International News
Q&A with Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D.
Research & Action Report, Fall/Winter 2011
Interview by Susan Lowry Rardin
A lawyer armed with the law in the form of three UN Human Rights Conventions, Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D. seeks to amplify women’s efforts on behalf of equality and justice. One of her recent leadership events, organized with Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior, was the “Rabat Roundtable: Women Leading Change in the Arab and Muslim World,” which was held late in the 2011 Arab Spring and involved women leaders from the Middle East/North Africa region. Her strategies, which focus especially on Asia and the Muslim/Arab world, feature the building of networks of women’s organizations and the linking of interest groups—especially through the power of those international human rights Conventions, as she describes in this interview.
Global Connections: WCW Organizes Roundtable for Women Leaders in the Arab and Muslim World
Research & Action Report, Spring/Summer 2011
by Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D.
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., the director of international human rights policy programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), partnered with the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, The Kingdom of Morocco, to present a seminal program, “Rabat Roundtable: Women Leading Change in the Muslim World,” May 16–17, 2011, in Rabat, Morocco. This critical Roundtable was originally organized in partnership with the Hon. Dr. Moushira Khattab, the former Minister for Family and Population of Egypt, to be held in Cairo under the auspices of the Ministry of Family and Population, Egypt with whom de Silva-de Alwis has partnered with in her work with the Legislative Reform Initiative along with UNICEF. The political changes sweeping Egypt and other countries propelled WCW and its partners to seize the transformative potential of these historic movements and to reconvene the program in Rabat this May. The Roundtable brought together leading women’s rights advocates from the Muslim World for high-level discussion and debate to ensure that women are part of the important reformist and decision making processes. Over two dozen local, women government officials from Morocco joined the Roundtable initiating a global-to-local exchange.
Global Connections: WCW scholars connect and collaborate with colleagues across the globe
Research & Action Report, Fall/Winter 2010
This past September, the Wellesley Centers for Women welcomed a delegation from the China Women’s University in Beijing to a roundtable discussion. The dean of the Law School at the China Women’s University partners with WCW in its international work and is a leading member of the Gender and Law Network Consultation that the Centers, led by Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., helped convene with the Ford Foundation–China last year. Visitors to the Centers’ Cheever House were: Huang Haiqun, Vice President in charge of student affairs and college management; Zhang Xiangcun, director of the Publicity Department; Ning Ling, director of Computer Science and associate professor; Li Lianzhi, dean of the Continuing Education School; Wang Qinghe, director of the Logistics Management Department; and Ding Zhangang, associate professor of the Foreign Language Department. The Chinese scholars and administrators met with Charlene Galarneau, Ph.D., Wellesley College assistant professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department and member of the WCW Board of Overseers, and WCW senior research scientists: de Silva-de Alwis.; Sumru Erkut, Ph.D.; Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D.; and Nan Stein, Ed.D.; and Wellesley College student Jin Hu. The China Women’s University was founded in 1949 as a school for the cadres of All-China Women’s Federation. Currently it has 3,300 undergraduate students and a branch campus in Shandong Province.
Global Connections: New International Initiatives Promote Women’s Advancement & Leadership
Global Connections: U.S.-Saudi Women's Forum on Social Entrepreneurship and Women's Leadership Network
Babson College and Wellesley Centers for Women Partner to Launch U.S.-Saudi Women's Forum on Social Entrepreneurship
NewsRx
July 14, 2009
Pam Alexander Travels to India
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2009
Pam Alexander,
Ph.D. traveled with a group of Wellesley College faculty in January to
Mysore, and Mumbai, India on a trip sponsored by the Bernstein Fund for
Global Education. The focus of the trip was to develop research
partnerships with Indian scholars and practitioners in each
individual’s area of interest. With contacts facilitated by Dr. R.
Indira from the University of Mysore, Alexander met with several
women’s agencies that focus specifically on helping women who are
victims of domestic violence, including Mahila Samakhya Karnataka and
Shakthi Dhama. She also met with Teesta Setalvad who is a Mumbai-based
civil rights activist and the Women’s Centre in Mumbai.
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis Moderates Conference on Legislative Reform to Achieve Human Rights
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2009
In November, Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, LL .M., S.J.D., served as a moderator at the Conference on Legislative Reform to Achieve Human Rights held in New York, NY. Presentations provided an opportunity for representatives of participating organizations to showcase their current work on
legislative reform and discuss challenges and opportunities to achieve human rights, specifically those of children, and the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Earlier that month, her work was presented at the Dialogue on National Monitoring of Human Rights Treaties, also in New York, NY.
