Writing the Next Chapter in Women's Education: The Compelling Imperatives
By Susan E. Lennon, executive director of the Women's College Coalition
Often quoted but seldom cited, French journalist Alphonse Karr once wrote, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” His perennially valid observation takes on new significance in the context of the lives of women and girls around the globe. In classroom and legislature, in corporate boardroom and non-governmental organization, we talk about globalization: its effects on the economy, on politics, on security, on education. Global connectivity, or at least the ever-increasing awareness of our interconnected relationships, seems to have transformed every aspect of society. Yet if we examine women’s lives and women’s leadership throughout the world, globalization seems in some ways to have rendered little change at all.

Protecting Women's Rights at the Border through Advocacy and Education
By Nina Rabin, director of border research, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
The maxim “think globally, act locally” is particularly easy to practice at international borders, where local issues are inherently global and the effects of worldwide migration are apparent in acutely immediate ways. When I joined the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) just over a year ago, I sought out initiatives at the heart of this convergence--those that would address the local impacts of globalization on underserved women living in Southern Arizona. My background as an attorney representing immigrants and low-income workers led me toward programs that would alleviate the negative effects of U.S. immigration and border policies on women immigrants’ rights. As a member of SIROW, the research arm of the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Arizona, I have had the opportunity to develop projects that harness the University’s research and education capabilities to improve conditions for immigrant women, while at the same time providing students with a unique education in globalization.