Allyson M. Lowe		Margaret K. McLaughlin

Researchers from development agencies to academia have recognized that women are the cornerstones, catalysts, and linchpins of development and democracy in every society. Thus it’s particularly alarming that “‘more than 100 million women and girls are missing’” around the globe as a consequence of gender discrimination, as Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn recently asserted in the New York Times Magazine (quoting Amartya Sen). Kristof and WuDunn observe that “in many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence” in society. Setting out a manifesto for the twenty-first century, they argue that ending the global oppression of women should be at the center of this era’s human rights agenda, particularly since women’s empowerment would be key to unraveling many of the world’s most pressing challenges (2009).

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Allison Kimmich

From Classroom to Community in Women’s Studies
By Allison Kimmich, executive director of the National Women’s Studies Association

Community service gained a high-profile advocate last year when President Barack Obama was sworn into office. On the eve of his inauguration, the president painted walls with volunteers in a shelter for homeless and runaway teenagers and greeted patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. More than simple photo opportunities, these preinaugural events reflected President Obama’s roots as a community organizer and his calls for renewed commitment to national service. Against this high-profile political backdrop, the trend toward promoting civic engagement as a key learning goal in U.S. higher education seems like a fitting complement.

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