BU Today Article featuring UNITWIN Initiative

"BU at Forefront of UN Push for Women’s Studies Program will foster education, activism in India" By Vicky Waltz

Shahla Haeri, director of the BU Women’s Studies Program (left), and Brenda Gael McSweeney, a visiting scholar in the Women’s Studies Program, founded the Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development. Photo by Vicky Waltz

Three years ago, at a Paris meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Brenda Gael McSweeney described a case study that her students were doing in West Bengal. McSweeney, a visiting scholar in the BU Women’s Studies Program and a former UN executive, told her colleagues that while the project originally involved helping both male and female villagers earn their livelihood through customary means, such as practicing traditional medicine, it was the women who had become most interested.

“My colleagues said this study was exactly what they were looking for: universities that would be more than theoretical ivory towers,” McSweeney recalls. “Universities that would instead provide a two-way interface between nongovernmental and civil society activists and those in academia.” Thus was conceived the Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development, comprising the BU Women’s Studies Program and participating Indian partners.

Now that network has led to BU’s becoming the first university in Massachusetts and the third in the United States to join a larger UN-funded effort to promote research in women's and gender studies. The effort, UNITWIN (university twinning and networking scheme), pairs universities with nongovernmental organizations and community activists worldwide to promote an integrated system of research, training, information, and documentation of activities in UNESCO’s spheres of competence. It also provides advice and expertise to assist partner countries in gender, culture, and development studies.

The University is partnered with three universities and two NGOs in India: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), in New Delhi; Punjabi University at Patiala, Punjab; Visva-Bharati University, in West Bengal; the Bhab Initiative, in West Bengal; and the Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (CRCI)/The Lime Centre, in New Delhi. Coordinated at Boston University by McSweeney and Shahla Haeri, a College of Arts and Sciences associate professor of anthropology and director of the CAS Women’s Studies Program, the project has been endorsed by both Koïchiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO, and by BU President Robert A. Brown.

“We think that this program is what gender and women’s studies are all about,” Haeri says. “There is so much opportunity for exchanging ideas and learning from our partners in India. We believe in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural work, and this program ties in directly with Dr. Brown’s global initiative.”

Officially launched in September, the partnership hopes, among other things, to help Indian universities and nongovernmental organizations develop their own women’s studies programs. “More and more universities from different countries that would never have considered a women’s studies program 10 or 20 years ago are realizing that there’s a real need and demand for it,” Haeri says. “Now they’re not only establishing centers, but they’re actively trying to connect with other universities to have models to look at and incorporate those into their own needs and objectives.”

One of the program’s largest undertakings is an international symposium planned by Visva-Bharati University for December 2008 in West Bengal. The event will include conferences and lectures about women’s livelihoods, rights and political voice, and education. Haeri hopes to involve professors and students from both BU and India in scholar exchanges and internships.

“It’s interesting to see how very grassroots movements resonate with what’s happening now in the highest political levels,” says McSweeney, citing India’s 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, which passed in 1992 and provide a 33 percent reservation for women in local government bodies, among other provisions.

“Community involvement is crucial,” Haeri says. “And we must involve men as well as women. After all, gender involves two sexes, and men have to be involved to appreciate that gender equality is good for the welfare of the family and the community.”

Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.

Article courtesy of BU Today http://www.bu.edu/today/

Please see the following links for more information on the UNITWIN partners:
Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) http://jmi.nic.in/
The Punjabi University at Patiala http://www.punjabiuniversity.ac.in/pages/dlis/dlis.htm
Visva-Bharati http://www.visva-bharati.ac.in/
The Bhab Initiative http://srihaswani.com/
Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative (CRCI) http://crci.4t.com/

Yaaminey Mubayi speaks at the India Gate Lawn

On November 7th, 2007, Yaaminey Mubayi took part in an outreach event on Federalism, ‘Sanjha Safar: Public Discourse,’ at the India Gate Lawn, New Delhi. The event was organized by The Asian Heritage Foundation. Dr. Yaaminey Mubayi was a feature speaker presenting “Jaya Jagannath! The Links between People and Spaces in the Ritual Community of Puri.” Yaaminey, a co-coordinator for CRCI (Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative)/ UNITWIN , shared her work linking community development issues with built heritage conservation in Nabha and Amritsar in the state of Punjab. She illustrated the strong impetus provided by popular feeling for heritage and the importance of people's concerns in development programs. Her work on the pilgrimage sites of Puri and Amritsar demonstrates the power inherent in culture as a medium to drive development initiatives.

International Visitor interacts on UNITWIN

On United Nations (UN) Day, October 24, 2007, Gita Sen called on BU's Women Studies Program colleagues. Discussions focused on Gita's commitment to systematically infusing gender processes into programs and policies at different levels, with Unifem (the UN Development Fund for Women) as a catalyst. She believes in building the evidence base "from below" then moving to the policy level.

Gita is currently a Professor at the Centre for Public Policy within the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Here she is pictured perusing UNITWIN's forthcoming volume of essays.

Photo by: Carla Pack-Bailey

Our UNITWIN Network on the UNESCO portal!

