1. A journal review session took place on March 03, 2016, in the Meeting Room at Savar Campus, BRACU. Ms. Syeda Fatima Zamila, faculty member of Bangladesh Studies, discussed the article 'Paths to Development: Is there a Bangladesh Surprise?' written jointly by M. Niaz Asadullah, Antonio Savoia and Wahiduddin Mahmud.
Ms. Fatima shared the primary focus of the article, which is to analyze the exceptional gains in human development that Bangladesh made compared to other countries with similar per capita income. The writers shed some light on the absence of correlation between human development and economic growth and public expenditure programs.
Furthermore, she explained how the writers discuss the paradoxical nature of the development in Bangladesh. From being ranked as one of the most corrupted countries, Bangladesh has made amazing progress in health and education sectors compared to India, Pakistan and other Asian countries.
The article ends with a hope that Bangladesh will experience positive effect of human development on economic growth, but it largely depends on the government. After the discussion, the session was open for comments and some of the faculty members shared their views on the issue.
2. Another journal review session took place on March 07, 2016, in the Meeting Room at Savar Campus, BRACU. Ms. Rudmila Mahbub, faculty member of Ethics and Culture, shared the article 'Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: What is it really about?' written jointly by Fedra Ioannidou and Vaya Konstantikaki.
Ms. Rudmila began with the primary focus of the article, which was to analyze the meaning of empathy and the difference between empathy and sympathy. The article discusses the differences between IQ and EQ and why it is more important to have EQ than IQ.
Empathy is the "capacity" to share and understand another "state of mind" or emotion, and often characterized as the ability to “put oneself into another person’s shoes”, or in some way experience the perspective or emotions of another being within oneself. On the other hand, Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) involves the skill or capacity to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, others, and groups. The authors mentions that success in EQ requires more than IQ (Intelligence Quotient), which is the traditional measure of intelligence, yet it ignores essential behavioral and character elements.
After the discussion, the session was open for comments and some of the faculty members shared their views on the issue.