More in Common Than You Think: Pakistan-U.S. Relations Beyond Stereotypes
On February 28, the institute's Marketing Communications Manager Ken LeBlond led a discussion about Pakistan-U.S. relations and sterotypes at The Black Hole Islamabad. Mr. LeBlond was joined by Dr. Rizwan Ali Shinwari, a former PhD fellow at UMass Amherst and current professor at the National University of Modern Languages. The talk was moderated by Hussein Amin, a 2018 alum of the Pakistan Comparative Public Policymaking exchange program hosted by the UMass Donahue Institute.
Mr. LeBlond and Dr. Shinwari discussed their preconceived ideas about each other countries and how those ideas were challenged when they acutally spent time in that foreign culture. Mr. LeBlond finished the discussion with suggestions for the audience on how to combat the formation of cultural stereotypes.
The Black Hole (TBH) describes itself as a "non-profit, open-to-all, casual educational and intellectual space for science, art, and culture".
March 03, 2025