Boston University joins UNESCO’s university twinning network

Paris 18-09-2007 - Following a cooperation agreement signed between UNESCO and Boston University (BU), United States, the UNITWIN (University Twinning) Network on Gender, Culture and People-Centred Development at BU is now part of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme.

The UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture and People-Centred Development is co-ordinated by BU’s Women's Studies Program. It aims to promote research, training and documentation in women and gender studies and assist partner countries in gender, culture and development studies. This UNITWIN Network will further promote North-South Cooperation through five partner higher education institutions in Asia and enhance interaction with UNESCO and between UNESCO Chairs in the field of women's issues.

The UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme comprises over 750 institutions in 125 countries. Launched in 1992, it aims to advance research, training and programme development in higher education through inter-university cooperation.
Contact: unitwin@unesco.org


Related links
UNESCO’s UNITWIN network

What I encourage everyone to do: Disrupt!

By Shiwali Patel, Boston University 2005 graduate, former Community Educator for Adults and Adolescents at the DC Rape Crisis Center, current law student at Washington College of Law at American University.

It’s an unfortunate reality that sexual violence is widespread to the extent that one in three women worldwide will be a sexual assault survivor. I’ve learned about sexual violence in depth at Boston University (BU) as a women’s studies student and at the DC Rape Crisis Center (DCRCC) where I was a community educator in Washington, D.C. for almost two years. As a student I researched global sexual violence and learned about the horrors faced by many women and children in war torn regions where rape is often used as a tactic of war. Also, to connect more with the issue, I researched campus rapes in the United States and shockingly discovered how so few survivors of rape are supported by their schools.

Another reality I came to understand more clearly as a student and an advocate was societal belief in damaging myths about sexual violence. Adults, adolescents, college students and children have expressed to me, in different ways, many false assumptions about rape. These include: sometimes women are at fault for being raped because “of wearing a short skirt,” “of being too sexual,” “of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” “men can’t control their sexual urges,” or that “she really wanted it then, but changed her mind and cried rape afterwards.” After listening to this, I would scream in my head thinking, but what if she wanted to wear that skirt? Does this mean that I can’t go anywhere in clothes that I like to wear without being blamed if I’m attacked? How about the many stories I’ve heard about women not reporting? What about children? How are they asking for it? The people who spread these myths disregard the implications of what they are saying- that it’s not the rapists fault for rape, that the victim is to blame, that men and boys aren’t raped, and that rape is just about sexual gratification. All of these are false and in reality, rape is a violent act that is used to overpower and humiliate its victims.

Privilege, power, control, oppression, -ism, hate, have all been a big part of my vocabulary when understanding sexual violence as a community educator for DCRCC. For almost two years, I’ve heard numerous personal stories about victimization, and never did anyone “ask for it.” The pain was real, and so was the healing. In working with the elderly, sex workers, college students, homeless women and men, adolescents, women formerly incarcerated, immigrants and city-wide professionals, I found that survivors often have many reasons for not reporting their victimization and seeking support services. These reasons included fear of deportation, language barriers, lack of trust in law enforcement, shame, dependency on the perpetrator(s), fear of retaliation from the attacker(s), disabilities, and lack of knowledge on the law and resources for help. I’ve also learned that perpetrators were often aware of the barriers and the power they had in silencing their victims.

Thus, to conclude, these learning experiences have only encouraged me to do what I encourage everyone to do: disrupt. Disrupt people’s false assumptions about rape. Disrupt the pattern of most rapists, who rape more than once and get away with it. Disrupt the community that silences its victims. Disrupt the system which does not support survivors. Until we disrupt, we’ll have a heck of a longer time seeing any real and positive change.

Breaking News!

UNESCO's Chief of International Cooperation in Higher Education and Manager - UNESCO Chairs, Dr. Sonia Bahri (at left) visits the Women Studies Program at Boston University. She shares the news that the UNITWIN (University Twinning) Network on Gender, Culture and People-centered Development becomes official in September--- the sole UNITWIN now based in Massachusetts! With her (left to right) are Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney, initator of this UNITWIN Network; Dr. Barbara Gottfried, Women Studies Program faculty; and Maryam Shahsahebi, WSP program manager.

A word from Dublin from Carrie Preston

Carrie Preston, Assistant Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Boston University, studies gender, performance, and nationhood in the context of world modernisms. She participated in a 2007 summer seminar at Trinity College, Dublin, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her research in Dublin concerns Irish literature and theatre throughout the first half of the twentieth century and the Irish transition from British colony to an independent state. Using the archives of the Abbey Theatre, she examines women’s participation in the national theatre movement as playwrights, performers, and directors, with a focus on Lady Augusta Gregory and Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh. She also considers how women’s participation in the struggle for national independence intersected with the international women’s movement and the battle for full participation in national cultures. She has discovered that Irish theatre, Irish nationalism, and Irish feminism are productively understood in an international context. The national theatre borrows performance techniques and styles from German folk theatre, Russian dance, and Japanese Noh performance, among others. Irish nationalism and feminism also benefit from the discourses, ideas, and strategies developed in similar movements around the world. All may be seen as international performances that contribute to world modernisms.

