9.3.09

11:40-1pm, with walk-ins until 1:30pm

Nye B, Taubman 5th floor

WAPPP Open House

Please join us to learn about the Women and Public Policy Program. Learn more about the center's work on Gender and Economic Opportunity, Gender in Decision Making and Negotiation, Women and Political Empowerment, and Gender and Security. Learn about WAPPP's From Harvard Square to the Oval Office political training program. We will discuss our student initiatives, fellowship stipends, and other opportunities. Refreshments will be provided!

9.10.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Fainsod room, Littauer building 3rd floor

Building Social Capital through Microfinance
Rohini Pande, Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School (joint with Ben Feigenberg and Erica Field)

Rohini Pande is Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Pande is an NBER Research Associate and serves on the board of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) and the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economic Profession (CSWEP). Her research focuses on the economic analysis of the politics and consequences of different forms of redistribution, principally in developing countries.

9.17.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Nye C, Taubman building 5th floor

Sex Differences in Aggression in Simulated War Games
Rose McDermott, Professor of Political Science, Brown University and former WAPPP/ISP Fellow

This talk describes a series of experiments involving simulated crisis games which examined sex differences in aggression. Differences in confidence, hormones, behavior and personality will be discussed. Additional experiments involving genetic differences will be described as well.

Rose McDermott is a Professor of Political Science at Brown University.  A 2008-2009 Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, McDermott received her Ph.D. (Political Science) and M.A. (Experimental Social Psychology) from Stanford. McDermott has taught at Cornell and UCSB and has  held fellowships at Harvard’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies and Harvard’s Women and Public Policy Program.

9.24.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Nye C, Taubman building 5th floor

Yes, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin Did Have Something in Common: The Gendered Landscape of Presidential Campaigns
Susan Carroll, Professor of Political Science and Senior Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics, Rutgers University

Presidential campaigns pose unique challenges for women candidates.  Although fundamentally different in ideology and persona, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin had to deal with a common set of gender stereotypes in their 2008 campaigns. This project examines the ways that these gender stereotypes influenced both the campaign strategies and media coverage of Clinton and Palin.

Susan J. Carroll is Professor of Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) of the Eagleton Institute of Politics.   Her books include:  Women as Candidates in American Politics (Second Edition, Indiana 1994); The Impact of Women in Public Office (Indiana 2001); Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions (Oxford 2003); and Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics (Cambridge 2006; Second Edition, forthcoming 2010; with Richard L. Fox).  She also has published numerous journal articles and book chapters focusing on women candidates, voters, elected officials, and political appointees and is currently working on books on the recruitment of women to state legislatures and the gendered nature of campaigns for high-level executive office.  As a nationally recognized expert on women’s political participation, Carroll is frequently called upon for expert media commentary.

9.30.09

12pm

107-D, Taubman building 1st floor

From Harvard Square to the Oval Office Applications Due

From Harvard Square to the Oval Office is a non-partisan initiative of the Women and Public Policy Program that provides a select group of Harvard students with the training and support they need to ascend in the electoral process at the national, state and local levels. Applications must be received by Megan Kearns at the Women and Public Policy Program, Taubman 107-D by 12pm. Students will be notified via email of their admittance by Tuesday, October 13.

To apply: [pdf application]

For questions or more information, please contact Megan Kearns.

10.1.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Malkin Penthouse, Littauer building

"Gender Differences in Negotiation: Personality or Strategy?"
Michael Morris, Professor of Leadership, Columbia University

RSVP required to naisha_bradley@harvard.edu

Michael Morris is the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership in the Columbia Business School as well as a Professor in the Psychology Department of Columbia University.  He is the founder and director of Columbia’ Program on Social Intelligence, which emphasizes teaching collaboration skills based on psychological research.

Michael regularly teaches MBA and executive classes on negotiation, decision making and team dynamics. Outside of academia, his consulting about negotiating and leveraging cultural diversity brings him into contact with private and public sector leaders around the world.

Michael has published many articles in leading psychology and management journals on topics such as individual decision making, interpersonal influence, and social networks, with recognitions such as the SESP best dissertation award, the Einhorn award for early career work from SJDM, the Klineberg award for research promoting inter-cultural understanding from SPPSI, the Misumi award for best paper for the year from the Asian Society of Social Psychology.   

Michael is a founding editor of the journal Management and Organization Review which promotes management research and teaching in China, and on the editorial board at several other journals.

10.8.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Allison Dining Room, Taubman building 5th floor

Risk Aversion and the Demand for Information among Ugandan Women
Julian Jamison, WAPPP Fellow; Senior Economist, Center for Behavioral Decisionmaking and Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Julian Jamison is a Senior Economist with the Center for Behavioral Economics and Decisionmaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  During his fellowship at WAPPP, Julian will work on three experimental gender and development projects in Uganda and Tanzania. Two of the projects are focused on reproductive health and the third centers on a business skills training program for women who have been affected by the civil war or HIV.  Previously, Julian taught at Harvard Kennedy School, the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a M.A. and B.A. in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.

