News

Representing Women - launch of new DCU research group

7 March 2011

The 'Representing Women' project launched the first in a series of public lectures on Monday, February 28, with “Living with Angie: Gender, Politics and the Media in Germany”, a lecture by Professor Margreth Lünenborg, Professor of Journalism Studies at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies and Director of Institute for Journalism in the Free University of Berlin. Professor Lünenborg spoke about the portrayal of German chancellor Angela Merkel as well as other high profile German politicians in visual images from print media. She outlined how gender issues in government are often discussed and handled under the topic of family issues, rather than seen as a standalone topic of importance. The well-attended lecture stimulated a lively debate on women’s participation in politics in Ireland and other countries, and on their representation in the media.

The event was somewhat timely as it was held just after the election weekend. The results of the 2011 general election have seen a marginal increase in the number of women TDs in the Dáil—with 25 women making up 15.1% representation in Irish politics.

The Representing Women Project is a new interdisciplinary project bringing the expertise of the Centre for International Studies, the Centre for Translation and Textual Studies and the Centre for Society, Information and Media at Dublin City University to investigate the issue of representation and the role of women in Irish parliamentary democracy.

For enquiries, please contact: representing.women@dcu.ie <mailto:representing.women@dcu.ie