Dr. Rachel A. Griffin to present: Imagining Black Women through White Women's Eyes

Dr. Rachel A. Griffin, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Southern Illinois University, will speak at the University of Southern Indiana about race and racism in popular culture, specifically as seen in the book and recent movie, The Help. Her presentation, Imagining Black Women through White Women's Eyes: Controversy, Resistance, and Possibility in The Help, will occur from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 11 in USI's Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center. Griffin will discuss the relationships and dialogue between the women in the film, a tale set in a still racially divided 1960's Mississippi.

Griffin often uses popular culture, such as song lyrics, films, and entertainment publications as a foundation to open a deeper conversation about race and other critical social issues. Her research includes black feminist thought, critical race theory, popular culture, gender violence, and sports. She has served as a keynote speaker across many college campuses and conferences. In 2012, she was awarded the Judge William Holmes Cook Professorship by the Office of the Associate Chancellor for Institutional Diversity at SIU and, in 2013, she was awarded the College of Liberal Arts Early Career Faculty Excellence Award. Most recently, she was published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and The Howard Journal of Communications.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Communications' Diversity Initiative and is free and open to the public. For information contact Dr. Stephanie Young at slyoung@usi.edu or 812-464-1737.