BC names new Calderwood University Professor in Islamic and Asian Art

Emine Fetvaci, a prominent scholar and accomplished teacher whose research areas include the arts of the book in the Islamic world, and Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid art and architecture, has been appointed to Boston College’s Norma Jean Calderwood University Professorship in Islamic and Asian Art, effective January 1, 2021.

Emine Fetvaci (Daniel Star)

"Emine Fetvaci is one of the world's leading scholars of Ottoman painting, and she is playing an important role in redefining Islamic art history by exploring Islamic art in conversation with a broader early modern world,” said Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J.

“She brings to Boston College both this scholarly expertise and a deep commitment to formative liberal arts teaching. I am delighted that she will be joining us as the Calderwood Professor of Islamic and Asian Art."

read more here @ Boston College

Four leading female academics enter race to become Trinity provost

The Irish Times:

Four leading female academics have put their names forward for the position of provost of Trinity College Dublin.

Prof Linda Doyle, former dean of research; Prof Linda Hogan, former vice-provost; Prof Jane Ohlmeyer, professor of history and chairwoman of the Irish Research Council; and Dr Sarah Alyn-Stacey, associate professor in French, have all confirmed to colleagues that they have applied for the position.

Provost Patrick Prendergast is due to finish his 10-year term on July 31st, 2021, and the next head of Trinity will take over the following day.

The identity of any other applicants is unknown as the initial interview process is confidential.

However, the number of senior female academics who have entered the race raises the possibility that Trinity could have its first female provost in its 428-year history.

Applications for the position of provost closed at midday on Friday, and initial interviews will take place during December and January.

read more here @ Irish Times

Women Around the World: Year in Review

So, another year is done. How did 2017 shape up for women and girls around the globe? Here is a selection of news:

Council on Foreign Relations:

• Record-breaking Women's March on January 21, 2017
• Global #MeToo campaign
• Legal advances in the Middle East
• U.S. Women, Peace, and Security Act is enacted
• U.S. slashes funding for global women’s health
• Legal reform on child marriage
• Gains in women's political leadership
• Low participation in peace talks
• Global migration crisis grows
• Female fighters combat terrorism

Women Leadership in the Worldwide Community:

• Almost four in ten businesses have no women in senior management positions in G7 countries
• The proportion of senior business roles held by women globally stands at only 24%
• There is an increase in the percentage of firms that have no places for women in senior management
• In G7 countries only 22% of companies have women as part of their senior staff
• 39% of companies have no women in senior roles whatsoever in G7 countries
• In Japan, with its powerhouse economy, only 7 percent of companies have women in senior roles
• Germany, another country with a strong economy, has only a 15% rate of countries with women in senior roles

News Deeply:

• women's march
• U.S. cuts funding to UNFPA
• Canada announces international assistance policy
• Family Planning receives funding boost
• advancements in women's rights globally
• Global #metoo campaign
• widening of the Global Gender Gap

The Lilly:

• the year in Movies

How Women Fought For The Right To Be Educated Throughout History

Great little article from Bustle:

Women's pursuit of an equal, in-depth, high-level education as adults has met many stumbling blocks over the centuries: inferior standards (or the complete absence) of education for young girls, beliefs in women's intellectual inferiority, and worries that education in non-domestic subjects wouldn't adequately prepare women for their "natural" role as wives and mothers. To the women of a century ago, the fact that 11.7 million women started college in America in 2016 — a majority of the total number of new students — would seem like a miracle. The ability to get your degrees as a woman isn't something to be taken for granted, so let's have a look at the history of women who just wanted to have the same education as everybody else — and the incredible fight it took to get them there.

read entire article here @ Bustle

Welsh Women

From Wales Online comes these three interesting articles on Welsh women:

Welsh Women & The Vote:

In the summer of 1913 many Welsh women took to the roads. They were usually quite well-off, professional women themselves or married to professional men, and could afford to travel by train or sometimes even by car or carriage. They were walking to make a political point. They wanted the vote and they were using a peaceful way to campaign for it. Read More HERE

Kate Bosse-Griffiths:

Kate Bosse-Griffiths was born in Wittenberg, the German town where Martin Luther had initiated the birth of Protestantism, in 1910. Having studied Archaeology and Egyptology in Berlin, Bonn and Munich, she gained a doctorate for her thesis on the human figure in late Egyptian sculpture in 1936 and was appointed to a post in Berlin, poised for a career curating the world-renowned collections in its museums. Read More HERE about this Egyptologist who fled Nazi persecution.

