Dr. Piya Chatterjee from Scripps College was invited to lecture for the faculty and students from Women Gender Studies and Women’s Education Center from Jun.9 to Jun.15, 2015.

Dr. Piya Chatterjee, graduated from the famous Wellesley College and the University of Chicago with a doctorate in anthropology, is the Dorothy Cruickshank Backstrand Chair of Gender and Women's Studies, and Chair of Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department. Her area of interest is broadly in British colonialism, transnational and transdisciplinary US colored people in the postcolonial times, transnational and antiracist feminisms, gender and social justice, women in the southern hemisphere, and feminist pedagogy etc. She is also very interested in studying the lives, their anti-violence actions and education of the rural village women. Meanwhile, as a tea plantation scholar, she has spent 15 years organizing with tea plantation workers in North Bengal (eastern Indian Himalaya) and with rural village women in south Bengal (near the city of Kolkata).

During the week, Dr. Chatterjee gave four lectures on Feminism Epistemology: Intersection of Knowledge, Gender and Power, The Development of Social Gender and Women’s Movements, Feminist Theory and Theoretical Schools, and History of International Women’s Movements for the students admitted in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Combing the profound feminist theories with her rich experience, she explained the feminist theories in a simple and understandable way. Meanwhile, she shared her rich experience in women/gender research and teaching with the students majoring in women’s studies, who were deeply attracted by her lecture. They had a highly charged discussion with Dr. Chatterjee in each Q&A session.

After the four lectures as scheduled, the women’s studies majors’17 sincerely asked for one more exchange with Dr. Chatterjee who was also deeply moved by the earnestness of the students. On the afternoon of Jun.15^th, Dr. Chatterjee met with the students again and answered their questions enthusiastically.

On the afternoon of Jun.9^th, Dr. Chatterjee was invited to have a broad exchange of ideas with the faculty of the Women/ Gender Studies and Women’s Education Center on such academic problems as the teaching of women’s studies, feminist theory, women’s studies and social movement, women’s lives today, and women’s movements etc. The scheduled 2-hour exchange lasted 3.5 hours and both sides held the view that there would be much more space of cooperation at the institutional level. (Written by Ms. Liu Renfeng from the Women/ Gender Studies and Women’s Education Center and translated by Ms. Long Min from the International Affairs Office)