UNLV joins women’s network

By Christina Littlefield (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005 | 8:17 a.m.

UNLV's Women's Research Institute has earned membership in a prestigious national network for women's studies that will enhance its own research efforts, director Joanne Goodwin said.

The National Council for Research on Women includes 100 member centers nationwide and several international members, Goodwin said. Membership in the council allows UNLV to share resources and partner on research projects with the likes of Stanford, Harvard, Rutgers, Cornell, Columbia or the University of California system.

Membership is selective and means UNLV's institute has proven itself as a research entity, winning the respect of the current members, Goodwin said.

"It just takes us out of a smaller state focus and allows our faculty and perhaps graduate students to collaborate nationally on research projects," Goodwin said.

The council's goal is to promote research that will "ensure fully informed debate, policies and practices to build a more inclusive and equitable world for women and girls," according to its Web site. The council addresses everything from globalization to how to promote science and technology careers among women to how to decrease teen pregnancy.

The university already has partnered with Rutgers on a women's leadership program for the last four years. UNLV is the only school in the Southwest participating in the program, which includes a weeklong intensive summer workshop aimed at encouraging college women to assume leadership roles in their communities, Goodwin said.

Founded in 1999, the UNLV institute also was part of a statewide effort to evaluate the status of women in Nevada and part of an oral history project to highlight the role of women in the state. The current focus is on Southern Nevada women, including pioneers such as Florence McClure, Myram Borders and Emilie Wanderer, community activists such as Sarann Knight Preddy and Alice Key, and gaming and entertainment leaders such as Claudine Williams and Hattie Canty.

Federal grants from the Education and Labor departments have funded most activities of the institute, which recently received $150,000 for the next two years from the Nevada Legislature.

Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@lasvegassun.com.