In January, de Silva-de Alwis traveled to Bangladesh and Nepal for the disability rights conferences outlined in the previous article. The following month, she presented a discussion on Women’s Rights Advocacy in China at The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations: Social Policy: Culture, Belief, andGender in a Changing Asia program in Cambridge, MA. As a member of the advisory board of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG), de Silva-de Alwis attend the Workshop on Gender Equality and Human Rights Evaluation Guidance held in February in New York, NY. In April she attended the Geneva meeting held on Mainstreaming Disability and MDG Policies, Processes and Mechanisms. The UNEG is a professional network that brings together the units responsible for evaluation in the UN system, including the specialized agencies, funds, programs and affiliated organizations, decided to develop guidance on integrating human rights and gender equality perspectives into evaluation within the UN system. In March, de Silva-de Alwis attended the International Conference on Violence Against the Girl Child held in The Hague. The conference focused on violence against the girl child in the home and family. In May, she traveled to Cambodia for work to build disability rights coalitions before then traveling to India for the Asia Cause Lawyer Network Steering Committee Meeting and Seminar on Disability Rights for Women.
Nan Stein Presents at Mid Sweden International Network for Gender Studies meeting
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2009
Nan Stein Ed.D., traveled to Sundsvall, and Osterund, Sweden in May for the Mid Sweden International Network for Gender Studies (MING) inaugural meeting focusing on women’s health and welfare. There Stein presented one of three open lectures on “What a difference a word makes,” and she participated in several network meetings, school workshops, and consultations with scholars. The objectives of the MING network include constituting a creative interdisciplinary meeting place for researchers interested in health and welfare from a gender perspective in a broad, interdisciplinary sense, in order to improve and develop knowledge in this area of research, including strengthening internationalization in the network.
Human Rights Frameworks Integral to WCW Global Work
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2009
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, LL.M., S.J.D., director of International Human Rights Policy Programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women, reflects on ways the Universal Declaration of Human Rights informs the Centers’ newest international work.
Rangita de Silva-de Awlis Presents at the Conference on Gender Equality
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2008
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis
traveled to Beijing, China in May to present a paper on domestic
violence issues in Asia as part of the Conference on Gender Equality
organized by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In August, she
conducted a training program for the staff of the Secretariat for the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) and other
United Nations’ (UN) agencies at the UN in New York City, NY. During
the program, de Silva-de Alwis shared tools and a theoretical framework
on human rights-based approaches within a gender equality framework in
order to support effective program development domestically,
regionally, and internationally, and to help operationalize the new
convention. Akiko Ito, Chief of the SCRPD which was established in
December 2007, is a member of the WCW Board of Overseers. Additionally,
de Silva-de Alwis has been selected to serve as a member of the UN
Evaluation Group Task Force on Evaluation Guidance-Human Rights and
Gender Equality. This high-level advisory group is developing a
guidance document for incorporating a human rights and gender equality
perspective in all UN agency evaluations. She will participate in a
workshop in November to review the draft guidelines and to strategize
on moving them forward.
Rangita de Silva-de Awlis Travels to Launch of Women's Democracy Network
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2008
This past March, Rangita de Silva-de Alwis joined women leaders from across the world in Washington, D.C. at the inaugural conference launching the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) to foster relationships and help the leaders advance as their countries make the transition to democracy. In August, through her advisory role with WDN, de Silva-de Alwis served as a moderator for a special panel presentation, “How to Recruit Women for Leadership Roles and Develop Advocacy Techniques (Government and Civil Society)” at the WDN’s Asia Regional Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her many presentations with international colleagues seek to generate women’s further involvement in policy development and enforcement around the world.
In October, de Silva-de Alwis served as a discussant for the “Funding Scenarios and Incentive Structure for Programs for Women’s Leadership” panel during the ANE Women’s Leadership Workshop held in Washington, D.C. Hosted by the Bureau for Asia and the Near East (ANE), United States Agency for International Development in cooperation with the office of Higher Education for Development, the goal of the workshop was to define strategies for longterm training in leadership through higher education.
In November, de Silva-de Alwis traveled to Indonesia to provide technical assistance to the Consumer Association of Indonesia on a program to draft legislation to combat the health effects of second hand smoke on women and children and to advance the need for Indonesia to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. “We need to encourage women to enter politics and we must also mentor, educate, and train young women leaders to prepare them for this work,” de Silva-de Alwis says. “There is a synergy and excitement about this work and we need to work together to sustain the momentum.” As part of the need to engender women’s political participation and the monitoring of political processes, de Silva-de Alwis has been invited by IRI to monitor the Bangladesh elections scheduled for January 2007.
