Dear friends and members,

After 23 years of service, OSU-WID is ending its activities as of July 1, 2009. In May of this year, the founders and former chairs of the organization were honored at an event celebrating International Studies at Ohio State. The founders are former Associate Provost for International Affairs Francille Firebaugh (retired), Dr. Fern Hunt (retired), and Dr. Genevieve Schroeder (retired). Also honored for their contribution to building OSU-WID as an organization in its first decade were Dr. Linda Lobao, who served as chair from 1987-1989, and former Provost Joan Huber (retired), who served as chair in the early 1990s. I also would like to acknowledge other past chairs, including Drs. Mary Ellen Kondrat, Nancy Campbell, and Genevieve Schroeder and OSU PhD graduates Suzanne Schmeidl and Helen Rizzo. Many thanks also to the numerous faculty, staff, students and community members who have served on the OSU-WID steering committee.

OSU-WID has received support from many on campus sources and we also want to acknowledge these offices and their directors. In particular, administrative and budgetary support over the years have been provided by International Affairs (Francille Firebaugh), Office of International Studies (John Greisberger), International Programs in Agriculture (David Hansen), and the Mershon Center (Ned Lebow and Rick Herrmann). A special thanks to Beth Russell, Ann Powers, and Linda Montaño for over a decade of administrative support. We, the members of the outgoing committee, want to express our gratitude for their contributions to our speaker series and other events. We also want to thank all faculty, staff, students and community members who have attended our events over the last 23 years. It has been a pleasure to serve you.

Cathy A. Rakowski

Associate Professor and out-going Chair of OSU-WID

 

We are a community of Ohio State University faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and Columbus residents interested in cutting-edge research, policy making, peace and security, and activism on gender issues in social and economic development and globalization. We have been providing a service to the Ohio State community since 1985. Our primary activity is an annual speaker series.

As a member of the international organization,the Association for Women's Rights in Development, we serve as a resource for information on timely gender issues in development, organizing, jobs, internships, grants, publications, conferences, and other events.

Rapid global transformations affect people’s lives both politically and economically. OSU-WID provides a forum for discussing women’s contributions as agents of change and the situations in which women, their families and communities find themselves as a result of broader change processes.

OSU-WID sponsors events, often with other organizations, such as luncheon seminars, brown-bag discussions, films, workshops, get-togethers, and public events that highlight issues of women in development and gender differences.

                                                                                                                 

Services we provide to the OSU community:

  • Sponsor important speakers on gender, development & globalization
  • Raise funds to sponsor speakers and events
  • Circulate announcements of OSU-WID events and those of other units and organizations with whom we network
  • Send out announcements referred to us by the international network, AWID, and others on jobs, internships and grant opportunities
  • Circulate discussion issues sent by AWID and others on key gender, human rights, conflict, and development issues
  • Co-sponsor events organized by other units
  • Prepare an annual report of activities and collaborations