ACWPS SPEAKS AT THE NAVAL WAR COLLEGE

[April, 2023]

American Council on Women Peace and Security Founder, Dr. Susan Yoshihara, and Fellow, Dr. Grace Hoffman design, develop, and implement tailored WPS curricula. They spoke about their work at Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU). At DSCU, their team integrated WPS into training, certification, and graduate education. The hallmarks of their approach include close working relationships with the faculty, alignment with U.S. law, understanding of international and partner nation WPS perspectives and mandates, and the highest standards of scholarship. They believe that the faculty are the best educators of WPS within their courses due to their mastery of the material.

Security cooperation is the main way DoD implements WPS and DSCU teaches and certifies the 18,000-strong security cooperation workforce. Dr. Yoshihara explained the way her team analyzed curriculum and tailored WPS for key courses with a view to how NWC faculty can approach Joint Military Operations and National Security Affairs. Dr. Hoffman spoke from the perspective of both a WPS instructor at DSCU and as a historian, who recognized the value of WPS to her own historical research. She addressed how WPS can add value and bring new knowledge to courses that focus on historical cases.