Prof. Layli Maparyan, Executive Director of the <link http: www.wcwonline.org>Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, USA, gave a talk on

"A Womanist perspective on Development"

Background:

Womanism is a social and ecological change perspective pioneered by African-descent women, anchored in Africana and other indigenous cosmologies, cultures, and histories, and applied to contemporary world problems. In this talk, Dr. Maparyan will explore three questions: 1) What is womanism? 2) How does womanism challenge prevalent theories and models of development? And 3) What might a womanist model of development look like? Moving beyond notions of race as difference/deficit to culture as wealth, and incorporating a women-gendered lens on Africanity, Dr. Maparyan will reflect on the ends and methods of social and economic development vis-a-vis womanist commitments to human and ecological vitality in a spiritually alive cosmos.