Women & the National Library of Wales:

The National Library of Wales opened to the public in 1909 in a temporary location at the Assembly Rooms in Aberystwyth before moving to its permanent home on Penglais Hill in 1916. Between the years 1909 and 1912 around 350 individual readers used the library’s reading room and consulted more than 1,300 books, manuscripts, maps and prints.

Unsurprisingly, men were in the majority, but 14% of the readers during this period were women. It was predominantly a younger female generation who used the library, as almost two-thirds of the female readers were under 30 and many were enrolled as university students. Read More HERE and meet the women academics of the 19th Century.

‘Daughters of the Forest’

The Mbaracayú forest is located at a remote spot in Paraguay, formed by the upper basin of the Jejuí river and the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve. The place is a sanctuary for a number of endangered species and a hotspot of biodiversity.

But for people living around the area, daily life can be a challenge. Going to school, for instance, is not easy, not only because children have to make their way there by cutting through the thick vegetation that takes over the roads, but also because of a lack of resources for education as well as the prejudices society has against women.

In 2008, Moises Bertoni Foundation, the body that manages the natural reserve, established the Mbaracayú Educational Center as an initiative to offer quality education for teenage girls living in and around the reserve. It offers high school technical degrees in environmental sciences.

This is the focus of the 2015 film “Daughters of the Forest,” directed by San Francisco, California-based Samantha Grant. The documentary will be shown at the 10th Annual Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, to be held in March 23-27.

Read More Here @ Global Voices

See Also: 

• Daughters of the Forest
• The Daughters of the Forest

Celebrating Nadia Mehr

From the Malaysia Sun - First Pakistani girl gets doctorate in medieval history in Indian Kashmir:

Nadia Mehr has scripted history by becoming the first Pakistani female to complete a doctorate in medieval history from the Kashmir University here.

She completed her thesis titled: "The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate period in Kashmir". Hailing from Kasur near Lahore, 31-year-old Mehr was selected under the South Asia Foundation programme.

See also the articles from -

The Greater Khasmir:

A Pakistani girl Nadia Mehr daughter of Mehr Din of Lahore, Pakistan has completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History from Kashmir University. She is the first Pakistani girl to have completed the doctorate from this Srinagar-based varsity under the South Asia Foundation (SAF) program.

The KU officials said Nadia pursued the research program vide University Registration No: 52-PhD-2010 from the Institute of Kashmir Studies. She did her thesis on “The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate Period in Kashmir”, under the supervision of Prof Gulshan Majeed, Institute of Kashmir Studies.

The Tribune:

After a difficult visa process, bouts of violence and four years of hard work, Nadia Mehr Din has completed her PhD in history from the University of Kashmir, Srinagar. She is the first Pakistani woman to have completed the doctorate from Indian-administered Kashmir under the South Asia Foundation (SAF) programme, report Kashmiri newspapers.

Her dissertation was titled “The Development of Science, Technology, Arts and Language during the Sultanate Period in Kashmir”, under the supervision of Prof Gulshan Majeed, Institute of Kashmir Studies and she received her degree on December 9.

Collegiate Foundress: Dervorguilla of Galloway

From BBC News:

An Oxford University college may have taken its name from a medieval lord, but it was under the watchful eye of his widow that it thrived.

Balliol College claims to be the institution's oldest college, and is currently celebrating its 750th year.

John Balliol was spurred into the charitable act of its foundation after being whipped for upsetting a bishop.

But he died shortly after its formation in 1263 and it was Dervorguilla of Galloway under whose guidance the college blossomed.

The grief-stricken widow kept her husband's heart on her at all times, safe in a silver casket.

And she was determined Balliol College would make its mark, according to Dr John Jones, its archivist.

Tikva Levi & Mizrahi

From Haaretz:

Tikva Levi was only 52 when she died on August 1, but during her short lifetime she wielded a great influence on Israeli society. She was an active presence on a variety of important battlefronts: feminist, Mizrahi, educational, political.

