Women in Bangladesh are regarded as having fewer opportunities to go out due to female segregation norms. Development aid and the growing garments industry have brought women from their homesteads and into the workplace. Especially in Dhaka, it is not unusual to see women out in public. In these changing times, gender norms such as pardha illicit greater discussion focusing on practical activities and space. In this study, I conducted ethnographical research at a handicraft studio in Dhaka to explore how women describe their work and space. The handicraft studio is an arena of social change because it was developed by foreign aid and is managed by Bengali women. Based on the female workers’ reports, I discuss gendered space from two aspects : division of work and activity space. In the former, though women do wage labour to maintain households, they do not challenge the status of men’s breadwinner. In the latter, they see the studio as safe and place of women comparing to garments factories and home. Female workers, who value relationships with family members, define their activity space not only physically but also ideologically. It shows that gender norms seem too inconsistent with modern ideologies, but people have their own abilities to choose what actions to take to better their life.

The East India Company, which was established in 1600 as a trading company, gradually transformed itself into a government institution. Through the expansion of British rule in India, the competencies and administrative knowledge necessary to make an effective civil servant were transferred to the commercial workers of the East India Company. At that time, Richard Wellesley（1760-1842）assumed the position of the Governor-General of India. He realised that junior civil servants were coming to India without completing their general education in Britain and that they were falling into bad habits such as accumulating significant debts. Wellesley established the College of Fort William （FWC）to enhance the quality of civil servants in India. In this paper, I feature examinations conducted periodically for students and public debates conducted in oriental languages. There are several opinions about the frequency with which examinations were conducted at the FWC. The results of examinations were used for the separation of students into classes. Students who earned good grades in their examinations received awards and medals. Preceding studies have neglected to mention that the lectures in the FWC were discontinued in 1830’s and that oral and written examinations were conducted twice per month instead of lectures. Public debates were conducted according to the regulations of the FWC, and students deliberated on a myriad of topics regarding British rule in India. These were conducted in the oriental languages. The main aim of these debates was to prove that British rule in India was justifiable and humane. They were like many other academic debate conventions, but they were notably different in the sense that the FWC’s public debates were held from a pro-government standpoint.