‘Body Image and the Media’ conference to be held at NVCC March 23

WATERBURY (March 15, 2007) — Naugatuck Valley Community College will hold a half-day conference, “Body Image and the Media,” on Friday, March 23, that will feature speakers and workshops that explore the influence of the media on how women and men feel about their appearances.

The conference, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Mainstage theater on NVCC’s main campus, located at 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Margo Maine, a clinical psychologist who has treated eating disorders for more than 25 years and most recently co-authored “The Body Myth: The Pressure on Adult Women to be Perfect.”

The conference will also include a variety of 45-minute workshops to choose from, including:

• “Images in Advertising,” which includes a showing of Jean Kilbourne’s award-winning 1979 film on gender in advertising, “Killing Us Softly,” and a moderated discussion afterward;
  
  
• “Cognitive Behavioral Approaches to Body Image Enhancement,” led by Dr. Denise Laframboise, a psychology professor at the University of Hartford;
  
  
• “Male Body Image and Steroid Use,” led by Dr. Phil Robakiewicz, director of test development for the Massachusetts Department of Education;
  
  
• “Representation of Body in Film,” led by Ron Picard, an NVCC English instructor;
  
  
• “Women’s Body Images in Art,” led by George Lechner, an art historian and adjunct art professor at the University of Hartford and St. Joseph’s University;
  
  
• “Stress and Body Image,” led by Dr. Mala Matacin, associate professor of psychology at the University of Hartford; and,
  
  
• “Body Image and Aging,” led by gerontologist Katy Weiss.
  

For more information on the conference, contact Karla Ekquist at (203) 596-2102.