"Grace, Glory or Glamour"
McWherter Library, Room 226
April 8, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 pm
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Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Martha Stewart. Once icons of our mass media, all have fallen from grace. So where do the women of our culture, or any culture, look for positive role models?
Cynthia Runions, Instructor in the Department of Communication will discuss some individuals who do not receive quite as much attention as Jackson or Stewart, yet they make strides for the greater good in all cultures. One of the positive influences we will discuss will be Dr. Catherine Hamlin. Dr. Hamlin has spent nearly 50 years of her career providing free reconstructive surgery to thousands of young African girls and women suffering from fistulas during difficult childbirths. Another figure is Iranian filmmaker Tamineh Malini, who was imprisoned due to the subject matter of her 2001 release, The Hidden Half, which speaks honestly about the repressive lifestyle of contemporary Iranian women and their lack of choices in post-Revolutionary Iran. Human Rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Prizewinner Shirin Ebadi will also be discussed. Ebadi, one of the first female judges in Iran won the Nobel Prize for her continued fight for democracy and the rights of women and children, and has also been imprisoned for her beliefs. Other women in mass media making a positive impact that will be discussed are filmmakers Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola, and media maven Oprah Winfrey.
Cynthia Runions is an instructor of film and media studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis. She is also a freelance producer of commercial independent productions.
The program, sponsored by the University Libraries and the Friends of the Libraries. The public is invited and refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Tom Mendina at 678-4310 or Kay Kroboth at 678-2209.
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