The Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen), in International Studies and Programs (ISP), draws together the strengths of the program in Women, Gender, and Social Justice (WGSJ) in the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) and the College of Social Science (SSC) and the Gender, Development and Globalization Program (GDG) in ISP. These programs have historically looked at gender in the US and in international contexts, respectively. The new center emphasizes women and gender in a global context, with distinctive new programs promoting teaching, research, and outreach relevant to 21st century concerns.
The center's Mission Statement describes its purpose as follows:
The Center for Gender in Global Context is an interdisciplinary center in International Studies and Programs focused on gender, feminist, and women's studies. Its affiliated faculty and students study how women and men from diverse racial, ethnic, national, and sexual backgrounds live in and engage with the world and how processes of global change affect gender relations locally, nationally, and internationally. Working in conjunction with the academic colleges, the center promotes outstanding undergraduate and graduate education, facilitates research and scholarship of the highest caliber, and undertakes innovative outreach and active learning initiatives.
In teaching and active learning, the center also works with colleges and departments to provide students with academic and active learning opportunities focused on gender and global change through gender-related degrees, specializations, and minors. In addition, new co-curricular activities will help students develop cultural competencies and global consciousness, including gender-focused internships, research mentoring, and study abroad programs. These and other active learning experiences will deepen students' understandings of gender relations, the cultural and material politics of place, and the relationships between global and local transformations in real-world contexts. Students will be prepared to be socially responsible citizens, professionals, and leaders of the 21st century.
Outreach to Michigan communities, families, and schools will increase knowledge about how local lives are affected by global processes and heighten appreciation for gender, racial, ethnic, sexual identity, and other forms of diversity.
The center concentrates on gender and women's studies through interdisciplinary, comparative, transnational, and trans-cultural approaches. It connects faculty and students in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, residential colleges, agriculture and natural resources, and professional fields and has support from all associated academic deans. Those affiliated with the center will consider how global flows of ideas, people, trade, and new communication networks are transforming women and men's lives and gender relations, and they will examine how gendered power structures affect processes of globalization. The intersections of gender identities with racial, ethnic, sexual, socioeconomic, and other differences will be highlighted in the context of global change.
Anne Ferguson and Lisa Fine, Co-Directors
Meet the Staff!
To schedule an appointment with the GenCen advisor, please use MSU's online Advising Appointment System—select "Women's and Gender Studies" from the list.
Walk-in advising hours will not be offered during the summer months. They will resume in Fall Semester 2013.
The Fall 2012 GenCen Newsletter is now available.
The Summer 2013 GenCen Digest is now available.
The Spring 2013 GPID Resource Bulletin is now available.
New GPID Working Papers available!
WP 301: Women, Men, Children and Livestock: Partnerships and Gendered Negotiations in the Ful'be Household Livestock Enterprise, by Karen Marie Greenough.
WP 302: Introducing Functional Time Use (FTU) Analysis: A Gender-Sensitive Approach to Labor Time, by Lisa Ringhofer.
GPID Resource Bulletin: call for Book Reviews
The Gendered Perspectives on International Development Resource Bulletin recently received review copies of a number of titles, and is looking for interested parties to review them. Chosen reviewers will be able to keep a copy of the title they review, and their review will be published with authorial credit in an edition of the Bulletin. Attached is a list of books available for review. Interested individuals should contact the Bulletin at bulletin@msu.edu.
2012-2013 Gendered Perspectives on International Development (GPID) Working Papers Editorial Board:
GenCen is pleased to announce its 2012-2013 editorial board for the GPID Working Papers series. This year's board consists of ten highly acclaimed scholars in the fields of gender studies, masculinity studies, and development. The members are: Dr. Valentine Moghadam, Dr. Cathy Rakowski, Dr. Krista Van Vleet, Dr. Ethel Brooks, Dr. B. Jane Parpart, Dr. Nata Duvvury, Dr. Robin Haarr, Dr. Dorothy Hodgson, Dr. Adam Jones, and Dr. Barbara Sutton.
Valentine Moghadam is Director of the International Affairs at Northeastern University and focuses on sociology and development.
Cathy Rakowski is an Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Rural Sociology at Ohio State University, and her work is on sociology and women's studies.
Krista Van Vleet is the Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Bowdoin College, and is based in anthropology.
Ethel Brooks is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Rutgers University, and her work is also on sociology.
Jane Parpart is a Professor of History at Dalhousie University, and focuses on conflict and peacekeeping as well as international relations and gender.
Nata Duvvury is the Co-Director of the Global Women's Studies Programme at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and her area of expertise is economics.
Robin Haarr is Professor of Criminal Justice at Eastern Kentucky, and looks at human trafficking and violence against women.
Dorothy Hodgson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University, and looks at development, religion, and transnational politics.
Adam Jones is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. His area of focus is on masculinity and genocide and conflict.
Barbara Sutton is an Associate Professor and Honors Program Director of Women's Studies at SUNY Albany, and her focus is on sociology, especially body politics and human rights.
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