Based on the book, Half the Sky, co-authored with wife and fellow Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Sheryl WuDunn, Kristof will make a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. Drawing on the breadth of his reporting experience, he will illuminate how the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential and how we can each do our part to support women’s empowerment worldwide.

This event is free and open to the public.  Visit the Chancellor’s Lecture Series homepage.

Multimedia Presentation by Dr. Christy Halbert, Olympic Boxing Coach
October 23, 7pm in The Commons Multipurpose Room

The Debut of Women’s Olympic Boxing—Multi-media presentation by Dr. Christy Halbert, Olympic boxing coach

The 2012 London Olympics marked the first time all sporting events included women. Over half the U.S. Olympic team were women; and for the first time in history as well, women earned more medals than men. Women boxers were the last athletes to be included in the Olympics. What took so long? This multimedia presentation showcases the history of women’s boxing, the stories of its athletes’ successes, and offers critical commentary on the socio-historical significance of women boxers’ entry into the Olympics.

Long considered the most masculine of sports, boxing is a stark reminder that women’s Olympic inclusion is part of larger social movement. Boxing amplifies the forces beyond the field of play; the ring itself becomes the site of an arresting display of power and empowerment. From an insider’s perspective as an Olympic boxing coach, Dr. Halbert traces the arc of Olympic inclusion, and offers insightful commentary on the culture within and beyond boxing, and on the boxers themselves.

About Dr. Halbert

Christy Halbert, Olympic boxing coach, earned her Ph.D. in Sociology in 1999. Her advocacy for the inclusion of women’s boxing in the Olympic Games was recognized by the United States Olympic Committee granting her the 2011 Torch Award. Dr. Halbert has coached women and men to national and international medal success. She holds the distinction of being named Head Coach for the first Women’s World Championships in 2001, and was the first American coach to lead AIBA’s international developmental camp, Road to Dreams.

Dr. Halbert has coached women from around the globe—from Syria, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Vietnam—and her work has been informed by an intellectual’s sense of the larger cultural and historical significance of the participation of women in sport, generally, and in boxing specifically. Widely quoted in the popular press as an expert on women’s boxing, Dr. Halbert is Chair of the Women’s Task Force at USA Boxing, and serves on the Women’s Commission of the international boxing federation (AIBA). She also coaches boys and girls, women and men, at her gym in Nashville, Tennessee.

Co-author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Sheryl WuDunn will present the sixth annual Lawson Lecture at Vanderbilt on Monday, Sept. 24, at 7pm in Langford Auditorium.  This event is free and open to the public. 

Biography

Sheryl WuDunn, the first Asian-American to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. She has special expertise in Asia, entrepreneurship, global women’s issues, and philanthropy. As an investment banker, she currently helps growth companies, including those operating in the fields of new media technology, entertainment, social media, healthcare, and the emerging markets, in particular, China.

WuDunn is co-author of three best-selling books. The most recent is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, about the challenges facing women around the globe and co-authored with her husband Nicholas Kristof. It has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Colbert Report, and other network television shows. WuDunn helped launch the development of the Half the Sky multimedia effort, creating a thoughtful, effective philanthropic strategy that includes an online social game for Facebook, a PBS documentary series, and outreach with many NGOs.

WuDunn lectures to a wide range of American and global audiences and has been invited to speak to the secretary general of the United Nations, former vice president Al Gore, and other senior officials on economic, political, and social topics related to women in the developing world, the global economy, China, and the emerging markets. WuDunn, who was a guest at President Obama’s State Dinner at the White House for Chinese President Hu Jintao, has frequently discussed Chinese economic issues on television and radio programs such as Fox Business News, The Colbert Report, Charlie Rose, and NPR. She has discussed philanthropic issues on programs such as NBC’s Dateline.

Vanderbilt has the distinct privilege of hosting three leaders in global women’s labor movements from September 12 through 19, with a wide array of events open to all.

Major Events

Please visit our online calendar for a full list of opportunities to visit with the panelists.

The Power of Women’s Activism, Locally and Transnationally: Panel Discussion

Monday, Sept. 17, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Commons Center Multipurpose Room, and
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Commons Center Multipurpose Room

Activists from labor movements led by women explain how they use networks and international conventions to bring change.  Panelists will include Kalpona Akter, Babul Akhter, and Ida Le Blanc (see below for bios).  Free and open to the public.

Philanthropy Transformed: Panel Discussion

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Wilson Hall 126

Activists Kalpona Akter, Babul Akhter, and Ida Le Blanc discuss ways in which philanthropy can support women’s human rights activism in this panel moderated by Brooke Ackerly.  Reception to follow.  Free and open to the public.

About our Guests

Ida Le Blanc (right) and colleague. Photo courtesy of the National Union of Domestic Employees.

Ida Le Blanc is the General Secretary of The National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE), and a founding member of the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN), where she holds the position of the Regional Coordinator for the Caribbean and sits as a member on the Steering Committee. Ms. Le Blanc is also the Coordinator of a UNIFEM supported project to mobilize and strengthen the position of Domestic Workers; a member of the Minimum Wages Board; a former member on the International Labour Organization 144 Tripartite Committee; an alternate member on the Registration Recognition and Certification Board; and an alumna of the Human Rights Advocates Program from the Columbia University, New York.

Babul Akhter (left) and Kalpona Akter (right), photo courtesy of Sweatfree Communities

Kalpona Akter and Babul Akhter founded the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity and have been supporting worker activism in Dhaka and through their activism supportive of the Asian Floor Wage movement. They have partnered directly with international anti-sweatshop networks like Clean Clothes Campaign and Sweatfree Communities. They also negotiate directly with factory management to improve conditions in the factories and keep garment manufacturing in Bangladesh. In 2010 their struggle made international news when they with Aminul Islam were arrested and held until Eid. This year their colleague, Aminul Islam, was tortured and killed. They have done work with workers in the shrimp industry and ship wrecking and with migrant workers (primarily to the Middle East.)

Dr. Brooke Ackerly is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt.  She is also Affiliated Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies and Principal Investigator, Global Feminisms Collaborative. Dr. Ackerly’s research interests include democratic theory, feminist methodologies, human rights, social and environmental justice. She integrates into her theoretical work empirical research on activism. Her publications include Political Theory and Feminist Social Criticism (Cambridge 2000), Universal Human Rights in a World of Difference (Cambridge 2008), and Doing Feminist Research with Jacqui True (Palgrave Macmillan2010). She is currently working on the intersection of global economic, environmental, and gender justice. She teaches courses on feminist theory, feminist research methods, human rights, contemporary political thought, and gender and the history of political thought. She is the winner of the Graduate Teaching Award and the Margaret Cuninggim Mentoring Prize. She is the founder of the Global Feminisms Collaborative, a group of scholars and activists developing ways to collaborate on applied research for social justice. She advises academics and donors on evaluation, methodology, and the ethics of research. She serves the profession through committees in her professional associations including the American Political Science Association (APSA), International Studies Association (ISA), and the Association for Women’s Rights and Development. She has been a member of the editorial board for Politics and Gender (Journal of the APSA, Women and Politics Section) since its founding.