WCW Researcher Participates in International Women's Day Conference
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2008
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, senior advisor on international programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), participated in the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) International Women’s Day conference on March 6-8, 2008 in Washington, DC. The conference, organized by the International Republican Institute, brought together more than 30 women from around the world to continue the important discussions regarding the progression of the WDN.
Linda Hartling Presents at Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2008
Linda Hartling, associate director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women, will be co-convening and presenting at the 11th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) in Norway, June 24-29, 2008 as part of the Wergeland Year for Human Dignity .
WCW Researcher Presents at Conference on Gender Equality
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2008
Women and Substance Abuse Article by Linda Hartling Published
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2008
Nan Stein Meets with WOMANKIND in the U.K.
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2008
Jean Kilbourne Speaks at Human Rights Conference in Turkey
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2008
Jean Kilbourne, senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women, is scheduled to speak at an early May 2008 conference entitled “End Human Rights Violations Against Women in the Media” at Istanbul Bilgi University in Turkey.
Executive Report on the Asian Regional Conference—Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship, December 9-10, 2007
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2008
UNICEF and the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) convened a seminal Asian regional conference, Women and Children: the Human Rights Relationship, December 9-10, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. This conference was conceptualized by UNICEF’s Global Policy Section as part of a major initiative on human rights-based approaches to women’s and children’s rights. Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, senior advisor for international programs at WCW, led the organizing of this innovative and dynamic conference that had as its aims and goals an exciting agenda for change on the intersections of women’s and children’s rights.
Nan Stein Travels to Castilla
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Nan Stein traveled to the University of Castilla-La Mancha and the Women’s Institute of Castilla-La Mancha in October to exchange ideas and discuss issues around gender violence.
Peggy McIntosh Lectures in China
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Peggy McIntosh lectured in two Chinese universities: Peking University (PU) in Beijing, and Kunming University in Kunming, Yunnan Province in October. Wei Guoying, professor, director of the Women's Research Center at PU, and recent visitor to the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), hosted the visit.
Tracy Gladstone at the Nordic Forum in Reykholt, Iceland
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Tracy Gladstone attended the Nordic Forum in Reykholt, Iceland in May where she delivered with a colleague, "Prevention efforts in Boston: Building resilience in children at risk for depression."
NIOST Evaluates FasTracKids Programs Around the Globe
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Julie Dennehy traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico in September, to St. Petersburg, Russia and Caracas, Venezeula in October, and to Shanghai, China and Cairo, Egypt in November to begin collecting data for evaluations of FasTracKids programs in these cities. The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at Wellesley Centers for Women has been contracted by FasTracKids Enrichment Centers to conduct an evaluation of sites from around the globe.
Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Wellesley Centers for Women is proud to partner with UNICEF for “Women and Children: The Human Rights Relationship,” a conference that examined the intersections and gaps between women’s and children’s rights in Asia. Held December 9-10 in honor of Human Rights Day, the conference brought together rights advocates from across the region to dialogue on and build shared agendas based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, WCW senior advisor on international programs, leads the ongoing initiative.
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis Presents to Oxfam America
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis made a presentation on new developments in women’s rights lawmaking and judicial decision making in Asia, within a human rights framework, to the Private Sector Team at Oxfam America, headquartered in Boston, MA, in May.
Julie Dennehy Travels to Collect FasTracKids Program Information
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2007
Julie Dennehy traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico in September, to St. Petersburg, Russia and Caracas, Venezeula in October, and to Shanghai, China and Cairo, Egypt in November to begin collecting data for evaluations of FasTracKids programs in these cities. The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) at Wellesley Centers for Women has been contracted by FasTracKids Enrichment Centers to conduct an evaluation of sites from around the globe. FasTracKids offer a variety of classes and activities that promote early exploration for lifelong learning. The FasTracKids Research Study is a 19-month international study conducted by NIOST aimed at examining the link between participation in FasTracKids enrichment programs and child outcomes for children 4 and 5 years old. Dennehy’s NIOST colleague, Diane Gruber, will be conducting FasTracKids evaluations in several U.S. cities in New York, Georgia, and Illinois.
WCW & UNICEF Partnership
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2007
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, senior advisor on international programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), continues to strengthen and build relationships with colleagues from around the world who are working to improve and enforce rights for women and children.
