Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 7, 2004|Volume 32, Number 29|Two-Week Issue

One highlight of the AYA Assembly was the opportunity for alumni to take part in small group discussions with Yale faculty and researchers.

Alumni delegates explore issues facing
'Yale Women in a Changing World'

The ways in which women are empowering themselves around the world, advances in an understanding of health issues particular to women, and the role of women in the workplace and in the arts are among the topics that were explored in a recent conference for alumni hosted April 30 and May 1 by the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) in cooperation with the Yale Women Faculty Forum.

Based on the theme "In the Company of Scholars: Yale Women in a Changing World," the event drew hundreds of alumni (most women, but also a few men) to campus for lectures, small group discussions, a musical performance by female student groups, tours of art studios and exhibitions, and other activities.

A highlight of the event was an exploration of new developments in interdisciplinary research being conducted by Yale faculty affiliated with Women's Health Research at Yale. Dr. Carolyn Mazure, director of the program and associate dean for faculty affairs at the School of Medicine, pointed out in her plenary address that prior to the mid-1990s, two-thirds of all diseases that affect both women and men were studied exclusively in men.

"Women have been excluded due to legitimate concerns about exposing women to risks from studies, leaving major areas of women's health unexplored," Mazure told her audience in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium. "There have also been misconceptions that certain conditions don't affect women to the same extent that they affect men. One example is cardiovascular disease. Studies in this area have largely focused on men."

Yale responded to the need for more research on women by starting the Women's Health Research at Yale program in 1998 for the explicit purpose of funding studies that would affect women.

Following the address by Mazure, who is also a professor of psychiatry, conference participants took part in "breakout" sessions featuring discussions with faculty and alumnae who are leaders in the areas of research and health policy pertaining to women. Discussion topics included heart disease; the role of dietary protein on bone health;

infertility; the impact of new technologies on breast cancer treatment; developmental disorders such as Tourette's syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; and the links between cigarette smoking and depression.

Other discussions focused on the international and transnational women's rights movement; how focusing on women affects analyses of development, democracy and stability in the world arena; the interaction of globalization and health; gender and property rights in China; and initiatives to empower women and children in the United States and abroad.

Three top Yale administrators -- Provost Susan Hockfield, Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer and Vice President and General Counsel Dorothy Robinson -- offered their perspectives on University life. They were introduced by President Richard C. Levin, who also provided a brief update on the University.

In smaller groups, alumni met to discuss their experiences of Yale as women, work life/family concerns, career advancement, mentoring, and other issues. Alumni also had the opportunity to visit the studios of women artists at Yale and learn about their individual creative processes, and to gather for a discussion with Connie Grappo '95 M.F.A., director of "The Mystery Plays" at Yale, who shared her insights on her intersecting roles as a spouse, mother and director. Undergraduate women's musical groups -- including Unity, Proof of the Pudding, the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus, Something Extra and Whim 'n Rhythm -- entertained alumni with musical selections from around the world.

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New center offers treatment for primary immunodeficiencies

The letters of literary figures are featured in Beinecke exhibit

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Study: For-profit hospices offer fewer services than non-profits

Chemotherapy agent called cisplatin effectively transmits . . .

Scientists learn more about bond of water molecules, protons

New fund will support YSN faculty's initiatives to improve health care

Juniors are recognized for scholarship and character

'Modernist Voices' will explore themes in American and British literature

Dr. Terri Fried lauded for her work in geriatric patient care and research

Event explores new advances in chemical biology

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes