International Conference Crossing Cultures: Women, Ageing and Media to be held at the University of Gloucestershire (Cheltenham) on 5th December 2008

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to link academics from different geographical, cultural and intellectual backgrounds in order to explore emerging research on ‚older women‘ in media. The conference will bring together scholars working in the arts, media practice, the humanities and social sciences.

Keynote speakers
Kathleen Woodward, Kate Omenugha, Tara Brabazon, Sadie Wearing

The conference interprets the notion of media in its broadest sense but indicative themes might include:

• Emotion and Affect
• Visibility and Invisibility
• Scary Bodies
• Activism
• Transgression
• Commodification and Consumerism
• Positive Images and Role Models
• Cultural Difference

Women, Ageing and Media (WAM) is a collaborative research group comprising scholars from the University of Gloucestershire, University of York and University of the West of England in order to conduct a sustained investigation into proliferating print and screen representations of older women. The group has secured an AHRC grant to run a series of four workshops culminating in an international conference at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK on 5th December 2008.
We anticipate that the conference will consolidate the workshops as well as pointing in fresh directions of this under-researched area. The entire project is a starting point for what we hope will be a really productive academic dialogue.

The dates for the workshops are:

• Wednesday 2nd July(University of Gloucestershire): ‚Emotion and Affect‘.
• Wednesday 10th September (UWE): ‚Visibility/Invisibility‘.
• Friday 24th October (York University): ‚Scary Bodies‘.
• Wednesday 12th November (UWE): ‚Consumerism‘.

For further information, contact WAM members:
Ros Jennings (Gloucestershire): rjennings#glos.ac.uk Jo Garde-Hansen (Gloucestershire): jgardehansen#glos.ac.uk Kristyn Gorton (York): kg530#york.ac.uk Josephine Dolan (UWE): josie.dolan#uwe.ac.uk; Sherryl Wilson (UWE): sherryl2.wilson#uwe.ac.

aus: http://www.wam-research.org.uk/