Lisa Brooten

A List
1/18/10

Gender And Geopolitics Examined In Talk At SLU

CANTON - "Human Rights, Gender and Geopolitics: Burma in the Media" is the topic of a talk by Lisa Brooten on Thursday, February 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Eben Holden at St. Lawrence University. The event, part of the Contemporary Issues Forum, is open to the public, free of charge.

Brooten is an associate professor in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

How can conceptions of human rights, in certain contexts, function as tools for oppression or discrimination? How do these conceptions intersect with gender constructions to affect local, regional and global power relations? How are these maneuvers resisted? And what is the role of media? These and other questions will be explored through a discussion of the struggle for human rights in Burma, also known as Myanmar, especially the 2007 "Saffron Revolution."

Brooten began working as a teacher to young Karen ethnic minority refugees from Burma living in Thailand in 1989. Most recently, her research under a 2008 Fulbright research grant in Thailand and the Philippines compares media reform efforts in these countries with similar efforts in Burma/Myanmar and the United States.

The Contemporary Issues Forum brings experts and participants in the making of news to campus throughout the academic year.

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