Susan Bailey Lectures for Online Course on Gender and Education
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2007
For the third consecutive year Susan Bailey was a virtual lecturer for an online course, “Rethinking Gender and Education in a Global Context: Mapping Current Debates in Theory, Research, and Policies,” offered through the Gender Society and Policies Area of FLASO, the Latin American Postgraduate Institute of Social Science in Argentina. The course, held during Spring 2007, was geared toward experienced researchers and policy makers. The course was organized by Professor Gloria Bonder of FLASCO Argentina and co-taught by Bonder, Professor Graciela Morgade, University of Buenos Aires, and Bailey
Gender Equitable Education Presentation in Hong Kong
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2006
Susan McGee Bailey and Peggy McIntosh traveled to Hong Kong in June to speak at the Challenges and Possibilities in Gender Equity Education: The Second International Conference in the Asia-Pacific Region held at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and co-hosted by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Human Dignity & Humiliations Studies Network
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2006
Linda Hartling served as co-convener and facilitator of the 7th Annual Meeting of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (Human DHS) Network held in September at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.
International Advisor's Global Outreach
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2006
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis joined women leaders from across the world in Washington DC at the inaugural conference launching the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) to foster relationships and help the leaders advance as their countries make the transition to democracy.
WCW International Programs Reach East
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2006
The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) recently welcomed Rangita de-Silva de-Alwis, S.J.D. as senior advisor on international programs. A legal advocate with her LL.M. and S.J.D. from Harvard Law School, de Silva-de Alwis also holds an appointment as a Research Fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School, and brings a wealth of experience working with women’s groups in Asia on the rights of women and children.
Linda Hartling Serves as Facilitator of Meeting of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Network
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2006
Linda Hartling served as co-convener and facilitator of the 7th Annual Meeting of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (Human DHS) Network held in September at the University for Peace in Costa Rica. Hartling welcomed participants and introduced the “Appreciative Frame,” a model of engagement that focuses on: practicing relational-cultural awareness; listening others into voice; waging good conflict; creating better connection through reflection; and employing humor while working. She also joined Evelin Lindner (pictured right), founding manager of Human HDS, for which Hartling (pictured left) is a member of the board of directors, in Zurich, Switzerland in October, as she accepted the Swiss Professional Association’s 2006 Award for Applied Psychology on behalf of the network. The network is a multi-disciplinary, international organization dedicated to promoting peace and dignity by ending cycles of humiliation.
Susan Bailey and Peggy McIntosh Travel to Hong Kong
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2006
Susan Bailey and Peggy McIntosh traveled to Hong Kong in June to speak at the Challenges and Possibilities in Gender Equity Education: The Second International Conference in the Asia-Pacific Region held at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and cohosted by the Equal Opportunities Commission. Bailey presented “Educating Girls and Boys: What the Research Tells Us” during the keynote plenary session. McIntosh co-led a Positions & Identities session, “Professional Development of Teachers’ Identities: An Example from the United States,” with Betty Eng, SEED Seminar Leader in Hong Kong who teaches at the City University of Hong Kong. Two high school teachers from Taiwan attended the SEED New Leaders’ Week in California in July and will now co-lead their own school-based, monthly SEED seminar at the Taipai Municipal Lishan High School. Mimi Cheng and Cindy Yuan will hold their SEED seminar in Mandarin. In addition, Carolyn Urquhart, a teacher from the International School of Tanganyika in Tanzania, attended the New Leaders’ Week and will lead the third SEED seminar her school has sponsored in the last four years.
Researchers Speak in Asia
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2006
Susan McGee Bailey and Peggy McIntosh traveled to Hong Kong in June 2006 to speak at the Challenges and Possibilities in Gender Equity Education: The Second International Conference in the Asia-Pacific Region held at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and co-hosted by the Equal Opportunities Commission.
WCW at the United Nations
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2006
On March 4, 2006, the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) co-sponsored a day-long program, "Violence Against Women: From Critical Concerns to Collective Action" with the NGO Committee for the Status of Women in collaboration with the New York County Lawyers’ Association in New York City.
WCW Sponsors Violence against Women Conference
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2006
More than 200 advocates, researchers, and grassroots organizers convened at the New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA) on March 4, 2006 for “Violence against Women: From Critical Concerns to Collective Action,” a one-day conference that coincided with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Fiftieth Session. The conference, co-sponsored by the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the NYCLA, was part of a two-year advocacy effort of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Committee on the Status of Women, NY.