10.8.09

7:30pm

More Than Words Bookstore, Waltham, MA

Good Morning, Children: My First Years in Early Childhood Education
Sophia Pappas, MPP '10; Oval Office Alumna '09

Sophia Pappas will discuss her recently released memoir Good Morning, Children: My First Years in Early Childhood Education. This event affords a unique opportunity to engage deeply in a conversation about a central policy in President Obama's education reform agenda. Through her memoir, which captures her insights from teaching pre-Kindergarten in Newark, New Jersey for Teach For America, Pappas aims to give her former students and their families a voice in the larger dialogue around early childhood education policy in the United States.

Sophia Pappas is currently pursuing her Master in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is an alumna of WAPPP's From Harvard Square to the Oval Office program that provides training for women who want to run for elected office.

10.15.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Fainsod Room, Littauer building 3rd floor

How Can You Tell When a War is Over for Women: Some Feminist Clues
Cynthia Enloe, Research Professor, Clark University

Already the Iraq War has slipped off the front pages. But how are Iraqi women and US women experiencing what too-simply is called "post-war" not only now in this war but in other wars?  This talk will explore the gendered politics of widowhood, of mental illness or the woundeds' recuperations, of memorializing heroism. Wars do not end quickly or easily for women or for men.

Cynthia Enloe is Research Professor at Clark University.  Among her ten books are Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminisist Sense of International Politics; The Curious Feminist; Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link. Her forthcoming book is Nimo's War, Emma's War: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics.

10.22.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Allison Dining Room, Taubman building 5th floor

When Do Female Politicians “Matter” and What Does It Mean?
M. Marit Rehavi, RWJ Scholar in Health Policy Research, University of Michigan; Assistant Professor (on leave 2008-2010), Department of Economics, University of British Columbia

Professor Rehavi will discuss these issues using her analysis of female legislators’ roll call voting and their effect on fiscal priorities.  Her work uses “natural experiments” to separate the effects of female politicians from the districts where they run and the voters who elect them.   In particular, she will focus on extremely close races between male and female candidates and elections in which the candidate’s gender is not revealed on the ballot. 

Marit Rehavi is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan.  She is on leave from the University of British Columbia where she is an Assistant Professor of Economics.  Dr. Rehavi received her PhD in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.   She also holds an MSc in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and an A.B. from Harvard College.   Her research centers on government and private provision of public goods.   Much of her recent work has focused on the effects of women’s movement into state legislatures on state fiscal policy and the insights such effects shed on competing political economy models.   Other research interests include:  the roles of information and incentives in the use of medical care (specifically C-Sections and child healthcare use).

10.29.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Taubman 275, Taubman Building 2nd floor

Gender Mainstreaming for Policy Makers
Sahana Dharmapuri, Gender Consultant

“Mainstreaming gender is not about adding a women’s component to an existing activity. It goes beyond women’s participation. The goal of gender mainstreaming is to achieve equality.”—UNDP

The key to understanding how development and relief work affects men, women, girls and boys is grasping the concept of gender. This interactive talk covers the foundational concepts of gender in development and humanitarian relief efforts, and examines what “gender mainstreaming” means in practice. Examples will highlight programming in conflict and post-conflict situations and participants will have the opportunity to discuss their own experiences in the field.

Sahana Dharmapuri is an independent gender consultant specializing in conflict and post-conflict reconstruction phases, and complex emergency situations. She works primarily with USAID, The U.S. State Department, and international development consulting firms in Boston, MA and Washington, DC. She has 13-plus years of experience in international development and humanitarian affairs. Sahana served as the Women’s Legal Rights Advisor and as the Gender and Conflict Advisor in the Office of Women in Development at USAID from 2003 until 2006.  In her capacity as Gender and Conflict Advisor, Sahana served as a technical advisor on Post-conflict and Trafficking issues, Gender and Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) programming, Complex Emergencies, and Women’s Legal Rights issues. She also designed and conducted trainings for USAID staff and Department of Defense Officers at U.S. Combat and Command Centers (SOCCOM, CENTCOM and PACOM) on Civil-Military cooperation and gender in complex emergencies.  Her field experience includes Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Israel.

10.30.09

2:30pm-3:30pm

Carr Center Conference Room, Rubenstein building

The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan
Malalai Joya, former member of the Afghan parliament

Malalai Joya, called "the bravest woman in Afghanistan", is a former member of the Afghan parliament who has repeatedly stood up to the warlords, for women's rights and democracy. A former teacher who set up secret schools for girls, an orphanage and free clinic in her impoverished home province of Farah during the Taliban era, she ran for parliament in 2005 to protect her schools and won, becoming the youngest person elected to Afghanistan's new Parliament, at the age of 27. In 2007, she was suspended from Parliament for her persistent criticism of warlords and drug barons and their overwhelming presence in the Parliament. She has survived four assassination attempts to date.

