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International
Conference
Women
as Global Leaders
Communities in Transition
Organized by:
Zayed University of Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, March 12-14, 2006
Conference Presentation
For three days in March 2005, over 1000 students and educators
from 40 countries gathered in Dubai, UAE for the first international
student leadership conference ever held in the Middle East
- "Women as Global Leaders." With internationally
renowned speakers, over 150 papers and workshops, and a rich
variety of cultural diversity, the conference was a milestone
event in leadership education and the history of the region.
In 2006, we intend to build on the success of the inaugural
"Women as Global Leaders" and broaden our commitment
to educating the next generation of women leaders. This year's
conference theme, "Communities in Transition," will
focus attention on the ways in which women can act in leadership
roles at the grassroots level of the community to effect change
on a local, regional or even global scale.
Call for papers
The deadline to submit papers is January
1st, 2006. Submitters will receive notification
of acceptance or rejection by late January.
Conference Main theme
Communities unite and divide people around shared values,
ideas, experiences, and behaviors. Community forms the basis
of social, economic, political, and religious life and it
is within communities that we have our most intimate access
to and investment in leadership. Still, as we invoke the concept
freely, it is important to explore what constitutes community,
women’s roles within communities, the processes by which
communities undergo change, and how leadership drives and
responds to transition. Zayed University explores the above
issues and others in the theme of its 2006 “Women as
Global Leaders” student leadership conference, “Communities
in Transition.”
Conference Subthemes
• Service Learning and
Volunteerism: Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders?
Service learning, volunteer, and community engagement programs
are playing an increasingly major role in university curricula
and student affairs activities because they are seen as ways
to teach students flexibility and empathy, which are needed
for responsive and enduring leadership practice as well as
community problem-solving. This subtheme addresses the connections
among university service programs, community service, volunteerism,
and leadership development.
• Community Organizations
and Networks: Women’s Leadership, Roles, and Expectations
Women play important roles within communities, taking initiative
and paving pathways to change through their activism, leadership,
and social networks. Community-based organizations can offer
women new leadership possibilities especially as they often
tackle problems specific to women as well as pertinent to
the entire community. This subtheme encourages presentations
that address the informal and formal roles women play in community
organizations and networks with emphasis on the types of women’s
leadership, opportunities, and expectations.
• Partnering for Change:
Social Capital and Leadership
Communities work with corporations, universities, nongovernmental
organizations, and other bodies in order to meet community
needs through collaborative and flexible partnerships. Partnerships
offer new ideas, resources, and networks for creative problem
solving, as well as the potential for conflict, as different
groups embrace distinct leadership models and constituencies.
This subtheme addresses community partnerships as vehicles
for initiating and guiding change, with special attention
paid to the forms of social capital and leadership that arise
from joint ventures.
• Community Transformations:
Societal Change and Leadership
Community leadership often tackles larger societal issues,
seeing the community as a stepping-stone to a better society.
Women’s place in society often raises pivotal questions
about the direction of community transformation, especially
concerning gender roles, education, family structure, the
workforce, and traditional values. This subtheme explores
how communities change, the relationship between community
and societal change, and the challenges leadership faces in
directing, controlling, and responding to transition.
• Leaders as Change Agents:
Local Action for Global Problems
Many problems communities confront such as poverty, housing,
domestic violence, education, and social services have both
local and global faces. The adage “think global, act
local” has special currency within community leadership
as it places the context for leadership within the global
but the onus for action clearly within local communities and
their cultural values, resources, and leadership. This subtheme
examines how communities problem-solve, the requirements and
needs for leadership, the role of women within the definition
and solution of problems, and the relationship between local
and global contexts.
• Leading the Future: Vision,
Imagination, and New Forms of Community in the Modern World
In the modern world, members of the same community might not
live in the same geographic space, share similar values, or
even know one another. The anonymity of leadership in new
communities such as those found on the Internet can engender
women’s participation especially in societies where
women have limited access to power and authority. It is clear
that as communities themselves experience change, questions
about what constitutes leadership in new community formations
also arise. This subtheme encourages presenters to think creatively
about new forms of community as well as what leadership might
look like within these communities.
• Women in Public and Private
Spaces: Building and Sustaining Community
Although women are increasingly present in the public sphere,
they continue to drive community leadership from informal
positions. Women’s investment in community leadership
is unique because they are perceived to embody specific values
of the community through their roles as mothers, daughters,
and wives. This subtheme explores women’s networks and
roles in public and/or private spaces, as well as how these
roles influence the construction, development, and sustenance
of local and global communities.
Conference Registration
The price for all delegates will be US$ 250. This includes
three days of conference activities, lunch on each day, a
Gala Dinner, Desert Safari/Barbeque, and conference pack.
Lunches during conference days and transportation between
hotels and the Emirates Palace will be provided. Student accommodation
also will be provided free of charge. All other attendees
and spouses can avail of discount conference rate accommodation
at selected hotels.
Conference's official web site
Please visit the Conference's
official web site to learn further and updated details.
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