Conferences to discuss gender, sexuality, health care in globalized world

Conferences to discuss gender, sexuality, health care in globalized worldSeptember 26, 2007Jill Leonhardtjlleonha@maxwell.syr.edu

Health care in the modern, interconnected world is constantly changing, due in part to factors such as the emergence of new outbreaks of infectious disease, the aging of populations, the increased privatization of health care and the recent growth of medical tourism. Two back-to-back conferences hosted by Gender & Globalization and the South Asia Center, respectively, both of which are housed in the Maxwell School’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, will explore these and related issues Sept. 27-29.

The first examines the intersections between gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS (Sept. 27-28), and the second examines the changing landscapes of health care in modern South Asia (Sept. 28-29). Both conferences will be held in the Hall of Languages, except for the opening lecture on Sept. 27 at 7 .pm., which will be held in Gifford Auditorium. Two films will be screened during the conference, and all conference events are free and open to the public.

The first conference, “HIV/AIDS, Gender, and Sexuality in a Globalized World,” will examine HIV/AIDS as a transnational phenomenon that is embedded both in global economic and social transformations, as well as in local contexts. Panelists will investigate the ways in which responses to HIV/AIDS are mediated through conceptions of gender and sexuality, as well as how concepts of gender and sexuality are challenged and even transformed by the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Speakers will explore how concepts of feminism, human rights, queer theory and “positive living” have been employed in diverse ways in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. Finally, the conference will also consider how to improve responses to HIV/AIDS and reduce discrimination based on gender and sexuality. Keynote addresses will be given by Judith Auerbach from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Gaeta Rao Gupta, president of the International Center for Research on Women.

The second conference, “Health Care in Transition in South Asia,” is organized by the Cornell and Syracuse University South Asia Consortium. Key issues for the panelists will include the growth of the private sector and of NGOs in “social marketing” and provision of health care; the growth in the nursing and medical school industry; the emergence of South Asia as a destination for “medical tourism” and as a site for the increasing commodification of body parts through organ transplants; and shifting political priorities in health care.

Details on the conference and speakers can be found at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan/…ference07/index.html.

For further information, contact kgupta@maxwell.syr.edu.