Visiting Scholars and Wellesley Centers for Women Faculty Present to Public in Lunchtime Seminars
On October 17 at 12:30 p.m., visiting scholar Beatrice Achieng Nas presents a talk at Cheever House entitled “Women and Africa: Where Is the Wasted Potential?” The lecture is part of the Wellesley Centers for Women’s semester-long program of lunchtime seminars designed to engage Wellesley students, staff, faculty, and members of the public in a discussion of the latest research on gender, women, and children.
The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) are among the largest gender-based research-and-action centers in the nation. Scholars at the Centers conduct social science research and evaluation, develop theory and publications, and implement training programs on issues that put women’s lives and women’s concerns at the center.
One of the primary ways the WCW shares its research with the community is through its lunchtime seminars, a unique opportunity to hear from WCW scholars about their current projects. The seminars have been an integral part of the WCW for more than a decade.
“Our lunchtime seminars offer members of the College and neighboring communities the opportunity to come to our offices and hear about the Centers' research findings, some works-in-progress, and new initiatives,” said Donna Tambascio, deputy director for communications and external outreach at the WCW. “The seminars are sometimes the first time material is presented to the public—even before data is published in scholarly journals or presented at professional conferences. There are often really meaningful discussions and Q&A sessions between the speakers and the audience—these can inform the way we share our work with the public as well as next steps for building on the research and programming.”
The line-up of programs this fall features senior researcher-economist Sari Kerr, Women’s Review of Books editor-in-chief Amy Hoffman, and senior researcher at the National Institute on Out-of-School Time Georgia Hall.
Visiting scholar Bernice Acheing Nas presents her work on October 17 in a talk entitled “Women in Africa: Where Is the Wasted Potential?” Nas is the executive director and founder of Pearl Community Empowerment Foundation, a Ugandan national rural development and empowerment NGO, currently operating in rural communities of Tororo and Buteleja districts, Eastern Uganda. She is at Wellesley this semester as a Community Solutions Program Fellow through the International Research & Exchanges Board, studying to research-based approaches to evaluating educational program effectiveness while sharing her expertise and perspectives on education and poverty in rural Uganda with WCW colleagues. During her lunchtime seminar, Nas will speak on the challenges and opportunities of women’s education as a tool for development.
The last event of the month offers an opportunity to discuss a timely topic for October’s recognition of Anti-Bullying Month. On October 31, Linda Charmaraman and student Bernice Chan ’16 present “Stereotypes, Stigma, and Status: Results from the Adolescent Media & Identity Project.” While most programs are held at Cheever House, the WCW now holds at least one lecture each semester in a space even closer to students and faculty. The October 31 event will be held in Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center, room 413.
Seminars are recorded and available on the WCW Audio Archive.