AFCLC Faculty Presents at WPS Symposium

Dr. Kristin Bashir, Associate Professor of Regional and Cultural Studies, Middle East North Africa (MENA) at the Air Force Culture and Language Center, was an invited speaker at the Women, Peace and Security in Education, Operations, and Institutions Symposium hosted by the U.S. Naval War College in April. She spoke on WPS in Education, and why including a gender perspective in security-related course curricula is critical to realizing the aims of the WPS agenda. Integrating a gender perspective into existing curricula – versus developing a stand-alone WPS course – is essential since this conveys the relevance of gender by revealing its connection to and impact on assorted aspects of national and global security.

“This was an exceptional and meaningful event that brought together important input from academic, practitioner, and warfighter perspectives. I learned a lot throughout the event and am honored to have been a part of it,” Dr. Bashir said.

Equally important, integrating gender means a broader range of students, i.e., not just those who take a WPS course, will learn about the benefits of considering gender as well as the risks of not considering it. The WPS in Education panel, of which Dr. Bashir was a part, addressed current efforts to integrate WPS/gender concepts and issues into security-related course curricula, discuss the benefits thereof, and suggest ways to improve these efforts.

Learn more about the Department of Defense’s effort toward WPS here: https://media.defense.gov/2020/Jun/11/2002314428/-1/-1/1/WOMEN_PEACE_SECURITY_STRATEGIC_FRAMEWORK_IMPLEMENTATION_PLAN.PDF