JENNIFER L. POZNER

Women and the Media: Images of Gender,
Race and Class in News and Entertainment

With humor, razor-sharp analysis and provocative clips from shows like The Bachelor, America’s Next Top Model, American Idol, Extreme Makeover and Flavor of Love, media critic Jennifer L. Pozner exposes how “reality” TV reinforces regressive stereotypes about women and men, race and class, and sex, love and marriage in America.

Students will never see dating, mating and makeover shows the same way again… and they will laugh—a lot!

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ALVIN SYKES

Alvin Sykes holds none of the standard credentials to wield influence in the power corridors of Washington, D.C. He is not a lobbyist or an attorney, nor did he graduate from a prestigious college. In fact, he is a high school dropout.

Yet senators listen to him. Prosecutors return his calls. He has taken it upon himself to seek justice in several different civil rights "cold cases" and has gotten results.

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BRYAN H. BARROWS, III

Bryan Barrows, master of speech and communications, will be touring his powerful one-man show this January and February. Who Was Martin Luther King? tells the story of the evolution of the civil rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s place in it. Barrows is a truly gifted storyteller who has been performing the original play since 1988.

DISAGREEING ON EVERYTHING
A Debate on Attaining Peace in the Middle East

Anisa Mehdi, is an Emmy-award winning journalist and filmmaker specializing in Islam, and Michael Lame, is a management consultant and organizational trainer conducting leadership and communications programs in the US and the Middle East. They share their fresh approach to academic lectures on conflict in the Middle East. Anisa and Michael present, explore and discuss with the audience various perspectives that keep peace between Israelis and Palestinians at bay. Sharing the floor Anisa and Michael demonstrate the art of respectful dispute, while simultaneously they “argue” points of history, religion, aggression, victimization, justice, and conflict resolution.

JOSEPH SEBARENZI

Former head of the Rwanda Parliament, he has endured tragedy most of us cannot fathom. He lost both his parents, seven siblings, and numerous other relatives in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Yet, years later, as a senior government official in a position to exact revenge, he instead pushed for peace and reconciliation. "Revenge is like adding guilt to victim hood." says Sebarenzi. "It solves nothing. At some point, we have to ignore the past and envision the future."

DR. JUAN ANDRADE, JR.

President of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute: The Institute has trained over 200,000 present & future leaders, registered over two million new voters, published 425 studies on Hispanic demographics, since 1982. USHLI sponsors the largest Latino leadership conference in the nation.

CASTRO'S DAUGHTER : ALINA FERNANDEZ

As a little girl in Cuba, Alina Fernandez found nothing strange about the many visits Fidel Castro made to her home. During these visits, Castro would pay special attention to Alina, many times even bringing her gifts. At age ten, Alina's mother finally divulged the reason for Castro's attention: Fidel Castro was her father.

MAXINE MAXWELL

Maxine Maxwell weaves in and out of history to explore the turning points in the lives of five African women of remarkable strength and courage. Each character comes complete with a concise background narrative along with subtle costume pieces to set the stage. This dramatic performance takes a look at what it has been like to be black and female over the past 150 years.

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER

Visit our new LGBT page for speakers, debates, and other programs...

MARY LIGHTFINE: NURSE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Macedonia - Mary Lightfine has spent over ten years living and working in countries ravaged by war and disaster. In 1999 she was among those distinguished members of Doctors Without Borders to have been honored with the Nobel Peace prize. Her stories will amaze and (hopefully) inspire you.

JOHNNIE TUITEL

Johnnie Tuitel (pronounced title like a book) was born with cerebral palsy, and has used a wheelchair his entire life. But his disability has never kept him down. Johnnie is a motivational speaker and has made presentations for conventions, colleges and universities, corporations and businesses, schools and sports teams throughout America. He was the State of Michigan United Way “Speaker of the Year” for 5 years in a row.

DARYL DAVIS

He is not white. He's not even light-skinned. Make no mistake about it; he is black. Yet, Klan-Destine Relationships author Daryl Davis has come in closer contact with members of the Ku Klux Klan than most white non-members and certainly most blacks short of being on the wrong end of a rope. What's more? He continues to do so; making him one of the most unique lecturers on the college speaking circuit today.

DR. JACK LEVIN
Gay Hate Crimes

Jack Levin, Ph.D., directs the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University. In addressing hate crimes directed against gays and lesbians, Levin tells his audiences that, as a straight American male, he is a member of the perpetrators’ group and must speak from that perspective. He is very careful not to single out homophobic hate as an isolated phenomenon, but to imbed it in an analysis of hate crimes generally. Learn what the ordinary person can do to make things better.

DR. JAWANZA KUNJUFU

Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu (Swahili for dependable and cheerful) is a renowned educator and former Consultant to the U.S. Department of Education. He is a prolific writer and among his work is the best selling Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys (Vols. 1-4). As president of African American Images (a communications company based in Chicago, Illinois), he is constantly on the lecture circuit conducting over thirty different workshops, addressing students, parents, teachers, community residents and churches.

LORNA TYCHOSTUP
IRAQ: THE WAR YOU WON'T SEE ON TV

Lorna Tychostup is the senior editor for Chonogram magazine and a freelance journalist and photographer. To date, she has visited Iraq three times, collectively spending more than 12 weeks there. Her photographs of Iraq and its people, before and during the war, have been exhibited throughout the country, and her presentations have intrigued and informed audiences nationwide.

PHOEBE ENG

Cultural Fluency: Creating Dialogues that Lead to Change

Join award-winning author and strategist Phoebe Eng as she describes the phenomenon of "cultural fluency," the ability to understand, and be understood, across perceived boundaries and among many communities. Eng will demonstrate how the ability to be "fluent" will be critically important to leaders in a world where borders of all kinds are disappearing. She will show you how policy, program goals, and definitions of leadership change when we truly embrace the fundamentals of "fluency.

THE HUMAN RACE MACHINE

The Human Race Machine allows participants to see themselves with the facial characteristics of six different races mapped onto their own visage.

The Age Machine allows viewers to age his or her face

The Couples Machine combines photographs of men and women in varying percentages to allow couples to view their offspring, or simply to envision layered "maleness" and "femaleness" in one face.

You can bring this highly interactive technology to your campus and
challenge your perception of race, age, and other outward human features.

JACK G. SHAHEEN, PH.D.

Dr. Shaheen is the acclaimed author of Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People. His presentations illustrate that stereotypes do not exist in a vacuum, that hurtful caricatures of Asians, blacks, Latinos and others, impact innocents. He explains why such portraits persist, and provides viable solutions to help shatter misperceptions.

NESSE GODIN

Nesse Godin was 13 years old when the Nazis invaded her home. Shortly after the Nazi takeover, she was interned in the Shauliai Ghetto. During the war she survived the Stutthof Concentration Camp, four labor camps and a death march before liberation in 1945. Since escaping to the United States, Nesse has devoted her life to teaching the horrors of the Holocaust.

JOHN TRUDELL

On the subject of his extraordinary and acclaimed work as a recording artist, poet and champion of indigenous issues, John Trudell is as direct and plain spoken as the words he puts to music. A people's poet in the truest sense of the term, John Trudell's potent imagery and passionate convictions have established his reputation as a spoken word artist whose international following reflects the universal language of his music...and his message. Simply put, John Trudell is the real deal.