the concept of Tauhid. or His Oneness. The three chapters in the second part, Section B, represent a critical reflection on ongoing artistic practice as a female figurative artist in contemporary Pakistan. Drawing upon autobiographical material and fieldwork conducted at Sufi shrines as part this research, I discuss the series of more than twenty five paintings, drawings and siœtcnes which aim to materialise the spiritual. These are supported by a thirty minute documentation of the shrine culture with a voice over along with a video installation film on a DVD exploring the concept of fana or 'spiritual annihilation', which is the key aspect of the shrine culture. In conclusion the vital concern of finding means to materialise the concept of spirituality by creating a body of art work is an effort to fill the gap in Pakistani painting the impact of Sufi philosophy on artistic endeavours is yet to be fully explored in contemporary painting in Pakistan.
15
Ray, Durga. "Frames in the U.S. print media coverage of the Kashmir conflict." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000436.
Full text
16
Habibullah, Shaista. "Responsiveness of the Federal Health System to the Needs of 18-45 Year Old Adults With Physical Disabilities in Islamabad, Pakistan." Scholar Commons, 2012. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4059.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract
The health system has been defined as all people, institutions and resources that undertake actions with the primary intent of improving health, while responsiveness of the health system refers to its objective of responding to the legitimate expectations of the population it serves. Although responsiveness is a non-health objective of the health system, it affects the health status of the population by influencing treatment compliance, patient-provider communication and health services utilization. Furthermore, responsiveness has a fundamental value as it concerns basic human rights of the individuals being served by the health system.
This study was undertaken to determine how well the Pakistani federal health system was responding to the needs of 18-45 year old adults with physical disabilities living in Islamabad, and the barriers that were hindering the government from responding to this vulnerable sub-group of the population. The study employed a qualitative approach. Data were collected through focus group discussions with 18-45 year old physically disabled consumers of healthcare in the three federal government hospitals located in Islamabad. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with health care providers, managers, policy makers, and disability rights advocates who had been operating within the same system.
Results of the study indicated that the federal health system falls short in responding to the needs of a large population of physically disabled adults living in the Islamabad Capital Territory. This research has identified barriers operating at multiple levels of the health system, and within the policy making, financing and federal human resource milieu. The main barriers to responsiveness of the health system included vulnerability of persons with disabilities, lack of provider training, lack of priority accorded to issues confronting the disabled at the highest policy making levels, and the lack of a referral system. The pluralistic Pakistani culture also posed a barrier to responsiveness of the health system especially in case of women. The researcher expects this study to contribute to informed policy making and spur further research on the needs of this oft-neglected sector of the Pakistani population. The results of this study will be shared at multiple forums including top policy making levels, as well as at the level of healthcare management and provision and disability rights advocacy to address the issue holistically. This study focused on the federal health system and included only the federal government hospitals located within Islamabad. Future research may focus on responsiveness of the larger provincial health departments through quantitative as well as qualitative methods. Furthermore, the effects of responsiveness on healthcare seeking behaviors in vulnerable populations may also be studied. Larger scale studies may be undertaken to ascertain the association between responsiveness, healthcare seeking patterns and health status of the vulnerable populations. Such studies will not only contribute to the knowledge in the field but also provide much needed input for evidence-based policy making in the country.
17
Hayaud-Din, Mian Ahad. "U.S. Foreign Policy in Islamic South Asia: Realism, Culture, and Policy Toward Pakistan and Afghanistan." [Tampa, Fla. : s.n.], 2003. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000074.
Full text
18
Ericsson, Lina. "The Swedish Arms Trade and the Politics of Human Rights: : A Comparative Case-study of Swedish Weapon Exports to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Russian Federation in the year of 2006." Thesis, Jönköping : Jönköping University. Jönköping International Business School, 2008. http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:3582/FULLTEXT01.
Full text
19
Dewan, Jay P. "How will the Indian MIlitary's upgrade and modernization of its ISR, precision strike, and missile defense affect the stability in South Asia /." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2005. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/05Mar%5FDewan.pdf.
