Margo Okazawa-Rey, Ed.D.
Associate Faculty - School of Leadership Studies | Fielding Graduate University
Berkeley, CA, UNITED STATES
Critical ethnic studies and gender studies; Militarism, conflict, and women’s activism; Social change; Mixed-racial identity development
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Biography
Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey is currently on the faculty of the School of Leadership Studies at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. She is also Elihu Root Peach Fund Chair in Women’s Studies at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and Professor Emerita at San Francisco State University.
Dr. Okazawa-Rey has held distinguished visiting positions at Mills College, Distinguished Fellow in Research Justice, 2013-2014 and Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women’s Leadership from 2008-2009. She was also the Feminist Activist Scholar in Residence at Scripps College (2006) and the Jane Watson Irwin Co-Chair in Women’s Studies at Hamilton College (1999-2001).
Dr. Okazawa-Rey’s primary areas of research and activism are gender, militarism, and feminist activist research. Her work focuses specifically on militarism, armed conflict, and violence against women.
She is the author of numerous publications. Her chapter, “Critical Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies: Education for Justice, Transformation, and Progressive Social Change,” appears in The Race Controversy in American Education (2015). An article published in Asian Journal of Women Studies, “Amerasian Children of GI Town: A Legacy of US Militarism in South Korea,” was among the first research articles that discussed the situation of mixed-race children abandoned by US military fathers in South Korea. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives (6th ed., 2013) co-edited with Gwyn Kirk (former Irwin Co-Chair), is an intro to women’s studies textbook used widely across the US, and, with Julia Sudbury, Activist Scholarship: Anti-racism, Feminism, and Social Change (2009) has influenced thinking about the relationship between research and activism among scholars. She also co-authored, with Amina Mama, “Militarism, Conflict and Women's Activism in the Global Era: Challenges and Prospects for Women in Three West African Contexts,” published in the Feminist Review (2011).
Dr. Okazawa-Rey sits on the international boards of the NGOs PeaceWomen across the Globe, based in Bern Switzerland, and Du Re Bang (My Sister’s Place) in Uijongbu, South Korea. She was a founding member of the Combahee River Collective, who articulated a theory of intersectionality in “A Black Feminist Statement."
Industry Expertise (2)
Research
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (8)
Militarism, armed conflict, and violence against women
Mixed-racial identity development
African-American/Asian-American relations
Critical multicultural education
Feminist activist research methodology
Transnational Feminist Praxis
Theories and Practices of Social Change
Global Studies
Accomplishments (11)
Elihu Root Peace Chair in Women’s Studies (professional)
(2014-2016) Hamilton College
Distinguished Fellow in Research Justice (professional)
(2103-2014) Mills College
Trust Africa Foundation Grantee (professional)
(2010-2011) Co-Principal Investigator
Social Science Research Council Grantee (professional)
(2010) Co-Principal Investigator
Margo Okazawa-Rey Social Justice Fellowship (personal)
(2009) Named in her honor at Pitzer College/Claremont Colleges Intercollegiate Asian-American Studies Program for undergraduate summer research.
Activist Scholar in Residence (personal)
(2006) Mellon Foundation Feminist Activist Scholar in Residence, Scripps College
Earl and Edna Stice Feminist Scholar of Social Justice (personal)
(2005) University of Washington
Social Work Leader Award (personal)
(2002) Soros Foundation, Project on Death in America
Distinguished Visiting Scholar (personal)
(2001) National Endowment for the Humanities/Jack Gray Chair, University of Hartford
Jane Watson Irwin Distinguished Chair (personal)
(2001) Jane Watson Irwin Distinguished Chair in Women’s Studies, Hamilton College
Fellowship (personal)
(1994) Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship
Education (2)
Harvard University: EdD, Graduate School of Education 1987
Boston University: MSS, School of Social Work 1974
Affiliations (5)
- International Leadership Association 2015
- National Women's Studies Association 2011-present
- Editorial Board Feminist Africa 2007-present
- Editorial Board Social Justice 2000-present
- Editorial Board Journal of Negro Education 1991-1998
Event Appearances (4)
Redefining Democracy, Peace, and Security in Africa: Gender, Race, Class, and Nation
(March, 2015) Urgent Action Fund Africa Harvard Law School Human Rights Program
Teach In to Act Out: Campus & Community Activism & The Corporate University
(January, 2015) Engaging the Head, Heart, and Hands Syracuse University
Strengthening Capacity Building of Women in Armed Conflict and Militarized Situations
(November, 2011) National Women’s Studies Association Annual Conference Atlanta, GA
Reflections on Personal and Political History of the International Network of Women against Militarism
(October, 2011) 25-Year Anniversary Conference of Hansori Seoul, Korea
Articles (6)
Critical Ethnic Studies and Gender Studies: Education for Justice, Transformation, and Progressive Social Change
Praeger
(2015) In L. D. Drakeford (ed.) The Race Controversy in American Education.
Militarism, Conflict, and Women’s Activism in the Global Era: Challenges and Prospects for Women in Three West African Countries
Feminist Review
(2012) This article develops a feminist perspective on militarism in Africa, drawing examples from the Nigerian, Sierra Leonean and Liberian civil wars spanning several decades to examine women's participation in the conflict, their survival and livelihood strategies, and their activism.
Solidarity with Palestinian Women: Notes from a Japanese Black U.S. Feminist
Paradigm
(2009) In J. Sudbury & M. Okazawa-Rey (eds.) Activist Scholarship: Anti-Racism, Feminism, and Social Change.
Feminist Africa 10: Militarism, Conflict and Women’s Activism
African Gender Institute
(2008) Feminist Africa is a continental gender studies journal produced by the community of feminist scholars. It provides a platform for intellectual and activist research, dialogue and strategy. Feminist Africa attends to the complex and diverse dynamics of creativity and resistance that have emerged in postcolonial Africa, and the manner in which these are shaped by the shifting global geopolitical configurations of power. Co-editor Amina Mama, African Gender Institute, University of the Cape Town.
De-militarizing Security: Women Oppose US Militarism in East Asia
Peace Review
(March 2004)
Beyond Heroes and Holidays: K-12 Anti-Racist, Multicultural Education and Staff Development
Network of Educators on the Americas
(1998) Multicultural education must encourage academic excellence that embraces critical skills for progressive social change. This book is guided by the philosophy of critical pedagogy, pioneered by Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire.
Social