Previous Presentations
Spring 2015
JANUARY 23, 2015
Media, Persuasion and Propaganda
Dr Marshall Soules, Honorary Research Associate, Departments of English and Media Studies
Persuasion works across a spectrum of influence – from promotion to propaganda – and studying it develops critical thinking and the self-reflection necessary to defend ourselves against manipulation and undue influence. This illustrated presentation will challenge widespread beliefs about the news, expert opinion, democracy, trust, objectivity, and deception in societies where “truth happens to an idea.”
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FEBRUARY 13, 2015
Disordered Eating: How Can Feminism Help?
Dr Janis Ledwell-Hunt, English Department
We are in the midst of an “epidemic of anorexia.” Feminist scholarship on eating disorders has moved us away from the lone sufferers of medical and psychiatric readings and helped us to understand the role of our cultural obsessions with weight, fitness, beauty, and restraint in this dis-ease. Can feminism continue to help? And can it begin to help differently?
MARCH 27, 2015
Firing the Canon and Hiring the Reader:
How to Win the Classroom War on CanLit
Joy Gugeler, Departments of Media Studies and Creative Writing
In a world of e-publishing and media technology, how can we revitalize the project of teaching Canadian Literature in the online and offline classroom? Innovative and unorthodox ways to teach CanLit can reassert its essential place in our evolving landscape, creating a sustainable and thriving audience for Canadian publishers, and exciting and educating both students and teachers.
For further information contact:
Katharine Rollwagen at Katharine.Rollwagen@viu.ca
