{"id":5904,"date":"2016-05-12T17:49:02","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T22:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/?p=5904"},"modified":"2018-10-31T13:10:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T17:10:18","slug":"brenda-gael-mcsweeney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/2016\/05\/12\/brenda-gael-mcsweeney\/","title":{"rendered":"Brenda Gael McSweeney"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"brenda\"<\/a>Director, UNITWIN<\/div>\n

704 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 102B<\/p>\n

617-358-2374<\/p>\n

bgm@bu.edu
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My research and teaching passions include gender and international development; gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment in West Africa, India and Ireland; and poverty eradication. These emerged from doctoral studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and 30 years leading development programs for the United Nations; then I was honored to join BU\u2019s Women Studies in 2003 as the first Visiting Scholar. I was asked to bring this global experience spanning from grassroots to policy-making levels into teaching and publications. At WGS I lead the UNESCO\/UNITWIN Network<\/a> on Gender, Culture & Development with Indian, West African and Boston area university and nongovernmental partners. I am a Founding Board Member of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender with whom I initiated a series of e-books of gender case studies across continents; authors have included several WGS faculty and students. Our first volume of which I was Co-Editor with the Buenos Aires-based head of the Global Network was widely disseminated by UN Women and UNESCO-Paris, and is accessible (free!) at: http:\/\/goo.gl\/31btQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My action-research projects at WGS and as a Resident Scholar<\/a> at Brandeis University\u2019s Women\u2019s Studies Research Center focus on equal access to education for women and girls in Burkina Faso, and self-reliant livelihoods in West Bengal, India. Unbound Visual Arts, of which I am a founding member artist<\/a> and on the Council of Advisors, has been sharing the findings with academia, the political arena, and local communities through inter alia<\/i> exhibitions at Boston City Hall, the Harvard Allston Education portal and the Boston Public Library.<\/p>\n

I have been teaching Gender and International Development at BU\u2019s Women\u2019s Studies, at Brandeis University\u2019s Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and for the UN\u2019s Virtual Development Academy, and am now focusing on related research and activism to promote gender equality.<\/p>\n

Works in Progress:<\/h2>\n

Gender Perspectives in Case Studies Across Continents,<\/i> Volume II<\/i>, Brenda Gael McSweeney, Editor (forthcoming 2014, Paris and Buenos Aires: UNESCO). Overarching themes explored by colleagues from UNESCO Chairs and Networks worldwide include gender gaps in education, women\u2019s political empowerment, economic livelihoods, and combatting exploitation in countries as diverse as Cyprus, Poland, Iran, Burkina Faso and India. More here<\/a> on unitwin.blogspot.com.<\/p>\n

A volume co-authored with Scholastique Kompaor\u00e9, Burkinabe pioneer of female education, on our work, research and advocacy for equal access of women and girls to education in West Africa. More on our body of work in Burkina Faso at equalityburkina.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Selected Publications:<\/h2>\n

Gender Perspectives in Case Studies Across Continents<\/a><\/i>, Gloria Bonder & Brenda Gael McSweeney, Editors (Paris and Buenos Aires: UNESCO, 2013).<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother View of Africa: A Photo Essay on Female Education and Empowerment in Burkina Faso\/ Un Autre Regard sur l\u2019Afrique: Un essai photo sur l\u2019\u00e9ducation et l\u2019autonomisation des femmes au Burkina Faso<\/i>\u201d by Brenda Gael McSweeney & Scholastique Kompaor\u00e9\u00a0with Cassandra Fox (Buenos Aires and Paris: Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender & UNESCO Headquarters, 2013).<\/p>\n

\u201cPatriarchy, Power, and Paradox: Dreaming Gender Equality & Development in South Asia, 2060<\/strong>\u201d by Shahla Haeri & Brenda Gael McSweeney, in South Asia 2060: <\/i>Envisioning Regional Futures<\/i>, eds.<\/i>Adil Najam & Moeed Yusuf (London & New York: Anthem Press, 2013).<\/p>\n

\u201cSrihaswani<\/i>\u00a0or Creative Manual Skills for Self-Reliant Development (CMSSRD): A gender case study, 1996-2012\u201d by Krishno Dey, Chandana Dey & Brenda Gael McSweeney (Paris: UNESCO, 2013).<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s History Initiatives: Gender, Culture, People-Centered Development: Brenda Gael McSweeney, Editor (Paris: UNESCO, 2010).<\/p>\n

Another Side of India: Gender, Culture and Development<\/i>,<\/i> Brenda Gael McSweeney, Editor; Foreword by Gita Sen (Paris: UNESCO, 2008).<\/p>\n

Development Cooperation: Some Personal Thoughts on Challenges and Direction<\/i> (New Delhi: United Nations Development Programme, 2003).<\/p>\n

Publisher, Burkina Faso: Gender Equality and Women\u2019s Empowerment, 2009 \u2013 presentequalityburkina.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Publisher, UNESCO\/UNITWIN Network:\u00a0Gender, Culture, Development, 2007 \u2013 present \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0unitwin.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More books and papers by Brenda Gael McSweeney: here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Main Fellowships & Awards:<\/h2>\n

Designated a \u201cLegendary Local\u201d in Legendary Locals of Allston-Brighton, <\/i>in light of contributions to global development and human rights (Charleston: Arcadia, 2013)<\/p>\n

Granted a United Nations career lifetime Award (Medal of Honor First Class), by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bonn: 2008)<\/p>\n

Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa<\/i>, Lackawanna College, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania & Commencement Speaker (Lackawanna, Pennsylvania: 2007)<\/p>\n

Appointed to the Advisory Board for the UN Development Programme\u2019s Third Regional Cooperation Framework for Africa, 2007-11 (New York: 2007)<\/p>\n

Awarded the M\u00e9daille de Chevalier de l\u2019Ordre National<\/i> from the Government of Burkina Faso, in tribute to the leadership and work of the United Nations Volunteers (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: 1997)<\/p>\n

Doctorate of Humane Letters\u00a0Honoris Causa<\/i>, Monterey Institute of International Studies; Commencement Speaker & appointed to the Institute\u2019s Board of Directors (Monterey, California: 1994)<\/p>\n

Prime Minister of Jamaica\u2019s Medal of Appreciation (Kingston, Jamaica, 1988)<\/p>\n

Fulbright Grantee,\u00a0Institut d\u2019Etudes Politiques<\/i>, University of Paris (1967-1969).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Director, UNITWIN 704 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 102B 617-358-2374 bgm@bu.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4338,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3231,3228],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5904"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7286,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions\/7286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}