In the Company of Scholars:
Yale Women In A Changing World
Post Conference Resources

April 30 & May 1, 2004
Susanna E. Krentz ’80, Chair

Globalization Plenary

Conference Welcome

Conference chair Susanna Krentz '80 welcomed alumnae and explained that this conference was part of a new initiative by the AYA to bring together alumni from shared interest and personal identity groups in an effort to find new ways to foster community among alumni and help them network with each other.

Opening Plenary
The Gender of Globalization (Audio recordings of session)

Krentz introduced the panelists, Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Amy Chua, Yale Law School professor; Michele Barry, professor of Medicine and Global Health and Director of the Office of International Health; Deborah Davis, professor of Sociology and East Asian Studies; Nusrat Choudhury, a student at Yale Law School ('06) and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University; and Celine D'Cruz, Yale World Fellow.

Judith Resnik discussed the international and transnational women's rights movement, from the women abolitionists who attempted to attend the Anti-Slavery Organization Conference in England in 1814 to the current international initiative to condemn crimes against women and girls, such as sexual slavery and domestic abuse. Audio of Introduction and Judith Resnik.

Amy Chua, author of World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Hatred and Global Instability, examined how a focus on women affects analyses of development, democracy, and stability. Her thesis is that the current form of free market economy and democracy that the U.S. is trying to establish in other countries is proliferating anti-Americanism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. She believes that educating and empowering women will reduce ethnic violence while enabling a form of market economy suitable for each individual nation.

Michele Barry spoke about the interaction of globalization and health and the Egregious Globalization Gaps (EGGs). Only 10% of global funding for health research and development goes to the problems causing 90% of the global burden of disease and death - overwhelmingly the diseases that affect the poor in developing countries. There are 60 million "missing girls" in Asia as a result of infanticide and lack of health care.

Deborah Davis discussed gender and property rights in China and how privatization has revitalized male advantage in China. Collective housing leveled the male/female gap and provided for a more egalitarian society. With increased privatization, China is returning to its past when women were marginalized. Audio of Amy Chua, Michele Barry, and Deborah Davis.

Nusrat Choudhury discussed her work to empower poor women and children in the United States and abroad. The Hunger Project of South Asia Initiative helps empower women by getting them involved in local government. For example, women in local council positions tend to invest in public goods like improvement of water and roads, which, in turn, improve women's lives and the lives of children.

Celine D'Cruz focused on micro development and showed a short documentary film about how women in her city in India have organized community partnerships in order to create needed sanitation services. Audio of Nusrat Choudhury and Celine D'Cruz.

Luncheon: Roundtable Discussions

Elizabeth Dillon, Associate Professor of English and American Studies, gave a brief introduction on the focus and work of the Yale Women Faculty Forum. Attendees were seated at tables within previously selected general topic areas. Each table had a specific focus for discussion that was facilitated by a faculty member. Topic areas included Women and Globalization, Women and Religion, Women and Academia, Women and Work, and Women and Health.