West Learns from East in Korea
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Peggy McIntosh presented a paper at the Women’s Worlds Conference in Seoul, Korea, held June 20-24, 2005. Her paper was entitled, “West Learns from East: A Western feminist scholar discusses learning from Asian Women’s Studies.” As an editorial board member of the Asian Journal in Women’s Studies, McIntosh met with other members of the board, as well as 64 scholars she had met in previous visits abroad. She also conferred with academic administrators at Ewha Womans University in Seoul about their proposed translation of more of her work into Korean. McIntosh has also been invited to return to the Women’s Studies Center at Dalian University in China and will make the trip within the next year.
Women's Rights Conference in Bangkok
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Jasmine Waddell, Ph.D. traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, October 27-30, 2005, to attend the tenth Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) International Forum where the urgent question, "How does change happen?" was debated.
Gender-Based Violence in South Africa
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Nan Stein, Ed.D., Jasmine Waddell, Ph.D. and Linda Williams, Ph.D. presented at the third South African Gender-Based Violence and Health Conference, designed to bring together researchers, clinicians, program managers, and policy-makers to discuss topics such as HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, vulnerable children, barrier methods, contraception, gender, and gender-based violence among others.
Feminist Presentation in Beijing
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Susan McGee Bailey, Ph.D. traveled to China in early November, 2005 to speak on feminist issues in education at The Center for the Study of Women’s Issues at Peking University.
Humiliation Conference in Germany
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Linda Hartling, Ph.D. was a presenter and facilitator at the fifth annual international meeting of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Network entitled, "Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People," in Berlin, Germany, in September, 2005.
Women's Worlds Conference in Korea
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2005
Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D. presented at the Women's Worlds Conference in Seoul, Korea, held June 20-24, 2005. Her paper was entitled, "West Learns from East: A Western Feminist Scholar Discusses Learning from Asian Women's Studies."
New International Understanding Fund
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2005
Margaret Keon, a longtime friend and former member of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) Board of Overseers, established The Margaret L. Keon International Understanding Initiative, through a $100,000 gift to WCW. One of the first projects supported by this generous gift was an exploratory visit to Mumbai, India in March 2005.
WCW at the UN
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2005
In March of 2005, with funding from The Margaret L. Keon International Understanding Initiative, representatives from the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) attended the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) conference in New York. The program focused on two issues: 1) review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the special session of the General Assembly, entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century" and 2) current challenges and forward-looking strategies for the advancement and empowerment of women and girls.
Rome Anti-Violence Center
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2005
In December 2004, Linda Williams, Ph.D. and Nan Stein, Ed.D. met with Orietta Gargano, executive director of the Rome Anti-Violence Center in Italy, to discuss collaborative efforts to stop violence against women and girls in the United States and Italy.
Lesbian Lives Conference in Dublin
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2005
In February 2005, Sumru Erkut, Ph.D. presented "Same-Sex Marriage: The 'Legitimization' of Lesbian Lives?" at the Lesbian Lives XII conference sponsored by and held at the Women's Education, Research and Resource Centre, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Linda Williams Travels to Stockholm for Conference
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2005
Linda Williams will travel to Stockholm, Sweden, in June 2005 for the Ninth European Conference on Traumatic Stress, where she will present “Violence Against Women and Children in Families Exposed to Terrorism and War.”
New Advisory Board for Human Dignity
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004
Jean Baker Miller, director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, Linda Hartling associate director of JBMTI, were appointed to the advisory board for Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies.
New Connections: Women's Leadership Center, Korea
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004
Representatives from the Uri Women's Leadership Center in Seoul, Korea, visited the Wellesley Centers for Women this past July.
WCW Researcher Presents Her Work in Australia
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004
Linda Williams, Ph.D. traveled to Brisbane, Australia, in September to present a paper, co-authored with Veronica Herrera, at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) 15th International Congress.
WCW Researchers in Taiwan and Hong Kong
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004
Nan Stein, Ed.D. and Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D. have been invited to participate in the First International Conference on Gender Equity Education in the Asia-Pacific Region, which will be hosted by the Population and Gender Studies Center at National Taiwan University in late November.
Icelandic Scholar Presents at WCW
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2004
Gudny Gudbjörnsdóttir, professor of education on the faculty of social sciences at the University of Iceland, was the speaker at the November 18th meeting of the Lunchtime Seminar Series.