Co-sponsored by Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and the Women and Public Policy Program

11.3.09

12:30-2:00pm
Lunch provided

Malkin Penthouse, Littauer building

Lunch with Baroness Shirley Williams

Baroness Williams was originally a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet Minister. In 2001-2004, she served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, and now serves as Advisor on Nuclear Proliferation to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Williams also serves as Professor Emerita of Electoral Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School.  

Co-sponsored by the Women and Gender Caucus student group and the Global Equity and Development PIC

11.5.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Fainsod Room, Littauer building 3rd floor

Measuring the Gender Performance Gap in Internal Labor Markets
Farzad Saidi, WAPPP Fellow; PhD candidate in Economics, New York University

Farzad Saidi will discuss the gender performance gap in competitive, male-dominated environments. By presenting a theoretical model that predicts the performance gap as a result of female beliefs about performance evaluation in such environments, Saidi will attempt to demonstrate the gender performance gap as a contributing factor of the actual pay gap across the wage distribution.

Farzad is a doctoral candidate in Economics at New York University. During his fellowship at WAPPP, Farzad will research what drives the gender pay gap at higher levels of employment. Fazad has held research positions at the University of Chicago, the Center for Economic Performance in London, and the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, Germany. In addition to his academic work, Farzad also has experience in the private sector with Booz Allen Hamilton in Germany and J.P. Morgan in the United Kingdom. Farzad holds a MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics and a degree in Business Administration from the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.

11. 9. 09

6:00 - 8:00pm
Weiner Auditorium

AFRICA RISING
The Grassroots Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation
A Film by Paula Heredia

Q&A hosted by Ambassador Swanee Hunt to follow screening
Kadidia Aoudou Sibide, AMSOPT, Mali
Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director, Equality Now
Fanta Camara, young survivor, Mali
Agnes Pareyio, Tasaru Ntomonok Initiative, Kenya

Sponsored by the Center for Public Leadership and co-sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program.

11.12.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Fainsod Room, Littauer building 3rd floor

Building Blocks: Reaching Beyond the Classroom
WAPPP 2009 Cultural Bridge Fellows

Adibeli Nduka-Agwu, Oyebola Olabisi and Rachel Tulchin are members of WAPPP’s 2009 Cultural Bridge Fellows cohort. They will discuss their experiences as interns in Afganistan, Liberia and Kenya respectively.

Since the summer of 2005, the Women and Public Policy Program’s Cultural Bridge Fellowship has afforded more than thirty Harvard graduate students an opportunity to work alongside prominent women peace-builders and change agents around the world.  Through the generosity of the Nancy Germeshausen Klavans Foundation this fellowship has allowed students to couple their academic knowledge with real world experience in the field of their choice.

11.19.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Allison Dining Room, Taubman building 5th floor

Loyalist Women Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland: Beginning a Feminist Conversation About Conflict Resolution
Sandra McEvoy, Associate Director for the Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, UMass Boston

Research on war, conflict , and terrorism has traditionally focused on the motivations of male combatants to participate in political violence.  Such a focus has largely ignored the role of women who wield political violence. McEvoy’s talk revisits one of feminist International Relations most basic questions, “Where are the women?” and encourages an expanded view of security and conflict resolution that questions how Loyalist paramilitary women in Northern Ireland might contribute to current scholarly understanding of conflict and conflict resolution processes.  

Using interview data from Loyalist women combatants on four cross-border agreements between 1974 and 2006, McEvoy illustrates how a feminist approach to conflict resolution can serve as an innovating starting point in theorizing about and attempting to resolve conflict.

Co-sponsored with the Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, UMass Boston

12.3.09

11:40-1pm
Lunch provided

Allison Dining Room, Taubman building 5th floor

The Quadruple Bind: Stereotypes Of Black And White Mothers At Work And At Home
Amy Cuddy, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Professor Cuddy studies social categories (e.g., Asian Americans, elderly people, Latinos, working mothers) – how they are judged by others and by their own members, and how these judgments set the tone and content of social interactions. She examines how these processes play out in domains such as hiring, promotion, and charitable giving. Her research has been published in top academic journals, including Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. In 2008, she received the Alexander Early Career Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Her research "Just because I'm nice, don't assume I'm dumb" was featured in Harvard Business Review's Breakthrough Ideas for 2009.

12.4.09

December 4, 2009, 7pm

Harvard Square COOP, 1400 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA

“Women Lead the Way: Your Guide to Stepping Up to Leadership and Changing the World”
Book Reading and Event with Ambassador Linda Tarr-Whelan

Despite enormous gains made in the past decades, women continue to be woefully underrepresented in positions of power. This is a loss for everyone- women’s priorities are overlooked and organizations miss out on the new perspectives and fresh insights that women can offer. Entrepreneur, diplomat, nonprofit and government leader, nurse and mom Linda Tarr-Whelan intends to change that. Taking lessons from her own distinguished career and those of the extraordinary women she has known, she offers practical guidance for bringing your passion, brains, and background to the tables where critical issues get decided.