Saint Mary's has granted 10 fellowships this year through the Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership (CWIL). The fellows, all of whom are women, study a variety of academic fields, ranging from psychology to social work to women's studies. Each fellow is required to incorporate CWIL's interrelating components through her medium of study. These include scholarship and research, leadership and change, and teaching and learning. In addition, each component is to be completed in context of gender affecting culture and society.Professor Patricia Hancock of Saint Mary's social work department is beginning the second renewed year of her fellowship, investigating Indiana's policy regarding abuse in foster care. Hancock has previously served Saint Mary's as an adjunct professor in the social work and anthropology departments "I enjoy [the fellowship] immensely," Hancock said. "I love teaching in the department of social work because the students come wanting to learn."Hancock also serves on the board of directors of the Prevent Child Abuse Council.Isis Nusair joins the CWIL fellowship program as a faculty member in the women's studies department. "It is exciting to be a part of an intellectual community embedded in a community of activists," Nusair said.Nusair is currently completing her dissertation analyzing three generations of Palestinian women and their relationship to Israel in context of generational problems. Before coming to Saint Mary's, Nusair received a Peace Studies degree from the University of Notre Dame. She also served as a researcher on the Human Rights Watch as well as the Euro-Med Human Rights Network. Belinda Laumbach comes to Saint Mary's from Rainsville, New Mexico. Laumbach has an extensive background in teaching, specializing in the scope of bilingual education. She has worked on the university level for nine years and is furthering her study in minority participation on school boards. Her current work focuses on determining if women and men have equal leadership positions within the Latino culture. Laumbach is helping to supervise education students with their final graduate preparations and student teaching.All but one CWIL fellow have offices on the first mezzanine in the Cushwa-Leighton library. They emphasize their availability to both the Saint Mary's and Notre Dame communities.
