Carol Christ on Fulfilling the Potential

From CC's bio on the Smith College website:

In various forums, including the American Chemical Society, the Chautauqua Institute and the Council for the Advancement of Education, Christ has addressed such issues as women’s careers, civil discourse and the expectations and demands of accountability in the academy. Her op-ed articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2004 Christ and Mount Holyoke College President Joanne Creighton co-hosted an international conference on issues and challenges in women’s education, which also examined women’s study of science.

The resulting organization, Women's Education Worldwide, comprises 50 colleges on five continents and is committed to developing collaborative strategies to increase access to high-quality education for girls and women. Under Christ's leadership, Smith has made significant commitments to international and intercultural studies and to global outreach and recruitment. Thirteen percent of the class entering in fall 2009 are citizens of countries other than the United States.

Wonderful article by Kristoff about Education for women in the developing world

Read this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html?pagewanted=all

An exerpt: Perhaps the lesson presented by both Abbas and Saima is the same: In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy. With education and with help starting businesses, impoverished women can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They represent perhaps the best hope for fighting global poverty.