For additional photos please see her photo story at http://www.flickr.com/photos/10266745@N03/sets/72157603870806266/

Coming Attraction!

Painting: Anuradha Dey

Volume of Essays on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development - India

Editor: Brenda Gael McSweeney

General Editing: Mieke Windecker

Governance and political voice

Public Space and Women’s Rights: Fine Tuning Democracy

Kumkum Bhattacharya

Engendering Local Democracy: The Impact of Quotas for

Women in India’s Panchayats

Niraja Gopal Jayal

She’s in Charge Now: An Examination of Women’s

Leadership in the Panchayati Raj Institutions in Karnataka

Shiwali Patel

Livelihoods and education

Srihaswani: a gender case study

Krishno Dey, Chandana Dey and Brenda Gael McSweeney

with Rajashree Ghosh

Hold the pen-plough and till the paper-land: Success

story of a movement for education and some related issues

Kumar Rana, Liby T. Johnson and Subhrangsu Santra

Poverty of Choice: Gender and Livelihoods in Punjab

Yaaminey Mubayi

Women’s Rights

A Uniform Civil Code towards Gender Justice

Leila Seth

Missing Daughters: Socio-Economic and Cultural Dynamics

Of Adverse Sex-Ratio in Punjab

Malkit Kaur

Contested Terrains: Gender Justice and Citizenship in

South Asia

Shahla Haeri

"Me and an Owl"

Boston University's Women Studies Program presented “Me and an Owl", a new documentary about the United States military and camp-town women in the Republic of Korea, on 22 March 2007. In this provocative documentary, camp-town women have agreed to allow their faces to be exposed. Since the end of World War II, the US has maintained a sprawling network of military bases in Asia. In conjunction with Japan and the Philippines, South Korea has occupied an axial position in the US military’s global strategy- initially against communist forces and now against terrorist forces and other unidentified threats. Two thirds of the US military overseas bases are still concentrated in Germany, Japan and South Korea. This development has grave and far-reaching implications for the lives of tens of millions of people in various host countries in terms of employment, family, gender relations and sexuality, human rights and environmental security. (Source: WSP Flyer)

The documentary is based on camp-town women’s interviews. They openly discuss the challenges they have encountered as impoverished women. As an attempt for survival the women have become workers in the sex industry which caters to the international forces that have bases in South Korea. Many of the women interviewed feel as if they are invisible or not treated as human beings because of their position. However, in most cases the sex industry is the women’s only available profession. Gabriel Maeck, a junior at Boston University says, “To make money as a prostitute is a choice a woman can make; however, many times it is not a choice and these women are abused by their own society and their johns.”

He then notes that My Sister’s Place is a non-governmental organization in South Korea featured in “Me and the Owl.” This organization is offering the women in the film and the many like them a voice, skills and solidarity. Organizations like this will enable women to take control of their own self. If women are educated about their choices and are given an alternative way of life – they will be able to extinguish the link of impoverishment and the sex industry.

Jodi Slezak, a junior at Boston University and a student in the Gender and International Development class, found the movie very insightful. She says, "One of the most valuable points of the movie was the way the characters were developed realistically. The film developed the lives and thoughts of these women, in order to allow the audience to sympathize and understand them as real people. In a remarkable way the film makers found a way to allow anyone, even middle class Americans, to relate to the experiences of these women.”

Women are the Solution to Africa's Problems

A presentation was made by Rebecca Tinsley on 8 March 2007 entitled “Why Women are the Solutions to Africa’s problems”; it was cosponsored by the Women Studies Program and the African Studies Center at Boston University. Rebecca Tinsley is a British journalist and the Director of Waging Peace, a non-governmental organization focusing on ending the crisis in Darfur. Tinsley believes that African women are the key to the continent’s success. She says, “Women are the agents of social change.” Tinsley focuses on a bottom up development model. She wants to help empower women by implementing micro loans, education and training programs. If women can have access to micro loans and education or training they will be able to advance development in their own communities.

Tinsley’s insightful lecture led her to discuss The Rwanda Girls School, a boarding school which will provide Rwandan women the opportunity for education. In order to prevent the reoccurrence of atrocities like the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the establishment of safe educational institutions is necessary. The Rwanda Girls School which is being developed by Tinsley has a two-fold strategy. It will address the gender divide by providing technology to all students in an attempt to eliminate the digital divide. The second aspect of the strategy will focus on eliminating the social hierarchies that enable discrimination against women in Rwanda. Meredith Gray, a Boston University sophomore says, “In broadening girls’ skills, the Rwanda Girls School ensures that women will help determine policy, culture and social views within Rwanda. With the attitude that any committed, well-educated person can make a difference, The Rwanda Girls School will prepare Rwandans for social change.”

This entry was compiled from two students work: Margaret Hartley and Meredith Gray. For more information on the Rwanda Girls School please visit: http://www.rwandagirlsschool.org/about.htm.