Full text
20
Glikson, Michal. "Towards a Peripatetic Practice: negotiating journey through painting." Phd thesis, https://datacommons.anu.edu.au/DataCommons/item/anudc:5523, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/128513.
Full textAbstract:
Towards a peripatetic practice: negotiating journey through painting investigates painting as a way of comprehending lived experience of travel. The project develops from curiosity about journeys and their potential for bringing the artist into encounters with the world, and proximate to its issues and concerns. Aims of the project focused on peripatetic practice as a means of redirecting a personal experience of rootlessness towards connecting with others, and considering and communicating the complexity of cross-cultural experience through painting. Objectives as such were to investigate through practice the function and form of peripatetic painting, and to document this through film and writing. The study acknowledges travel as an ancient way of knowing the world and takes inspiration from the paradigm of the nomadic storyteller as exemplified in the Bengali tradition of Patuya Sangit (scroll performance). With a sense of the capacity for painting to provide spaces of connection and empathy, the study draws on the writing of John Berger and Suzi Gablik, exploring a confluence of ideas about the evolving social role of the artist. Key influences are historic and contemporary peripatetic creative practices, which include the writer Freya Stark, the colonial painter William Simpson, and the artists Phil Smith and John Wolseley. The project also incorporates methodological approaches which borrow from anthropology, situating the artist as observer, participant, and ultimately, agent. Practice in this context is immersive, and takes on social, interactive dimensions for which making paintings becomes a means of knowing and questioning the nature of cross-cultural experience. Explorations took the form of increasingly immersive journeys in Australia, India and Pakistan and a series of paintings utilising extended scroll formats with additional outcomes of documentary films. As the key research spaces for practice-led research, the scroll paintings employ pencil, collage, watercolour and oil, and a metaphoric fusion of styles and techniques of painting and drawing, notably Persian miniature and life portraiture as a means of accounting for and sharing the abiding experiences and encounters yielded through travel.
21
Ali, Atteqa Iftikhar. "Impassioned play : social commentary and formal experimentation in contemporary Pakistani art." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/18013.
Full textAbstract:
Today, a growing number of Pakistani artists have embraced the nation’s perceived visual languages and political, social, and cultural history to interrogate and unpack Pakistan’s contemporary society and identity. The fruits of this shifting and mixing are works of art that turn artistic and societal traditions, from miniature painting to matrimonial rites, on their sides even as they uphold their significance. In these works, artists present their views on life in the country and their experiences as Pakistanis. Their paintings, videos, sculptures, installations, mixed media works, prints, and drawings are not soapboxes from which they shout out their messages. Instead they present issues and concerns in a manner that means to define them uniquely as Pakistani. Unpredictable social developments and current events that require in-depth investigation appear in imagery without any direct answers to these debates. Rather, Pakistani artists offer them to incite further investigation. Through their works, artists express and examine the complicated nature of Pakistani national and cultural identities by looking at the society’s most volatile concerns. Yet they address these issues in an unexpected fashion. They examine serious concerns like the India/Pakistan divide in a humorous fashion; they explore bloody, murderous acts like “honor killings” in pristine paintings. In this multifaceted treatment, the intense issues affecting Pakistan are interrogated with ambiguity. These artists do not simply present critical issues related to society in Pakistan; they play with them. And in this way raise questions about their meanings. And they do not only look to Pakistani society for subject matter. They also turn to it for methods of approaching art by exhibiting sensitivity to traditional materials, techniques, and styles. I analyze this artwork within a context of art practices in Pakistan, pedagogical methods at art schools in the nation, and the impact of larger historical events and social processes: colonialism, the partition of India and Pakistan, and globalization.text
22
Tsai, Yuhming, and 蔡裕明. "The Policy of Clinton''''s Administration toward the Nuclear Arms Transfer of China to Pakistan." Thesis, 2000. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/26119029086543162993.
