Sociology conference begins at SQU

MUSCAT: The Second International Conference of the Department of Sociology and Social Work of the College of Arts and Social Sciences at SQU entitled ‘Social Thought, Sociology and Development in the Developing Countries’ commenced on Tuesday under the patronage of Dr Yahya bin Badr al Maawali, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development. The three-day conference will discuss topics and issues on social thought, sociology and development in the current era. As many as 46 research papers will be presented at the conference. This includes 17 papers by researchers from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait and Libya, in addition to 26 papers from the Sultanate.

The presentations from Oman are mainly from faculty members of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, and other departments from the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Education at SQU. The conference also features three keynote speeches. Prof Abdulrahman Sophie, Chair of the Organising Committee of the Conference, highlighted the continuous efforts by the committee to have a productive conference. The conference aims to develop potentials of social thought, and the stimulation of scientific and critical studies and dialogues in sociology to respond to requirements of socio-cultural dimensions of modern and contemporary development after the success of the first academic conference of social work, held in March 2011 with the participation of Arab and GCC countries.