April 10, 2002
Contact: Mark Anderson (4509-963-1493/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: andemark@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Dr. Jean Kilbourne, an internationally recognized expert on the relationship between advertising and addiction, will deliver the first Central Washington University Presidential Speaker Series lecture Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. in McConnell Auditorium.
Kilbourne, who has twice been named Lecturer of the Year by the National Association for Campus Activities, will discuss “Deadly Persuasion: Advertising & Addiction.” Her lecture will describe her pioneering work on alcohol and tobacco advertising and the image of women in advertising.
Kilbourne has lectured on more than 1,000 college campuses and also is an invited speaker for conferences, corporations, community groups, government organizations, and health organizations. Kilbourne has served as an advisor to the Surgeon General and has testified before the U.S. Congress.
She is a visiting scholar at Wellesley College.
Reporters from all over the country rely on Kilbourne as an accurate and interesting source. She has been interviewed by publications including “Time,” “Newsweek,” “New York Times,” “Wall Street Journal,” “San Francisco Chronicle,” “Washington Post” and “Boston Globe.” She has been a guest on hundreds of television and radio programs, including “The Today Show, “ 20/20,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” and “PrimeTime Live.”
“Jean Kilbourne guides her audience with a light but sure touch,” said George Gerbner, dean emeritus of The Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. “She lets familiar images reveal their hidden messages. Her slide presentation is a form of mass vaccination with a symbolic antidote of a most powerful kind.”
The College of Holy Cross had this to say about her lecture: “Jean Kilbourne has an uncanny ability to combine her extensive knowledge of addictions and the media, her powerful insights, and her thoroughly enjoyable sense of humor into presentations which are informative, challenging and entertaining.”
Kilbourne is perhaps best known for her award-winning documentaries “Killing Us Softly,” “Slim Hopes” and “Pack of Lies.” Her most recent book, “Deadly Persuasion: Why Women and Girls Must Fight the Addictive Power of Advertising,” was called by Publishers Weekly “a profound work that is required reading for informed consumers.”
CWU President Jerilyn S. McIntyre established the Presidential Speaker Series to provide an additional source of intellectual stimulation on the campus and a forum for collegiate discourse. This quarter’s event is in conjunction with the Symposium on Undergraduate Research & Creative Expression (SOURCE). The SOURCE Planning Committee recommended Kilbourne’s name to the president. She also will be featured in the next day’s SOURCE program. McIntyre is delighted that Dr. Kilbourne has agreed to inaugurate the presidential speaker series.
“Shortly after I arrived at CWU,” McIntyre said, “I heard from several current and retired faculty about the spring symposium of a previous era that brought nationally known speakers to campus for four days of intensive discussion accompanied by preparatory reading and study. I quickly became interested in reviving the spirit of those events. Dr. Kilbourne’s lecture is a modest step toward reviving the tradition and providing an opportunity for intellectual discussion and debate about a topic of general interest and importance. Dr. Kilbourne’s research on the role of advertising in promoting addiction is nationally known and thoughtfully presented. I invite our students, faculty and members of the community to join us for this event.”
A portion of the seats in McConnell are set aside for reserved ticket holders. Tickets can be purchased for $10 and are available from the cashier’s office in Barge Hall at CWU. For tickets, more information, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, you may also call (509) 963-2224, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-3323.
The remaining seats are free and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 7 p.m. on the night of the lecture.
