Hello All,
Carmen Williams and I did two presentations on "The Help" last month at Arkansas State University. A story and photo about it were in The Jonesboro Sun after the panel.
Carmen had a powerful PowerPoint at the time and we would love to be a part of the panel. (About a week after the panel, we talked with Dr. Lillie Fears about submitting a panel to AEJMC.)

See the panel flyer pasted below:

What’s the big deal about racism and the movie, “The Help”?

On this Constitution Day, we celebrate the 224th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution by commemorating anniversaries in need of reflection -- particularly the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. 

As part of this commemoration, we will hold a focus group on the best-selling novel-turned-movie, “The Help.” It vividly depicts the prejudices of the 1960s. But how far have we come from those days? What issues remain today? 


Image courtesy of Library of Congress 

We invite you to come to one of two focus groups, where you will hear a provocative panel discussion and can ask your questions. Each session is 45 minutes. If you miss the one session, you can catch it in the second session.

Focus Group: “The Help”
10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Spring River Room
Arkansas State University Student Union


Sandra Combs
Ass’t. Professor of Journalism
Department of Journalism
Arkansas State University
How historically accurate is the movie? How African American maids are represented in other texts by African Americans and Caucasians.


Carmen Lanos Williams							
Instructor	(ABD)							
Department of English and Philosophy				
Arkansas State University						
Cultural and historical implications of 		
the way white cultural producers images of 
black subjects