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Second Annual David Morrison Lecture in International Development to Feature World- Renowned Feminist Economist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Diane Elson from University of Essex to Deliver Free Public Lecture on Gender and the Global Economic Crisis October 6

Thursday, October 1, 2009, Peterborough

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY

Dr. Diane Elson will be available for media interviews on October 6 at 3:30 p.m. in Alumni House at Trent University.

To book an interview, please contact Dana Barker Gee at (705) 748-1011 x1339.

World-renowned feminist economist and leading-edge policy advisor to the United Nations, Professor Diane Elson, will deliver the second annual David Morrison Lecture in International Development at Trent University on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Peter Gzowski College, room 114.

In her talk entitled “Gender and the Global Economic Crisis,” Dr. Elson, a Sociology professor at the University of Essex who was named one of 50 “key thinkers in development” in 2006, will speak about the impact of the current global economic crisis on gender inequality. 

“We are delighted that Diane Elson will be delivering the Morrison Lecture this year. She has been at the forefront of sociological analysis of the economy as a gendered structure,” said Dr. David Morrison, professor emeritus at Trent, who together with his wife, Professor Alena Heitlinger of Trent’s Sociology Department, made a significant donation to Trent in 2007 to create an endowed lectureship to provide new learning experiences for Trent students and faculty. “She is a clear and compelling speaker who will challenge members of the University and the broader community to think about desirable new directions in economic and social policy.”

In addition to teaching at the University of Essex in the U.K., Dr. Elson is also a visiting professor in Feminist Development Economics at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands.

A former chief economist of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Professor Elson is an influential figure in international development studies. Her current research and teaching interests are in global social change and the realization of human rights, with a particular focus on gender inequality and economic and social rights.

Currently, Prof. Elson is a member of the United Nations Millennium Project Taskforce, the United Kingdom’s Women's Budget Group, and is on the Council of the Overseas Development Institute in the United Kingdom. She has been a collaborating researcher at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, and a senior scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. A founder of the International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics and International Economics, Prof. Elson also served as vice president of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) between 2003 and 2006 and has been a visiting professor at numerous universities and research institutes around the world.

The David Morrison Lecture in International Development aims to bring globally distinguished scholars that are renowned for the impact that their intellectual and applied work has had on international development studies to Trent University to address members of the Trent and Peterborough communities. The lecture focuses on areas that are important to Dr. David Morrison’s own critical contributions to the field of international development studies, most notably approaches to reducing poverty and inequality and achieving sustainable livelihoods in ways that promote social justice and respect the human and biophysical environment.

This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture in the Peter Gzowski College atrium.

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For more information, please contact:
Dr. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Chair, International Development Studies, Trent University, 705-748-1011 ext. 7290