Institute of Politics

IOP Pritzker Fellow Lisa Franchetti on "Women in the Military: The Debate Resumes" THIS SEMINAR IS OPEN TO CURRENT UCHICAGO STUDENTS ONLY Tuesday, April 14 3:30-4:45pm American women have been attending our Military Service Academies since 1976 and serving - officially - in combat roles in the Air Force/Navy since 1993 and in the Army and Marine Corps since 2015. Even though that lauded military force includes roughly 18 percent women, the debate about their ability to serve in combat and meet standards has resumed. Our joint military force is clearly the most powerful in the world: it deters would-be adversaries around the world; and, just in the past few years, it defeated over 200 Houthi maritime attacks, defended Israel against a massive Iranian attack, extensively damaged Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, struck over 70 suspected ISIS targets in Syria and captured Nicolas Maduro, always with women. We’ll look at the historic, evolutionary and current roles of women in the U.S. military and discuss the realized and potential impacts of contemporary DEI politics on our apolitical, non-partisan, all-volunteer force. Pritzker Fellows seminars are off the record and open to current UChicago students only. Seating in the IOP Living Room is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact Ella Kumano-Maloney (ikmaloney@uchicago.edu).