Georgetown fellow to speak on women and religion

Is religion bad for women? Or do religious resources offer new pathways for connecting women to economic development and the advancement of women’s rights?
 
Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion Peace and World Affairs, will address these issues in a free public lecture titled, “Taking Women and Religion Seriously: Intersecting Paths,” at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 30 in West Hall room 135 on the Tempe campus.
 
Marshall is serving at this year’s Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Speaker on Religion and Conflict, part of an endowed lecture series sponsored by the ASU Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.
 
Marshall was selected to serve as this year’s Marshall Speaker because of her role in forging new thinking on the role of faith, values and women in conflict resolution and economic development throughout her career.
 
Marshall is executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and worked with the World Bank for many years in a wide range of leadership assignments, including as senior adviser on issues of faith and development. Her work has focused on the poorest countries in the world, particularly in Africa.  

Marshall has been closely engaged in the creation and development of the WFDD, an initiave that brings together religious and development leaders to advance partnerships aimed at the elimination of global poverty. She also serves on the boards of several NGOs and advisory groups, including AVINA Americas, the Niwano Peace Prize International Selection Committee and the Opus Prize Foundation.
 
She is a board member of IDEA (International Development Ethics Association) and the International Anti-Corruption Advisory Conference (IACC) advisory council and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
 
She also served as a core group member of the Council of 100, an initiative of the World Economic Forum to advance understanding between the Islamic World and the West. She was a trustee of Princeton University from 2003-09 and has been involved with the Fes Forum, part of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, since its inception.
 
The Marshall Speaker Series, now in its 9th year, was created to honor the commitment of philanthropists Maxine and Jonathan Marshall to issues of world peace. Past speakers in the series include Eliza Griswold, Daisy Khan, Abdullahi An-Naim, and Diane Winson.
 
While on campus, Marshall will also meet with members of the Luce Seminar on Religion, Rights and Gender, students, and members of the community.
 
For more information call (480) 727-7187 or see http://csrc.asu.edu/. For campus and parking maps, go to www.asu.edu.