Department of Urdu

Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Uzma Farman Farooqui

The Department of Urdu officially came into existence in 1955 when the University of Karachi decided to organize postgraduate classes in Urdu under its own management instead of through the colleges.
At the time of its establishment, Moulvi Abdul Haq, ‘Baba-e-Urdu’, was made honorary Professor and the Chairman of the Department. Teaching responsibilities were carried out by the teachers of local colleges. Later, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa Khan, a prominent scholar and Professor at Urdu College Karachi, was appointed both as a cooperative teacher and as the Chairman of the department. In the same year, Dr. Abul Lais Siddiqui was appointed as a Reader and Chairman and Dr. Abdul Qayyum, Dr. Syed Shah Ali, and Qudratullah Fatimi joined as lecturers.
With the valuable efforts and abilities of these teachers as well as the scholars and teachers who joined the department later on, the department has kept making progress. The following famous academics have been associated with the Urdu department: Dr. Syed Abul Khair Kashfi, Dr. Farman Fatehpuri, Dr. Aslam Farrukhi, Prof. Jameel Akhtar Khan, Dr. Haneef Fauq, Dr. Younus Hasni, Shamim Ahmed, Prof. Sahar Ansari, Dr. Vaqar Ahmed Rizvi, Dr. Siddiqa Arman, Dr. Moinuddin Aqeel and Dr. Zafar Iqbal.
The Department of Urdu has a prominent position in the University of Karachi for research. Over 100 scholars have completed their Ph.D. research program and more than forty projects are in progress.
In addition to regular teaching and lectures, co-curricular, literary and academic activities and gatherings are also organized frequently.

Career Opportunities

• Teaching, Print and Electronic Media,
• Research & Academic Organizations.
• Advertising (Copy Writing)
• Creative Writing etc.

Teaching and Assessment
Teaching at the Department combines lectures, group Discussions and class presentations. Students are also given writing assignments and selected final year students are required to submit a dissertation carrying 200 marks.