News

'Representing Women' - A lecture by Professor Luenenborg

24 February 2011

The Irish national government has one of the worst gender balances in the democratic world with women politicians holding only 13.9% of seats in the outgoing Dáil. This figure places Ireland, alongside Cameroon, in a global position of 83rd and significantly below the European average. Nearly a century after the first woman was elected to the Dáil there are only 86 candidates out of a total of 566 standing in the 2011 General Election. In Germany, in contrast, the highest political office is occupied by a woman -  Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Politics today is increasingly influenced by media. So is there a connection between women’s political and media representation? Professor Margreth Luenenborg (Free University Berlin) thinks there is and she will address this issue in her public lecture entitled Living with Angie: Gender, Politics and Media in Germany,on Monday, 28th. February 2011, 16:00-17:30 Room HG22 Nursing Building, Dublin City University.

The lecture by Professor Luenenborg is the first in a series of events organized by the ‘Representing Women’ inter-Centre research group at Dublin City University to raise awareness and stimulate debate about strengthening the representation of women in democratic politics.

Professor Margreth Luenenborg is one of the leading European researchers in the area of media, journalism and gender. She is currently Professor of Journalism Studies at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies and Director of Institute for Journalism, Free University of Berlin. With an undergraduate background in Journalism Studies, a PhD on female journalists in Europe and Habilitation on Journalism as a Cultural Process, she has developed the field of Professional Journalism and Communication Education in a number of German universities including Leipzig, Dortmund and Siegen.

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