Compiled from School of Communication press releases:
Colbert Report, Daily Show consultant shares his comedy
To say politics and comedy go hand-in-hand would be an exaggeration, but the two have become much closer, thanks to shows such as Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and The Daily Show.
Craig Minassian, who serves as a consultant to both shows, will speak about the intersection of politics and comedy from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, in room 2055 in the School of Communication International Building, 5100 Brunson Dr.
Peek inside Bollywood
The University of Miami is “going Bollywood,” at least for a day.
An expert on India’s film industry and star system, the largest in the world, will talk on “Bollywood: Music, Politics & Gender in Indian Films” during the School of Communication’s ninth annual Communication Week, set for Feb. 15-22 at the school.
Peter Kvetko, an ethnomusicologist who teaches courses in world music at Salem State College near Boston, will speak at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, in Shojaee Hall (Room 3053) in the School of Communication International Building, 5100 Brunson Drive.
Kvetko’s studies focus on contemporary issues of globalization, such as MTV’s efforts to take over Bombay’s popular music business as well as India’s club culture and pop music.
He is also working on a book called Indipop: Producing Global Sounds and Local Meanings in Bombay.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues will be explored Wednesday
The founder of the nation’s only organization that focuses on incorporating gay and lesbian issues into advertising will be speaking next week at the School of Communication.
Michael Wilke, founding executive director and project creator of the Commercial Closet Association, will speak on LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues in advertising and mass media at 12:20-1:10 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Shojaee Hall (Room 3053) in the School of Communication International Building, 5100 Brunson Drive.
Wilke will also visit classes on Feb. 20-21. His visit is part of the ninth annual Communication Week, which will bring leading professionals and scholars to campus for exhibitions, screenings, forums, panels and other special events with faculty, students, alumni and visitors.
Pulitzer Prize winners coming to UM
Madeleine Blais says that when she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980, the news came into The Miami Herald newsroom over a noisy ticker-tape machine in late afternoon – and soon was followed by a spontaneous party at her Miami Beach home.
Blais will join other Pulitzer Prize winners in discussing the power of words and how they earned the highly respected award in a session set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Shojaee Hall (Room 3053) in the School of Communication International Building, 5100 Brunson Dr.
Blais received her Pulitzer for reporting about a dishonorably discharged World War I veteran. After working for The Miami Herald, she went on to write for other top newspapers, including the Boston Globe, Washington Post and The New York Times. She now teaches journalism at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Her book In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle, a true story about a high school girls’ basketball team and its championship season, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award in nonfiction and was named one of the top 100 sports books of the 20th century by ESPN.
Also on the panel will be other Pulitzer winners from The Miami Herald: editorial cartoonist Jim Morin, feature writer Mirta Ojito (author of “Finding Manana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus”), investigative reporter Mike Sallah and editorial page editor Joe Oglesby.
The Pulitzer is considered America’s highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievement and musical composition.
For more information and a complete Communication Week schedule, please visit http://com.miami.edu/comweek