Journal of Global Citizenship & Equity Education
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Marginalization and Leadership: Iranian Immigrant Women’s Challenges in Canadian Academia and Society
Full text linkIranian women disappointed by increasing social and political instability in their homeland have migrated to Canada to achieve their dream of social rights and justice. However, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 directed considerable hatred toward Middle Eastern people. They did not feel at peace, were not treated with respect, and their presence in the west aroused suspicion. More recently, Iran's president, Mahmood Ahmadinejad is largely seen to be a person who threatens world peace; this negatively impacts Iranians in the west as those remaining in Iran face heavy economic sanctions. In this article, which is a small part of my thesis research findings, I discuss the challenges of first-generation of Iranian immigrant women through their experiences in Canadian graduate schools and workplaces. How do they negotiate the many negative images of Iranians and how do these images shape their experiences within these institutions?First-generation female Iranian graduate students' experiences in Canada are unheard and undocumented. In interviews, these women questioned the ability of neo-liberal capitalist schools to connect them to Canadian society while honouring their Iranian origins and identities and enabling them to achieve their goal to live and study in Canada. I argue that Iranian immigrant women experience a double exclusion both at school and in the workplace despite their willingness to engage with both places. This dual exclusion is an enormous source of pressure on their minds and spirits. The goal of this research is to give these women a voice. Policy makers in school and workplaces will benefit from the findings of this research, which calls for significant changes to realize social justice in Canadian society
Delivering Justice for Sexual Violence in the D.R. Congo and Beyond: Cooperation, Education, and Capacity-Building through National and International Courts
Full text linkThe Democratic Republic of the Congo has been called "the worst place in the world to be a woman". With mass rape and systematic sexual violence becoming an increasingly prevalent weapon of warfare, the international community has created special international criminal tribunals and courts to address crimes as such: war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocide. This paper aims to trace the developments in international criminal law and procedure for the prosecution of sexual violence from Nuremberg and Tokyo to Kigali and The Hague while also identifying shortcomings and potential reforms. As the International Criminal Court hears landmark evidence and testimony on charges of rape in the case of Jean-Pierre Bemba, local and national courts in the Congo still fail to deliver the more "nationalized" justice that rape victims seek and prefer. This paper, using sexual violence and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a case study, highlights the often underestimated importance of strengthening local and national judiciaries through legal and judicial reform as well as the critical role that international courts must play in sharing information, expertise, and prosecution strategies, especially on cases of sexual violence
The Study Abroad Experience: Where Does Religion Fit?
Full text linkThis article explores the theoretical and practical dimensions of the question: “Where does religion fit in the study abroad experience?” Students abroad are often immersed in communities where religious practice and spiritual worldviews may be widespread and privileged. This may well be one of the areas where students find themselves most disoriented, and may represent one of the greatest challenges at the heart of the study abroad experience. From a theoretical standpoint, the paper interrogates some of the foundational secular assumptions upon which international development programmes in northern universities are based, while providing a brief introduction to the growing literature exploring the role of religion in development. From a practical perspective, the article emphasizes the pervasiveness and diversity of religious influence and then proceeds to highlight the communal and explanatory power of religion. In conclusion, some approaches are suggested that might better serve to prepare students for understanding the place of religion in many societies in the developing world
Peace Education Primer
Full text linkThis article aims to briefly introduce the field of peace education to adult, higher education and secondary school practitioners. Aiming to confront and resist violence, peace education focuses on the necessary content and pedagogical approaches needed to nurture cultures of peace in a variety of communities. The common themes, pedagogies, training objectives, enabling conditions and evaluation processes of the multidisciplinary field are identified in this paper within the perspective of peace education as education for global citizenship. A brief overview of peace education in action at the United Nations University for Peace is outlined, and popular books and articles on peace education are provided for academics interested in further infusing principles of peace pedagogy into their educational practices
Learning to Accompany Through a Self-Study of Critical Global-Citizenship Engagement
Full text linkImmersed in making sense of a global-citizenship experience while studying community-university engaged research, I happened upon the field of global-citizenship education. In 2010-2011, I lived in East Jerusalem for three months, accompanying Palestinians and Israelis who sought and continue to seek a just and peaceful end to the Israeli government's occupation of Palestine. As a researcher/educator with a long-time interest in the concept of meaning-making, I struggle to make sense of my experiences, both cognitively and emotionally. Through a phenomenological self-study, I uncovered knowledge about myself as a learner in a global-citizenship experience. I identified five voices within my ecumenical-accompanier (EA) identity and now I am integrating them into my facilitation of lifelong learning. These voices are lyrical, ironic, relational, activist, and reflective. The voices run through four assertions about my learning: first-hand experience is essential; I use various meaning-making tools; accompanying learners is inherently relational; and I continue to ‘unpack' meaning in the post-return home. My voices and assertions now inform my facilitation of learning about community-university engaged research. With this newly explicit knowledge, I feel better able to accompany learners. I realize the potential for describing more explicitly in workshops, courses, and experiential learning that I have had a transformative experience. I see the potential to model my own critical global-citizenship engagement as a way to create compassionate spaces for lifelong learners as they get involved in the global and local issues of the 21st century
What Kind of Global Citizen is the Student Volunteer?
Full text linkCollege students in the United States, and other countries of the Global North, are signing up in growing numbers to volunteer with aid and human rights organizations around the world (and also domestically). Yet in so doing, many students experience their best intentions muddied by the inefficiencies or profit-motives of the aid world volunteer industry. To explore the dilemmas raised both for students and for faculty and staff supporting them, this essay reaches beyond the instrumentality of the aid world (its focus on doing something concrete and good) to other possible outcomes of the encounters between volunteers, aid workers, and aid beneficiaries. I conceive of the "volunteer-aid beneficiary" encounter in ways that draw simultaneously on the anthropological approach to "gift economies" as well as related concepts and arguments made by social psychologists, a philosopher, and a literary critic. The goal here is to contribute to the pedagogy supporting college students' service learning or volunteer experiences (mostly international, but also domestic) and to explore possible meanings of the term "global citizenship" in this context. I argue for the need to foreground the political selfhood of aid beneficiaries, alongside (or not merely) their economic or biological selfhood
Moral and Ethical Foundations for Sustainability: A Multi-disciplinary Approach
Full text linkThe purpose of this paper is to accomplish two objectives: (1) review and flesh out in detail the philosophical, theoretical, and pragmatic issues underlying differing perspectives on sustainability and offer up an integrated sustainability framework; (2) consolidate and utilize the findings from the literature review to shed theoretical and practical insights into the foundation of sustainability leadership. This paper takes an integrative approach of weaving and stitching together theories from the field of philosophy, ecology, social psychology, sociobiology, anthropology, economics, and strategic management to provide an integrated view of sustainability and sustainability leadership. Finally, the paper will cogently argue that morality, virtuousness, and character serve as building blocks for sustainability leadership and in so doing offer up a series of six propositions about the antecedents and outcomes of sustainability and sustainability leadership. The paper concludes with recommendations for future study and research