Project Objectives

The overarching goal of our partnership is to develop MU’s capacity to address, facilitate, and promote the involvement of women in social and economic development in Egypt. Our specific objectives for the project are:

Develop the study of the myriad dimensions of WID as a priority area at MU and UConn;
Develop faculty expertise in WID at both universities;
Connect the academic study of women in development in Egypt with societal needs in the community and country;
Develop the structure of a unit within MU that will become institutionalized to address women in development; and
Draft a plan for a Master’s program in WID that will be housed in the new unit.

The project revolves around the following key activities:

A series of 3 workshops on aspects of women in development for both male and female faculty and staff from MU, and community leaders from the Menoufia governorate aimed at curriculum development and establishing linkages between MU and the community;
Faculty visits exchanges to develop courses on women in development at MU and to foster collaborative research;
Training of two female MU instructors at the Master’s level at UConn in fields related to WID; and
Laying the foundation at MU for a new unit focused on women in development and new Master’s program in this field.

The project team will explore possible models for an academic unit at Menoufia that will house a new Master’s degree program in the interdisciplinary field of Women in Development. By the end of the project, the team will have drafted plans for the new Women in Development unit and the academic structure of a new Master’s program.

Project Team

The Co-Principal Investigators of the project, Dr. Boris Bravo-Ureta and Dr. Elizabeth Mahan at UConn, and Dr. Ibrahim Siddik and Dr. Taghreed Farahat at MU, will direct the collaboration and conduct formative evaluation and monitoring in consultation with Dr. Isis Nawar, the external evaluator. The faculty who will participate in the exchanges and workshops, and help develop the Women in Development program are drawn from the Department of Family Studies, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Women’s Studies Program, and School of Engineering at UConn, and from the Faculties of Medicine, Agriculture, Liberal Arts, and Home Economics at MU. Several community organizations in Egypt and Connecticut that address women’s issues will also participate in the project.

Impact and Sustainability

The UConn-MU proposal builds on a long, productive engagement between UConn and the Egyptian higher education community and seeks to expand its scope into the field of women’s studies and gender equity as elements of sustainable social and economic development. The project addresses key priorities at both universities: promoting gender equity within the institutions and larger society, and strengthening the universities’ engagement with their local and national communities.