Full textAbstract:
碩士淡江大學
國際事務與戰略研究所
88
The nuclear proliferation of post-Cold War also called "Cold War II" or "the second nuclear age". The meaning of nuclear proliferation is the transfer that the non-nuclear state gains the sensitive materials of nuclear, components, professional techniques, management technique and the way to deal with the nuclear scrappings and their delivery vehicles. The method of nuclear proliferation could be direct transfer, cooperative production or scientific transfer, military exchange from one country to another. PRC sees the arms transfer to Pakistan as efficient policy to practice her national security strategy. Afraid that India dominate the South Asia, China cooperate with Pakistan to impede India. Besides, China also gain the strategic interest and economic interest, and makes use of it as chips with U.S. Nonproliferation is the priority of U.S security strategy in the post-Cold War era. And China is the main supplier of nuclear weapons and nuclear techniques. U.S. don''''t care about all the arms transfers of China, she only care about the sensitive WMD in unstable area. Therefore, based on "National Interest Matrix", the author analyzes the decision-making of China''''s nuclear transfer to Pakistan and of U.S. policy toward China''''s nuclear transfer toward Pakistan. Besides, the author uses "economic sanction" and "coercive cooperation" policy to analyze U.S. nonproliferation strategy toward China. The author gets three important findings: (1) U.S. and China adopt cooperation policy or confrontation policy on nuclear proliferation issue based on their perception of nuclear nonproliferation and their own national interests. (2) The nuclear transfer of China stress the regional security, however, the nuclear nonproliferation of U.S. stress the international security. (3) The nuclear nonproliferation strategy of U.S. is confine the intention and capability of proliferation state through multilateral negative and positive measures. However, the nuclear nonproliferation strategy of U.S. toward China through bilateral economic sanctions and coercive cooperation policy.
23
Karl, David Joseph. "Does nuclear proliferation really matter? a comparative examination of nuclear rivalries in Asia /." 1996. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/38279392.html.
Full text
24
Islam, Waliul. "Ways of becoming : South Asian students in an Australian postgraduate environment." Thesis, 2009. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/15244/.
Full textAbstract:
The formation of student diasporas in western universities is a manifestation of the globalization and internationalization of higher education, and has necessitated studies about international students’ adaptation to such universities. Statistics of the last decade show that there has been a significant flow of international students to Australian universities, and a large proportion of this student cohort comes from South East Asian and South Asian countries. Whilst there has been a good deal of research on international students from South East and Far East Asia, who share a Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) background, there are relatively very few studies on South Asian students, particularly postgraduate students from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (defined as South Asian for this study). This qualitative study about the adaptation experiences of postgraduate coursework students from South Asian countries fills some of the gap that exists in the body of literature about international students.
The study, conducted at a cross-sectoral Australian university in Melbourne, referred to with the pseudonym Southern University (SU), has utilised a longitudinal qualitative approach to explore from an ‘emic’ perspective the adaptation experiences of ten postgraduate coursework students from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The students were studying in four faculties at SU, and participated in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions over their first two semesters.
The study considers the students’ adjustment process in the Australian academic landscape from their pre-arrival expectations to their settlement after two semesters, and is structured to consider three phases of their experiences – initial, transitional and endpoint – in negotiating new academic norms and genres, including spoken communication.
The study identifies a number of dimensions along which differences are evident in the students’ approaches and strategies in adjusting to their studies and lives as postgraduates. In academic adjustment, all the postgraduates demonstrated incremental progress which was marked by varying levels of perceptual and attitudinal changes in understanding the new academic culture.
Whilst the students shared a common goal of undertaking an Australian postgraduate degree to enhance their employment prospects, two broad types of strategists emerged: initiators of self-development and system compliers. The study also notes that the postgraduates, through their physical presence in Australia and becoming qualified with a western education, negotiated new, hybrid and empowered identities for themselves.
In its limited exploration about the students’ social acculturation, the study notes that some of them followed a selective integrative approach while others adopted assimilatory process, and they all indicated a hybrid state of acculturation to Australian culture. The study also uncovers that, besides their academic goals, many of the postgraduates had a largely hidden agenda of long term settlement in Australia.