Course to be set by Global Women’s Institute.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: George Washington University (GWU) is instituting a new curriculum that is based on the advocacy and teachings of 16-year-old Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai.
The curriculum will be based mostly on the content of Yousafzai’s new book, entitled “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban.” The book is an autobiography of Yousafzai’s thus-far short but incredibly eventful life, detailing her life growing up in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, her initial advocacy efforts which were encouraged by her father and brought her to the attention of the Taliban, the attempt on her life in which she was shot in the head at point-blank range, and her miraculous recovery, after which she became dedicated anew to fighting for the rights of Islamic women on the world stage.
The proposed program of studies would be undertaken by the university’s Global Women’s Institute (GWI), which was launched last fall “as part of a university-wide initiative to advance gender equality through interdisciplinary research, education, and civic engagement.” The GWI has partnered with The Malala Fund, a non-profit organization that advocates education for girls around the world, to help bring the curriculum to fruition.
Mary Ellsburg, the director of the GWI, has said that the classes which will be offered as part of the curriculum will focus on not just Malala’s story, but the stories of other similar girls who are not as famous but have gone through similar injustices because of the societies that they have grown up in. The GWI aims to encourage its students to engage with both their own communities and other communities around the world in an effort to combat gender inequality and institute basic civil liberties for all.
“The curriculum will be multi-disciplinary,” said Michele Clark, a lecturer with GWU’s Elliot School of International Affairs, to The American Bazaar. “It will involve professors in International Affairs, Women’s Studies, History, and other departments. There will be many different sections offered that will focus on things like advocacy [and] the challenges of fighting religious extremism. We will start developing and testing the program in November, and we plan to start offering pilot versions of some of the classes in the spring [of 2014].”
Born in 1997, Yousafzai has been all over the news since last year, when on October 9th she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman because of her outspoken views about women receiving education. She was airlifted to Europe, where doctors were able to save her life. She was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, was given honorary citizenship by Canada last week, and was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest nominee in the award’s history. She ultimately lost despite many thinking she was a shoo-in to win.
Her recent appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in which she talks about what she would do if she comes into contact with a Taliban gunman again, has taken the Internet by storm. It can be viewed below:
[This story was updated on 10/21/13.]
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com