GMRC sets speaker series

SIUC’s Global Media Research Center kicks off its 2007-2008 speaker series this week with a look at the portrayal of Asians in Hollywood action films.

Jane C. Park, a Reach for Excellence Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies in the Honors College at the University of Oklahoma, will present her lecture at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20, in the Communications Building, room 1032.

Parks’ lecture is "Oriental Style: Representations of the Asiatic in Hollywood Action Genre Films," and she will present work from her forthcoming book, "Yellow Future: Oriental Style in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema."

Each lecture begins at 4:30 p.m. All the events are free and open to the public.

The series offers a unique variety of speakers this year, said John Downing, a professor in radio-television and Global Media Research Center director. The center is within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

"The center this year is running a particularly vibrant set of topics — film work by a Sundance award-winning Navajo director, Berber video-makers in Morocco, and radio-television professor Jake Podber’s new book on media in Appalachia," Downing said.

"There will be documentaries on nonviolent activists in Palestine, and on the destructive impact of the huge Narmada dam project in India. Seasoned Jamaican broadcaster/professor Claude Robinson will survey media trends in the Caribbean.

"Other talks will focus on Asian and Latino portrayals in Hollywood, and on 'race,' bio-metrics and new surveillance techniques. Next spring's final presentation will focus on Japan's video-game industry," he said.

Established in 2004, the Global Media Research Center’s mission includes assembling a core group of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to research global media issues, establish national and international partnerships to promote research and play host to visiting scholars and artists as it seeks to develop new courses addressing global media issues.

For more information, contact Laura Germann at 618/453-6876 or felix@siu.edu

The current Global Media Research Center 2007-2008 Speaker Series includes:

• Sept. 20 — Jane C. Park, Reach for Excellence Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, Honors College, University of Oklahoma. Communications Building, room 1032. "Oriental Style: Representations of the Asiatic in Hollywood Action Genre Films." Park will be presenting on her forthcoming books, "Yellow Future: Oriental Style in Contemporary Hollywood Cinema."
• Sept. 26-27 — Bennie Klain, Trickster Films. Browne Auditorium, Parkinson Hall, room 124. Klain will present screenings of several of his films, including, "The Return of the Navajo Boy," "Yada, Yada," and "Share the Wealth."
• Oct. 4 — Filmmaker and professor Virginia Keller, DePaul University. Browne Auditorium, Parkinson Hall, room 124. She will present a screening of her current film project, "Stories from the Living Stones: A Documentary Film on Nonviolent Civil Resistance in Palestine."
• Oct. 11 — Claude Robinson, media analyst and professor, School of Business at the University of West Indies. Communications Building, room 1032. Robinson’s presentation will focus on communication trends in the Caribbean.
• Oct. 18 — Ali Kazimi, documentarian. Browne Auditorium, Parkinson Hall, room 124. The lecture continues the Global Media Research Center’s focus on the effects of dam construction on indigenous people. Kazimi will present a screening of his 1994 film, "Narmada: A Valley Rises."
• Nov. 1 — Sandra Carter, assistant professor, Communication and Humanities, Penn State University-Harrisburg. Communications Building, room 1032. She will present research on the Berber video movement
• Nov. 15 — Mary Beltran, assistant professor, Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Communications Building, room 1032.
• Spring 2007 – Date to be determined. Jacob J. Podber, assistant professor, radio-television, SIUC. Will discuss his new book on media in Appalachia.
• Feb. 7 — Lisa Nakamura, associate professor, Department of Speech Communications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She will present research on digital surveillance, race and biometrics.
• March 6 — Mia Consalvo, assistant professor, School of Telecommunications, Ohio University. She will present her research on Japanese videogames.

- Pete Rosenbery