Human Rights Activists From West Africa Visit WCW
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2004
In early February, Molly Melching, executive director of Tostan, a Senegal-based nongovernmental organization, and Kerthio Diarra, a Senegalese village woman and human rights activist, visited the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Melching and Diarra spent two days at the Centers meeting and talking with WCW staff before continuing on to Washington, D.C., and a congressional briefing on female genital cutting (FGC). The congressional hearings were scheduled for February 6, a day designated to recognize international efforts to end FGC and raise awareness about the issue; February 6 also marked 13 years of work for Tostan.
Feminism and New Research Methodology
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2004
Allison Tracy, research scientist and staff methodologist for the Centers, will participate in a symposium entitled “Feminism: Methodology and Methods” as part of the Sixth International Conference on Social Science Methodology. The conference, “Recent Developments and Applications in Social Research Methodology” will be held at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 16-20. Tracy will present her ideas regarding the use of latent variable mixture modeling, a newly available analysis method that integrates the assumption of diversity of experience with the power of large-sample statistical modeling, yielding results that honor both typical and atypical experiences. With this method, researchers can now scientifically identify qualitatively diverse subpopulations representing distinctly different experiences without anticipating those differences prior to analysis. By following up these analyses, researchers can identify and study in greater depth individuals whose experiences were not adequately captured. Tracy will illustrate this new approach with a study that shows how physical activity in adolescence influences patterns of sexual risk in different ways for different girls. This methodological tool has direct implications or the development of culturally sensitive interventions and public policies.
Canadian Psychiatrist and Scholar Works with WCW Researchers
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2004
Stella Blackshaw, who received her M.D. from the University of Manitoba, worked with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women during her sabbatical in March and April. Blackshaw, a professor of psychiatry and full-time faculty at the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, continued her studies of relational-cultural theory, focusing on its application in
helping patients suffering from borderline personality disorder. Blackshaw also revised and updated “Relational Theory and Key Clinical Applications,” a course for psychiatrists that she developed with Jean Baker Miller and Judith Jordan and which is offered by the American Psychiatric Association. In addition, she explored the development of relational hypotheses on the exploitation of patients by doctors and therapists and on gender differences in the incidence of sexual exploitation.
Peggy McIntosh Spends Time as a Visiting Professor in Hong Kong and Beijing
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2004
In November 2003 Peggy McIntosh spent a week at the Hong Kong Institute of Education as visiting scholar. She attended classes of preservice teachers, which were conducted in English and Cantonese, and gave two public talks: “Interactive Phases of Curricular and Personal Revision” and a presentation of SEED Project ideas and processes. With Dr. Betty Eng, formerly a SEED leader at Hong Kong International School, she visited an elementary school and has started an e-mail exchange with one of the sixth-grade students there.
In April 2004 McIntosh visited Peking University in Beijing, for the sixth time, as visiting scholar for the Center for Research on Women and also at the invitation of the Committee on Women in Marxism. At the request of scholars at the university, her talks focused on types of Western feminist theory that have developed over the last 20 years. In addition she presented at the Tianjin Foreign Studies Institute on her work on Emily Dickinson and on the SEED Project.
Conference on Violence Against Women Sparks Worldwide Interest
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
The announcement by the Wellesley Centers for Women of plans to host a spring 2004 conference, Innovations in Understanding Violence against Women, has generated unprecedented interest from all parts of the world. To date, more than 300 abstracts for conference presentations have been submitted from 45 countries, evidence of how much this subject is on the minds of researchers, advocates, activists and governmental as well as nongovernmental leaders everywhere.
Marx Presents Workshops at Conference on Global Education
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
Senior research scientist Fern Marx served as seminar resource person and facilitated two workshops at a week-long gathering of 38 high school educators from around the world in July 2003. InterCultural Promise: Educating a New Generation of Women Leaders was presented by Saint Mary’s College Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership in Notre Dame, Indiana. Drawing on the global education work of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and augmented by guest presenters, the seminar enabled participants to reflect on the challenges facing educators of today’s young women and to share lessons learned from dealing with those challenges.
Presenting work from her WCW project on Raising Competent and Confident Girls, Marx used one workshop to focus on the interplay of gender equity and adolescent development when instilling leadership concepts in high school girls. In another session, she introduced participants to leadership development through social activism, using the WCW teaching guide, Shaping a Better World: Global Issues/Gender Issues, authored by Janet Kahn and Susan Bailey. Participants in the seven-day conference included lay and religious educators from Bangladesh, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and five U.S. states. They came from public high schools, Catholic, Islamic, and Native American schools, and from girls-only and coeducational institutions.