"The ability to combine these battles, the awareness of the fact that they are not separate from one another, was one of the things I admired and loved about her," says Prof. Ella Shohat, a preeminent cultural studies scholar and Levi's fellow traveler and soulmate.

Levi is now recognized as one of the prime movers who managed to connect issues concerning Mizrahim, feminists and Palestinians. Indeed, as far as Shohat is concerned, "Tikva is a metonymy for these battles and a metaphor for a different future space. I admired her ability to connect ideas and to connect to people, and to try to convey these ideas even to those from whom there was presumably no such expectation - those who had been rejected, whether by the left or by feminism.

Further links:- Interview with Rachel Smith

Iran: Women Banned From University Programs

From Ynet News:

Universities in Iran have announced that dozens of academic programs in the coming year will be "single-gender," which effectively means they will be exclusively offered to men, the Telegraph reported Monday.

Iran's most celebrated human rights campaigner, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, has urged the UN to probe the reform, claiming that the real agenda was to reduce the proportion of female students to below 50% – from around 65% at present – thereby weakening the Iranian feminist movement in its campaign against discriminatory Islamic laws.

Book: The Revenant - a story of the Cherokee Female Seminary

From Tahlequah Daily Press:

Ghostly tales have surrounded Seminary Hall for decades.

The legendary Florence Wilson, longtime principal of the Cherokee Female Seminary, is the emphasis for many of these stories. For several years, Northeastern State University graduate students have led spook-seekers through the lantern-lit halls, telling about sightings of Florence and other spectral spirits.

So the Cherokee Female Seminary was a natural selection for the setting of “The Revenant,” Sonia Gensler’s first novel, published in June.

Gensler didn’t choose to center her story around Wilson, however.

“I wanted a story based on the student population, rather than teachers,” she said Thursday.

Gensler was one of five speakers during the opening session of the annual State of Sequoyah Conference at NSU, hosted by the State of Sequoyah Commission.

Book: 50 Years - 50 Women

From the Daily Advance:

There is pride in Bill Sterritt’s voice. He’s the proud father a book. It’s a book that has been a labor of love for the former College of the Albemarle professor and administrator.

In fact, the book is a celebration of COA, and 50 women who made the community college possible since its inception 50 years ago. The book is “50 Years — 50 Women.”

It was a four-year project that Sterritt says was difficult because those woman who are alive were not willing to talk about themselves.

“They would say they hadn’t done anything but I would tell them they had,” says Sterritt.

The book will be published Sept. 14 and will be on hand for the 50th anniversary of the founding of COA. In the meantime, here are some excerpts from the book, a series of profiles about 50 women who made important contributions to the Albemarle region, and North Carolina.

Jung Sung-im - Civilian in Military

From Business Ghana:

South Korea's military academy has appointed a female civilian as a professor for the first time in its history, an academy official said Saturday.

The development comes as the male-dominated military is seeking to give more opportunities to women.

Jung Sung-im, a former research fellow of Ewha Womans University,became the first woman and civilian professor to have a full-time teaching position at the Korea Military Academy, the official said.

Jung said she had taught cadets at the academy as a lecturer for the past nine years before being named a full-time professor on Friday.

Jung will teach politics and national security as a civilian worker in the military, beginning in the second semester, the official said.

So far, only army officers have taught cadets as full-time employees at the academy.

In a related development, all female college students are eligible to join the military's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, beginning this year.

There are some 6,400 female commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers in the country's 655,000-strong military. Women are not required to complete military service.

A Century of Battling Women

From the Indian Express:

“There are some defeats more triumphant than victories” said Michael de Montaigne.

Indeed, the women candidates who contested in the AMU student union elections got more than victory could have given them. Though there have been some women who have contested the elections in the past — and won too — this was never for the top three positions together. In the 136-year history of union elections, this was the first time that as many as 11 young women expressed the desire to lead. They were followed by hundreds of young men and women that chanted election slogans, who heard their eloquent speeches and clapped for them too.

Also, for the very first time, the undergraduate students of the women’s college (Abdullah College) were allowed to exercise their right to vote for the candidate of their choice, though within the hostel’s four walls. So far they have had a separate union, a separate election and of course a female president elected by them. So, in more ways than one, this election was special for women students at AMU. AMU students, teachers and of course the administration, deserve appreciation for providing a conducive environment for women to present their candidature.

