Friday, September 26 and
Saturday, September 27, 2008
St. John's University School of Law
Many democracies, such as the United Kingdom, Argentina, India,
Israel, the Philippines, Pakistan, Liberia and other countries have
or have had women heads of state, and other countries, like Peru
and Bolivia, have elected presidents who are members of racial
minority groups. However, the United States has never elected a
woman or a person of color as president and has traditionally
discriminated against both women and minority voters and
candidates. In 2008, we stand poised to witness the historic
event of a black male or a white woman heading the presidential
ballot on behalf of a major political party.
This symposium will investigate the subject of race, gender and
the media in the 2008 elections. The Conference will be held at St.
John’s Queens, New York campus on September 26-27, 2008. We invite
scholars and activists of all relevant disciplines (e.g., law,
media, political science, gender studies, race studies, ethnic
studies, sociology, economics, and history) engaged in developing
concepts, analyses, methods, or data relevant to race, gender,
media and elections to submit a brief letter that describes your
interest in participating in the conference and a summary of your
proposed article.
The conference is being organized by Professor
Leonard M. Baynes, the Director of The Ronald H. Brown Center,
and Professor
Janai S. Nelson, Senior Fellow of The Ronald H. Brown Center.
Professor Baynes previously served as a scholar-in-residence at the
Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") during the administration
of William Kennard. In this capacity, Professor Baynes worked
exclusively on media diversity issues. Since joining the St. John's
law faculty in 2002, he has written several path-breaking law
review articles examining these critical issues and proposing
innovative and cutting-edge regulations to address
underrepresentation in the media. Professor Nelson is the former
Director of Political Participation of the NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund, Inc. and has litigated numerous voting rights
cases, including arguing en banc before the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals in Hayden v. Pataki, a felon disenfranchisement challenge.
She teaches election law and professional responsibility at St.
John’s and has published law review articles on race and the
law.
Contact Information
Professor Leonard M. Baynes,
Director
Professor Janai S. Nelson, Senior Fellow
The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic
Development
St. John's University School of Law
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, New York 11439
Attn: Race, Gender, Media & Elections