"Portraying a Social Disaster: How the Media Makes Sense out of Chaos"

Wednesdays at the Center

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 12:00 noon

The John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies

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At noon on Wednesday, September 27, the Institute for Critical US Studies (ICUSS) at Duke University will present "Portraying a Social Disaster: How the Media Makes Sense out of Chaos". This panel will critically examine the media's scripting of our community's recent Social Disaster, and the specific ways in which nuance and complexity are sacrificed in the name of expediency and intelligibility. As we must ask about the Social Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, how do we negotiate the damage that is done, not just by the "incident" itself, but by its representations?

The panel will feature Grant Farred (Assoc. Professor of Literature, Duke);

Jon Pessah, (Deputy Editor, ESPN The Magazine); and

Angela Jarman (BA Women's Studies, 2006, Duke).

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ABOUT WEDNESDAYS AT THE CENTER

All Wednesdays at the Center programs take place on Wednesdays at noon, in room 240 at the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies. The John Hope Franklin Center is located on Duke's West Campus at the northwest corner of Trent Drive and Erwin Road. A buffet lunch is provided at no charge. No tickets or reservations are required, and seating is limited. Parking is available at the nearby Duke Medical Center parking deck, and free parking vouchers are provided at the end each program.