Ursuline Academy Closes After 130 Years

From Press Democrat:

The nine Ursuline nuns from Brown County, Ohio, who got off the train in Santa Rosa in 1880 to organize the “Select School for Girls” under the auspices of St. Rose Catholic Church expected to have 40 students in their first semester.

They had come to Santa Rosa at the behest of the Rev. John Conway, pastor of St. Rose, who had assured the Sisters their boarding school would overflow with students.

The first semester, two students enrolled. Undaunted, the Sisters persisted. Their aim was a quality education for young women.

China: Gender Equility Through Education

From Xinhuanet News:

Visiting Senior Chinese legislator Chen Zhili on Saturday called for the promotion of gender equality through education.

Since the Fourth World Conference on Women, society has become more aware that the empowerment of women and the improvement of their status is critical to economic, political and social development, Chen said during a keynote speech at the UNESCO forum on gender equality in Athens.

Chen, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said China has witnessed great improvement in the status of women in recent years.

With the implementation of the Women Protection Law as well as other national policies on gender equality, the rights of Chinese women in the area of education, work and politics are guaranteed, Chen said.

Afghanistan: More Teachers Needed

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

An Afghani woman whose schools for girls were forced "underground" during the height of the Taliban government has spoken of the positive signs emerging in her troubled country.

Sakena Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995, a non-governmental organisation that provides education, health and medical services.

Dr Yacoobi says she believes "education is the key infrastructure that Afghanistan needs" although the security situation continues to get in the way of delivering it.

Philippines: ICM Nuns Celebrate 100 Years

From Inquirer Lifestyle:

THIS OCTOBER, former students of schools established or administered by the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Immaculati Cordis Mariae, or ICM) will come together for the first time to celebrate the congregation’s 100th anniversary in the Philippines.

It was in 1910 that Rev. Mother Marie Louise de Meester, a Belgian nun who founded the ICM, originally the Missionary Canonesses of St. Augustine, arrived in the Philippines. With three other Belgian nuns, she opened the St. Agustine School in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.

Over the years, the ICM sisters spread out all the way to Sulu, setting up mission houses, clinics and more schools, the biggest of which are St. Theresa’s College (STC) in Quezon City and Cebu City, named in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, a doctor of the Catholic Church.

Other ICM schools are St. Louis School Center in Baguio and St. Francis Academy in Balamban, Cebu. (STC on San Marcelino St. in Manila was closed down in 1980.)

STC in Quezon City will be the venue of the culminating activities of the centennial ICM celebrations from Oct. 8-10.

Muslim Women in Kanodar

From the Times of India:

When Aalmin Mansuri of Kanodar village stood fifth in Banaskantha district, it did not come as a surprise for this 13,000-strong village on Ahmedabad-Delhi Highway, about 140 km from Ahmedabad. Aalmin is an example of the progressive outlook of the Shia Muslim community of the village, which comprises 90 per cent of the population. She scored 93.69 per cent marks.

There may be myths attached to women of this community across the country, but things are different in Kanodar. The women are considered equal to men in every respect. And, the village is close to achieving cent per cent literacy.

"Girls' education is the top priority in the village. If a girl is educated a generation is educated," said Banglawala. "We have been awarding cash prize of Rs 500 and a citation to the girl who tops in class XII in the village," she said.

"Our women are teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs and doctors," she said, adding that "My daughter was a medical student but after her marriage she settled in Canada," Banglawala said.

"Over 600 women in our village are earning members of the house," she said.

Liberia: Rally Supporting Education of Girls

From AllAfrica:

A women group under the banner “the United Women for Peace and Reconciliation” has held a mass rally to raise funds to support Girl’s education in Monrovia and its environs.

Mrs. Wilson [President of the United Women for Peace and Reconciliation] said funds generated [from the United Women Empowerment Fund Drive] would be used for the girl’s children to go to school while they will also use some of it to buy them copybooks, pencils and do other things for people who are living in the Banjor Community. “Because we are spreading all over now to reach out to other women in Monrovia, even-though we are from Banjor, our dreams are not only limited to Banjor, we are carrying this initiative around” She said.

Giving a brief history of the United Women for Peace and Reconciliation at the fund raising rally, Mrs. Wilson said when they first started the organization, they were women who virtually gathered from nowhere, but today they can say that they have reach somewhere.