Women’s empowerment: a question of education?- register here!

Professor Anna Robinson Pant, University of East Anglia

18 March, 11-12:30

GSRC, Arts C / Zoom Webinar 

"Education – particularly literacy - has long been seen as the key to women’s empowerment. This seminar sets out to explore ideas on how to research and understand education, development and social change. Over four decades working in this field, I have continued to reflect on why literacy is so often presented by policy makers as a ‘magic bullet’ for women struggling to survive. Drawing on my experiences as an ethnographic researcher and development worker in Nepal, I will reflect on some of the ways in which women’s lives there have changed since the 1980s and question where education comes into this picture. Through foregrounding social change rather than planned development - and learning rather than schooling – I hope to offer an alternative perspective on women’s empowerment and social change."

Anna Robinson-Pant is Emeritus Professor in the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex and at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia, where she holds the UNESCO Chair for Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation. The Chair is a collaborative research, training and policy-focused partnership with universities in Nepal, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Malawi and Egypt. She began her career in Nepal as a teacher educator and development planner, then joined CIE as a DPhil student. Her current research interests include adult literacy, gender and sustainable development and the geopolitics of academic writing.

We look forward to having you join us for this event! If you have any queries, please email cie@sussex.ac.uk. You can also visit our website: Centre for International Education, University of Sussex.

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By: Eve Wilcox
Last updated: Tuesday, 21 January 2025