In "Mini Moments with Big Thinkers," leading figures in Teachers College's history discuss groundbreaking ideas, research and initiatives born at the College during the past half-century. The Mini Moments are drawn from the College’s Oral History Project, a collection of more than 90 videotaped interviews conducted by Melanie Shorin and Jessica Wiederhorn, the principals of The Narrative Trust, a private firm that conducts and captures the oral histories of institutions, communities and individuals. Produced in conjunction with TC’s Department of Development and External Affairs, the Mini-Moments are airing throughout 2013.
Viola Vaughn | Mini Moments With Big Thinkers
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Mini Moments With Big Thinkers
Viola Vaughn
Westerners who want to help developing nations engineer social change must adapt to the local culture. Textbook case: How Viola Vaughn, founder of 10,000 Girls, used the Koran to persuade the Islamic owners of a bus company in Senegal to institute family planning for female employees.
Dr. Viola M. Vaughn (Ed.D., Health Education, ’84) is founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Health Education and Prevention Strategies Alliance (WHEPSA) and 10,000 Girls in Kaolack, Senegal, West Africa. She founded WHEPSA in 2001, to develop new strategies for offering health and educational services to girls in rural Senegal. The key tenets of her approach are to help provide education for girls at risk of failure or dropping out of school; and to create opportunities for employment and training for girls who have failed at school or never attended. 10,000 Girls boasts a student pass rate of 92 percent, compared to just 28 percent for UNESCO in the same region.
Vaughn has received the CNN Heroes award and the Teachers College Distinguished Alumni Award for her accomplishments.
To learn more about Viola Vaughn, read:
The Teflon Grandmother (TC Today magazine)
CNN Heroes video (CNN - 10,000 Girls website)
Learn more about TC's Health Education program in the College's Department of Health and Behavior Studies.
Premiered on 6/21/2013
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Nahas Angula
Ed.M., 1979; M.A., 1978
Jody Gottfried Arnhold
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Col. Bernard Banks
Ph.D. '11
Leonard Blackman
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George Bonanno
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Warner Burke
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George Bond
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Margaret Crocco
former TC Professor of Social Studies and Education
Morton Deutsch
E.L. Thorndike Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education
Christopher Emdin
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Alumnus William Epps
Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Los Angeles
Claire Fagin
M.A. '51
Celia Genishi
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Antoinette Gentile
Professor Emeritus, Movement Sciences
A. Lin Goodwin
Vice Dean and Professor of Education
Edmund Gordon
Richard March Hoe Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education
Maxine Greene
William F. Russell Professor Emeritus in Foundations of Education
R. Douglas Greer
Professor of Psychology and Education
Jeffrey Henig
Professor of Political Science & Education, Department Chair, EPSA
Ellie Krieger
M.S. '94
David Johns
M.A. '06
Sharon Lynn Kagan
Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy
John B. King, Jr.
Ed.D. '08, New York State Commissioner of Education
Henry Levin
Professor of Economics & Education
Richard Mills
EdD '77
Eric Nadelstern
Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership
Sandra Okita
Assistant Professor of Technology and Education
Raphael Montañez Ortiz
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Matthew Pittinsky
Ph.D. '08
Michael Rebell
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William Dodge Rueckert
Co-Chair, Teachers College Board of Trustees
Donna Shalala
President of the University of Miami, former TC faculty member
Gita Steiner-Khamsi
Professor of Education
Derald Wing Sue
Professor of Psychology and Education
Viola Vaughn
EdD '84
Ruth Vinz
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Cally L. Waite
Associate Professor of History and Education
Barbara Wallace
Professor of Health Education
Vivian Ota Wang
M. Phil. '94, Ph.D. '95
Howell Wechsler
Ed.D. '95 and 2012-2013 Tisch Lecturer