The world needs saving; but how are we going to save it? 

This question was answered during the “Educating Women as a Way of Saving the World” talk hosted by Shippensburg University Professor Bradley Bullock in Grove Hall on March 4.

The event was interactive, with Bullock encouraging students to answer questions and raise their own. 

Throughout the talk, Bullock discussed several challenges that humanity is facing such as climate change, poverty and famine. Among other challenges, these are affecting the world at large and require sustained efforts to address.

Another significant topic of the conversation was human population and fertility rates. Bullock argued that educating women is a way of slowing population growth.

“When we think about educated women lowering fertility, they do that by slowing population growth first by being more likely to be involved, or being more effectively involved, in family planning practices.” Bullock said.

At the end of the talk, students and faculty had their own questions for Bullock. 

“Patriarchy, you know, the perceived threat on the part of men of their power, certain religious scriptures, maybe the fact that when women are not part of, let’s say, the general population out there that their purview tends to be more inside,” Bullock said when asked about what pushes hardest against the education of women.

The event ended with Allison Carey, chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department, thanking students and encouraging them to attend the International Women’s Day Awards the following day. 

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