Saint Mary’s College’s Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership Debuts Scholarly Journal 

March 7 , 2011 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary's College is proud to announce that its first scholarly journal, published by the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership (CWIL), went live online today . The Journal of Women’s Intercultural Leadership ( JWIL ), which can be found at www.saintmarys.edu/cwil/jwil , is an extension of CWIL’s mission to empower women to realize their call to leadership and to develop the intercultural knowledge and competence critical in today ’s increasingly interdependent world. In the spirit of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the sponsors of this women's college, CWIL promotes transformation and systemic change, from the local to the global context, by providing challenging, justice-based educational opportunities. 



“For ten years, CWIL has provided transformative intercultural engagement opportunities for our students, faculty, and staff, as well as professors, scholars, and practitioners from around the country. The journal keeps conversations going that start here at conferences and special events,” said Elaine Meyer-Lee, director of CWIL. “It is our hope that the journal will become a nationally known resource for those who seek to bring intercultural perspectives and practices to their classes, research, programs, or institutions.” 



JWIL focuses on the intersections of intercultural education, leadership development, and women’s studies to yield a distinctive synthesis of ideas and best practices. The journal provides a forum for scholars and practitioners from across the country who have brought multicultural concerns and lived experience to their research, teaching, and curricular activities. The peer-reviewed journal contains articles, discussion forums, and book reviews and is published twice a year in the spring and fall. For example, in the first issue, the lead article examines the role of mothers as advocates for change in their children's schools, a forum considers the meaning of women's intercultural leadership, and a book about a burgeoning women's movement in the Sudan peace process is reviewed. 



Meyer-Lee said the impetus for the journal comes from a variety of sources: The mission of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in fostering respect for all people; the College’s history of educating generations of women leaders; Saint Mary’s faculty experience with interdisciplinary education; and positive response to the rich scholarship and pedagogy that has been promoted by CWIL. 


Catherine Pittman, associate professor of psychology, and Julie A. Storme, a professor in the Department of Modern Languages, are the coeditors of JWIL . Pittman said that it was the successful national conferences on women's intercultural leadership sponsored by CWIL that inspired the creation of JWIL . The impressive diverse and interdisciplinary presentations at CWIL conferences suggested that a scholarly journal should be established to facilitate presentation of research and theory focused on promoting the intercultural competence critical for the next generation of women leaders. 



"The CWIL conferences brought together theorists, scholars, educators, community activists and practitioners-- as well as students-- to join in a national conversation about how best to promote women's leadership. The journal is a way of promoting and continuing that conversation," Pittman explained. 



Scholars and practitioners interested in submitting articles/papers for consideration should go to http://www.centerforwomeninleadership.org/jwil/submissions/call-papers for submission details. 



____________________________________________ 

Michael M. Waddell, Ph.D. 
The Edna and George McMahon Aquinas Chair in Philosophy 
Department of Philosophy 
157 Spes Unica Hall 
Saint Mary's College 
Notre Dame, IN 46556 
Phone: 574.284.4169