Instructor: Prof. David Lindstrom, Department of Sociology
Wednesday, May 30 – Friday, June 8 (classes every weekday)

This module is designed to provide participants with the basic skills needed to design and implement sample survey questionnaires. Participants will learn about constructing sampling frames, sample design, and sample selection; question construction, the impact of question order, defining response categories, and questionnaire formatting; alternative response modes; and data base design and data entry. These objectives will be achieved through morning lectures, readings, and hands-on exercises involving all stages of the survey process. Participants will also receive instruction in the use of Epi-Info for data entry.

The module is open to all Brown graduate students.

]]> http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/uncategorized/module-on-survey-design-2/feed 0 http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/gpd-news/working-class-agency-in-brazilian-family-court-the-challenges-and-limitations-of-an-ethnographic-approach http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/gpd-news/working-class-agency-in-brazilian-family-court-the-challenges-and-limitations-of-an-ethnographic-approach#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:45:51 +0000 admin http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/?p=1413 Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 5:00-6:30 pm, McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute for International Studies

A presentation by Claudia Fonseca, Visiting Scholar in the Graduate Program in Development

Dr. Fonseca is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Social Sciences at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande dul Sul, and directs the doctoral program in social anthropology at the Universidad Nacional de San Martin.

Our initial question, in this workshop, is what we can learn of gender relations in Brazil through the investigation of paternity disputes in the Brazilian courts? However, our focus will be on methodological issues. There are several ways to access people involved in these disputes: through the office of free legal aid, sessions of court conciliation, the medical lab, and the written court records. What difference do these different access points make for our analysis? What are the consequences for our conclusions on agency and gender relations in contemporary Brazil.

40 years after Nixon declared the “War on Drugs,” what are its successes and failings? What are alternative policies for drug control?

April 12th and 13th, 2012

http://angle.watsoninstitute.org/drugwars/

A presentation by Dr. Rita Giacaman, Visiting Scholar in the Graduate Program in Development

Dr. Giacaman is a professor of public health at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory

This workshop outlines the rationale for combining metrics developed in the West, with health and other related measures that are relevant, important, and meaningful in the Palestinian context. The recently developed Human Security Scale will be presented as an example of the importance of including ‘people’s voices’ into health and other assessments.

A presentation by Dr. Binitha Thampi, Visiting Scholar in the Graduate Program in Development

Dr. Thampi is Assistant Professor of Development Studies in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Empowering Women Leaders at the Local Level: Translating Descriptive Representation to Substantive Representation through Information and Communication Technologies

The devolution of state functions to local level institutions of self government was affected in
Kerala under the statutes of the Panchayati Raj (local-level governance) Act of India, 1994. This
constitutional amendment provided 33 percent reservation of seats in electoral positions for
women in local level political bodies (now up to 50% in the state of Kerala), an affirmative
action instituted in the spirit of gender equality in political representation. Studies of the effective
participation of elected women representatives in local village panchayats in select districts in
Kerala, have shown that even though most of the leaders had acquired knowledge and skills
appropriate to elected office during a three-year period after assuming office, they had been
unsuccessful in affecting change in their spheres of action and in fact had been subjected to
patriarchal domination by male members of their political parties.

One possible way forward to women’s empowerment would be to utilize the potential of ICT’s
in providing alternative ‘spaces’ for the articulation of women’s voices and the creation of a
‘communication community’, while leveraging the opportunity offered by political
decentralisation for women to become equally politicised subjects in the public domain. It is with
this intention that the digital platform www.Gramamukhya1.in has been developed which has the
potential to emerge as an ‘invented space’ that is a space outside mainstream efforts that would
eventually inform and revitalise policies and programmes within the invited spaces of local
governance in Kerala.

Therefore Grmamukhya is an effort towards building an ICT enabled community of women elected
representatives of local governments in Kerala in which women serve both as creators and users of
knowledge pertaining to varied aspects of governance and also reflect upon their own positioning
within. Through the politicization of this knowledge network it is envisaged that women will be able
to challenge the patriarchal power and the resultant domination they experience within selfgoverning
institutions and local political structures. The digital platform has been designed to
facilitate free articulation and sharing of experiences, concerns and knowledge while at the same time
opening up the possibility for them to critically engage with issues pertaining not only to governance
but also to wider public life.

Thampi Workshop April 10 Poster

A presentation by Dr. Binitha Thampi, Visiting Scholar in the Graduate Program in Development

Dr. Thampi is Assistant Professor of Development Studies in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Decentralization and the Changing Geographies of Political Marginalization in Kerala, India

‘Moving’ the state closer to people–in the form of democratic decentralization–is supposed to improve political inclusion. Previously marginalized groups are expected to have greater access to the state because the centers of government become both physically closer to them, lowering barriers of time/distance, and subject to formalized practices of representation at the grassroots, making them more accountable.

This paper examines this idea through the experience of Kerala state, which has one of the most thorough programs of democratic decentralization within India. Political marginalization in Kerala has traditionally been talked about in terms of ‘outliers’ – certain groups such as fisherfolk, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes – that were recognized as excluded from the State’s model of social development.

Using evidence from detailed qualitative research in two gram panchayats (local councils) of the State, it argues that decentralization has indeed changed this all-Kerala pattern, providing new opportunities to engage with local government through formal and informal channels. Localized party-political connections, caste/community dynamics, changing livelihood patterns and gender roles are all acting to change people’s political subjectivities, significantly shaping their ability to take advantage of the opportunities democratic decentralization was intended to offer.

This paper uses these experiences to highlight the new micro-geographies of exclusion which emerge from attempts to ‘rescale’ the state to the local level. It argues that such intentional programs of reform need to pay greater attention to the these everyday experiences of marginalization – and to informal practices of political power – if decentralization’s democratizing potential is to be more fully realized.

BInitha Thampi 4 April 2012 Poster

Instructor: Prof. David Lindstrom, Department of Sociology
Wednesday, May 30 – Friday, June 8 (classes every weekday)

This module is designed to provide participants with the basic skills needed to design and implement sample survey questionnaires. Participants will learn about constructing sampling frames, sample design, and sample selection; question construction, the impact of question order, defining response categories, and questionnaire formatting; alternative response modes; and data base design and data entry. These objectives will be achieved through morning lectures, readings, and hands-on exercises involving all stages of the survey process. Participants will also receive instruction in the use of Epi-Info for data entry.

The module is open to all Brown graduate students.

]]> http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/gpd-news/module-on-survey-design/feed 0 http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/gpd-news/gpd-igert-advanced-training-module-on-poverty-and-inequality http://gpd.watsoninstitute.org/gpd-news/gpd-igert-advanced-training-module-on-poverty-and-inequality#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:07:38 +0000 admin http://www.gpdbrown.org/?p=1288 GPD-IGERT Advanced Training Module on Poverty and Inequality
Instructor: Andrew Foster

This module will focus on quantitative tools to measure, describe, analyze, monitor and evaluate of poverty and inequality. We will utilize material from the Handbook of Poverty and Inequality that was developed by the World Bank as an aid for similar training sessions.

While the course is offered as an IGERT module, it is open to graduate students across social sciences affiliated with Watson Institute and/or Population Studies and Training Center.

The module consists of 4 sessions of 1.5 hours each (10:30am – 12:00pm), which are scheduled for the following dates: March 2, March 5, March 9 and April 6. The last session on April 6 will allow for project presentations and a wrap-up. The class will be held in Mencoff Hall’s Seminar Room on the 2nd floor.

To take this short course, please visit this link to enroll:

http://tinyurl.com/7hc6kxu

Dr. Elena Dmitrieva is the director of the Health and Development Foundation, an NGO which has been working in Russia to make healthy lifestyles a priority and improve the health of the population. HDF works with the support of government agencies, medical and educational establishments, and socially responsible corporations to create communication and education programs in such areas as HIV prevention, reproductive health, healthy lifestyles for youth, and further training for medical professionals. HDF is the first organization to do behavior change communication campaigns with the usage of innovative methods, new technology, and entertaining and educational materials to ensure the success of our programs. The Foundation recently launched Text4Baby- Russia, an innovative program designed to offer specific information mothers need to care for their own health and their babies, conveyed through clear and concise text messages sent to their mobile phones.  Dr. Dmitrieva will talk about how her foundation uses mobile communication technologies to promote public health.  Linda Cook discuss the Russian government’s pro-natalist policies and how their implementation is facilitated by mobile communication technologies.

Tuesday, March 6th, 5:00-6:30 pm
McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute for International Studies

This course has three components: 1) a spring semester course; 2) a summer work experience with a small, grassroots development organization in the U.S. or abroad; and 3) a two-day wrap-up retreat at the end of the summer.