Williams Presents Research at Conference in South Africa
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
In May, Linda Williams made her third trip to South Africa to participate in and present two papers at the Second South African Gender-Based Violence and Health Conference, held in Johannesburg. This conference brought together over 200 participants—predominantly those working to stop violence against women in South Africa, but also including representatives from Eritrea, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Cameroon, Canada, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States. The three-day conference addressed the critical
issues of child sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS and gender based violence, and domestic violence and health issues.
Hartling Part of International Meeting on Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
Linda Hartling, associate director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute, was an invited presenter at the first annual Meeting on Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Paris this fall. The meeting was coordinated by Evelin Lindner of the University of Oslo and hosted by the French Maison des Sciences de l’Homme. Using Relational-Cultural Theory as a theoretical foundation, Hartling’s talk explored the complex dynamics of shame and humiliation that can lead to profound and enduring psychological and social problems. On the basis of the research she has done to develop a scale that will assess cumulative experiences of humiliation and fear of humiliation, she proposed possibilities for interrupting and transforming these life-damaging experiences. Other presenters examined the connection between humiliation and armed conflict, using the examples of Somalia and Rwanda; the systemic humiliation of subjugated groups in Africa; and the treatment of women in postwar Iraq.
The meeting on October 12-13 launched an international, interdisciplinary network of scholars and activists who will work collaboratively to understand, prevent, alleviate, and eliminate the pervasive and destructive consequences of derision and degradation. The network, which envisions collective efforts promoting dignity and mutual respect for all people, is the first step in the founding of a center for human dignity and humiliation studies, to be anchored at Columbia University in New York.
USAID Publishes WCW Research Review
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
The Office of Women in Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development has funded and published a review of research literature on gender violence in schools in developing countries conducted at WCW. The report, “Unsafe Schools: A Literature Review of School Related Gender Based Violence in Developing Countries” was written by Jo H. Kim and Susan M. Bailey with Sumru Erkut , Nada Aoudeh, Ineke Ceder, and Victoria L. Banyard. The report identifies, annotates and synthesizes research studies and projects/interventions addressing primary- and secondary-school-related gender-based violence.
Gannett Addresses Key Gatherings in Australia and New Zealand
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2003
Ellen Gannett , codirector of the Centers’ National Institute on Out-of-School Time, traveled this fall to New Zealand and Australia, consulting with colleagues and speaking at major gatherings of policymakers and program providers.
On September 18, Gannett gave a talk entitled “The Changing Landscape of Out-of-School Time in the United States” for the Australian Network of Community Activities at the Parliament House in Sydney. The audience included providers of Out-of-School programs, government officials, and community leaders. While in Sydney, she also visited two out-of-school-time programs including one that serves Aboriginal children and their families and focuses on cultural and artistic expression. Later in the week, Gannett delivered the keynote address at the National Out-of-School Care and Recreation Conference in Wellington, New Zealand.
Commenting on her experience, Gannett said, “This trip has strengthened my belief in the importance of multiculturalism in out-of-school time. Both Australians and New Zealanders have a deep respect for the land and traditions of the indigenous Aborigine and Maori cultures. In Wellington, the conference participants were greeted by young people with song, dance, and prayer to give thanks for the opportunity to work hand-in-hand on behalf of families and children. I was deeply moved by these rituals and the revitalization of customs that might have been destroyed were it not for citizens’ commitment to officially reclaim the history of the indigenous people.”
Empowering Girls: Nigerian Activists Focus on Gender and Sexuality
By Deborah L. Tolman
Last May, I met with an international group of women who provide reproductive-health and sexuality-education services to adolescent girls in developing countries with support from the International Women’s Health Coalition.
Nepalese Activist Meets with WCW Researchers
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2003
Anuradha Koirala, the founder of Maiti Nepal, visited WCW in March, meeting with executive director Susan Bailey and several members of the research staff to talk about her work on the trafficking of young girls in Nepal. Koirala founded Maiti Nepal in 1993 to address the growing problems confronting young women and girls lured to India and other bordering countries by promises of work and a better life, only to find themselves in sexual slavery. Maiti Nepal provides shelter, rehabilitation, and advocacy for these young women and for girls and boys who are destitute and in danger of being trafficked. As part of the rehabilitation program, Maiti Nepal has set up border-station teams of young women who have returned from India and are able to recognize trafficking situations. They intervene by challenging the traffickers and telling their own stories of being forced into sexual slavery to the young women and girls being taken across the border. This approach has proven to be effective in preventing at least some traffickers from crossing into India with young women and it has provided important work for the abused young women who have returned to Nepal. After years of working at the grassroots level, Koirala has recently been appointed to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare in Nepal where she will be better able to shape government policy.
