Summer School in Women's Studies in Hyderabad, India

Abstract

The Summer School i n Women's Studies was conducted by the Indian Association of Women's Studies and Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Secunderabad from 10 March to 10 Apri l 1997 at the National Institute for Small Industries Extension and Training, Hyderabad. The date of commencement of the course is significant: 10 March 1997 marks the death centenary of Savitribai Phule, the pioneer in women's education. Designed as an interdisciplinary effort, the curriculum locates the issue of violence historically, in different regions, in varied contexts, and in relation to literature, economic policies, environment, caste, class, ethnicity, identity, health and media. The interconnectedness of these diverse areas/disciplines was introduced through a session on the 'Social Construction of Gender' which included introductions to concepts of dominance, hegemony and patriarchy cross-culturally. The resource persons who spent two days with participants had complete flexibility in approaching their disciplines/areas of concern and in structuring their sessions. In structuring the entire course and the overall curriculum and reading list, we created the possibility and