On March 8, students from the World Religions and Combatting Intolerance classes joined in the College and Career Center for an hour and a half videoconference on Women’s Rights. The talk started with a speech from Dr. Basma Habib in Kurdistan, Iraq.

After Dr. Habib discussed the women’s rights situation and activism in her country, students asked questions and began discussing women’s rights in their communities and their personal experiences and views on the subject. World Religions and Combatting Intolerance students spoke with students from schools in Indonesia and Mexico, and the discussion was moderated by a Generation Global employee in India.

Students discussed how different cultures view women, how present issues like unequal pay or education are ignored, and how women are underrepresented in the government. At the end of the talk, students from each school summarized their feelings on what had been said. The importance of education and involvement in political activism was emphasized, and the talk ended with speaker Dr. Habib saying that it had been one of her best women’s days ever.

After the conference students discussed how they felt the discussion had gone, and how to continue having productive videoconferences in the future. More conferences with Generation Global are planned for the near future, though no information has been given to students yet of when they will be or what subjects they will cover.