Spring Luncheon Seminar Series Opens with Focus on Reproductive Rights in China
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2003
Joan Kaufman opened the WCW spring luncheon seminar series with “Bringing Cairo to Beijing: The Global Women‘s Movement, Reproductive Rights and the Chinese Family-Planning Program.” Formerly the Ford Foundation program officer for the Gender and Reproductive Health Program in China, Kaufman is currently a special consultant on global issues at WCW. Focusing on the recent history of China’s emerging women’s movement, Kaufman highlighted the influence of two major international conferences, the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, on the rethinking and reform of China’s population and family-planning policy. Both conferences addressed the tension between national population-control programs and the reproductive rights of individuals, and both espoused a position affirming the primacy of rights protection and women’s social and economic empowerment. The Fourth World Conference on Women was a catalytic event for many women in China who were exposed to the international women’s movement for the first time and, as a result, began to address the negative impacts on women of China’s population program.
International Human Rights Experts Consult with WCW Staff
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2003
This spring, researchers at the Centers had the opportunity to meet and work with two distinguished international human-rights advocates, Indai Lourdes Sajor of the Philippines and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Sajor and Shalhoub-Kevorkian met with organizers of the Center’s spring 2004 International Conference on Violence Against Women.
Shockro Fund Brings Asian Colleagues to the Centers
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2002
This fall, with support from the Centers’ Ellen Krosney Shockro International Hospitality Fund, WCW became temporary home to two distinguished Asian scholars.
Joan Kaufman Consults on Global Issues
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2002
Joan Kaufman joined WCW this past summer as special consultant to the executive director on global issues. From 1996 to 2001 Joan was the Ford Foundation’s program officer for reproductive health in China where she was responsible for formulating the foundation’s
reproductive-health programming and then supporting work in the fields of sexuality, reproductive health, and gender throughout China. During the 2002 academic year she was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. In addition to her role here at WCW this year, she is a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School in the East Asian legal studies program.
Peggy McIntosh Visits Four Asian Universities
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2002
In May 2002 Peggy McIntosh , co-director of the Centers’ National S.E.E.D. Project on Inclusive Curriculum, visited four Asian universities. At Chinese University of Hong Kong, hosted by the Gender Studies program, she lectured on “Coming to See Privilege Systems of Gender and Race.” At Hong Kong Institute of Education, she met with Professor Betty Eng and colleagues, including the dean of the Institute. Dr. Eng co-led S.E.E.D. seminars for several years at Hong Kong International School before joining the Institute of Education. In China, at Peking University in Beijing, Peggy lectured on Sylvia Plath to students in the English department, and met with deputy director Professor Tao Jie and others connected with the Center for Research on Women. Peggy traveled with Professor Tao Jie and Professor Zhu Hong of Boston University to China’s Dalian University to do presentations and hold discussions at a three-day conference, “Culture, Language, and Women,” hosted by Professor Li Xiao Jiang, and attended by scholars from many parts of China.
S.E.E.D. Seminar Starts in Africa
Research & Action Report Fall/Winter 2002
Melissa Madden of the International School of Tanzanyika in Tanzania attended the July 2002 New S.E.E.D. Leaders’ Workshop held in San Anselmo, CA. By leading a monthly seminar in her school, Melissa will be following in the footsteps of other S.E.E.D. leaders in international schools in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver), Latin America (Buenos Aires), and Asia (Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Thailand, Taipei, and Tokyo). The aim of S.E.E.D. seminars is to make space for faculty to discuss ways of making school climates, curricula, and teaching methods more gender fair and multiculturally equitable.
Korean American Women Working in U.S. Experience Globalization through Cultural Conflicts
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2002
Postdoctoral research fellow Jo H. Kim, Ph.D., recently joined the staff of the Wellesley Centers for Women. Her project, Experiencing
Globalization: The Construction of Gender and Ethnicity in the Transnational Corporation (TNCs)Workplace, focuses on Korean immigrant women workers’ experiences of globalization in the workplace.
Program Brings South African Women in Higher Education to the U.S.
Research & Action Report Spring/Summer 2002
The Wellesley Centers for Women hosted a reception recently for a group of South African women participating in the Higher Education Resource Service (HERS) Program. The month-long program helps to raise awareness of the politics of Higher Education and to provide valuable information and training that will assist them in establishing a stronger position for career development within the academy.