The Butler Brown Bag Research Seminar

What is this?

This is an occasional gathering at lunchtime to learn about research at Butler University and to socialize. Our speaker will normally talk for about 25 minutes or so, leaving plenty of time for questions.

Everyone is invited. Please bring your lunch with you.

We wish to thank Provost Jamie Comstock and Associate Provost Laura Behling for providing funds for posters and ads in the Collegian and on The Collegian Online.

Schedule of Speakers for Fall 2009

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009, JH348
Jason Goldsmith, English
"On the Modern Origins of Celebrity and the Nation"
Poster in PDF
A decidedly promiscuous brand of renown, celebrity has a bad reputation. Celebrities are superficial personalities, bold-faced names, air-brushed faces; they are slick images manufactured for the moment. Celebrities signify all that is shallow about contemporary society. Or so we are told. I want to counter this view. Considering how the emergence of mass-media acclaim was coextensive with the rise of national consciousness, my talk will explore the promiscuous allure of Lord Byron, the popularity of Madame Tussaud's waxworks, and the sacralization of Napoleon in order to reveal the extensive cross-fertilization between high-cultural discourses of heroism and low-cultural practices of celebrity promotion in nineteenth-century Britain.
Friday, October 23rd, 2009, University Club, Atherton
Priscilla Ryder, Pharmacy Practice
"Inequality, Experience of Discrimination, and Health"
Poster in PDF
Achieving and maintaining good health, especially at the level of populations, is not as simple as making healthy "lifestyle" choices. We know that huge disparities in health exist between groups of people with the single largest determinant of health status being socioeconomic position. Much of our experience, from the uterine environment throughout the entire lifecourse, affects health in adult and older years. Chronic stressors, such as comparative deprivation and discrimination and social marginalization contribute to health disparities. I will discuss some of my recent research involving the ways in which experience of race-based discrimination in healthcare varies with age, gender, race/ethnicity and educational level.
Monday, November 9th, 2009, University Club, Atherton
Margaretha Geertseema, Journalism
"Building Global Bridges? International News for Women"
While the right to communicate is a basic human right, women continue to be excluded from the news media. In response, some women’s groups have created alternative media that focus on women. This presentation considers the efforts of the New York-based online news service Women's eNews and in particular the creation of its Arabic news site. Women's eNews covers international women's issues on a regular basis through freelance correspondents from over the world. Results of this study are based on an institutional analysis, in-depth interviews, and an analysis of international stories published by Women's eNews since 2000.

Organizers

Vivian Deno, History, vdeno@butler.edu,
Eloise Sureau, French, esureau@butler.edu, 9588, and
Gautam Rao, Media Arts, grao@butler.edu, 5985, with help from

Bob Holm, Butler Institute for Research and Scholarship,
Todd Hrubey, Pharmacy,
Stephanie Judge, Marketing,
Judith Lysaker, Education,
Carol Reeves, English, and
Jon Sorenson, Computer Science & Software Engineering, jsorenso@butler.edu, 9765.