Center on Women and Public Policy

Current research at the Center on Women and Public Policy

• Women & Public Policy Case Studies Program
• Appointment of women judges in Great Britain

The Center holds public lectures and seminars on pressing policy issues such as the politics of breast cancer and policies for healthy women, families, and workplaces; convenes women state legislators for retreats; and brings together executive directors of feminist nonprofit organizations to facilitate the creation of stronger feminist networks.

• Feminist Leadership Fellows program
• Front Runners: Women with Political Ambition
• Women and Politics reading group
• Women, Law, and Public Policy reading group
• Women Legislator's Retreat
• Young Women's Leadership and Intergenerational Feminism

Dialogue with Women

Women's Voices - Minnesota. The Women's Voices - Minnesota research project focused on the daily lives of Minnesota women and in order to identify their key issues of concern. Through discussion groups and statewide random telephone surveys, the research concluded that women's and men's concerns clustered around crime and safety, economic security, and balancing work and family.

Economic Literacy

Feminist Economics. In 1996-97, The Humphrey Institute was the site for a traveling seminar on feminist economics funded by the Ford Foundation. The course is now a part of the regular curriculum at the institute. The center has also hosted a Women and Economics Lecture Series.

Feminist Thought and Scholarship

Academic Research and Public Policy Formation. The center coordinated a three-part series on academic research and the formation of public policy. Specific topic included the role of the media in policy formation; the function of academic research in the legislative process; and the interplay between scholarship, public policy, and institutional structure. The series was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

Feminist Research Methods. In collaboration with the Center for Advanced Feminist Studies at the university, the center has hosted a series of workshops on feminist research methods including documenting oral histories, ethnographies, survey research methods, personal narratives, and case studies. The series involved panel experts, faculty, and students.

International Issues
Human Rights

The International Women's Rights Action Watch promotes knowledge and understanding of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The center has become a focus for many national and international efforts on women's rights, in addition to acting as the primary monitoring organization for the convention.

Law/Legal Issues

Women, Law, and Public Policy. With a grant from the Ford Foundation, the center is working to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship on women, law, and public policy through the creation and nurturing of a community of scholars devoted to these topics. Reading groups and speaker series are included in the initiative.

Leadership and Leadership Development

Women in Leadership. The center has put together a Women in Leadership Bibliography and Selected Annotations, categorized according to the leadership framework in Leadership for the Common Good, Bryson & Crosby (1992). More specifically, the resource includes Leadership in Context, Personal Leadership, Team Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Political Leadership, Visionary Leadership, Ethical Leadership, and International Leadership.

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