Creeping Crisis in South Asia: Perspectives on Health & Environmental Communication

April 05, 2024, 12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m. EDT

Newhouse 3, I-3 Center: 434 Newhouse

The South Asia Center at the Moynihan Institute of Public Affairs presents a panel by Iccha Basnyat (George Mason University) and Mohammed Ittefaq (James Madison University) as part of the second annual CODE^SHIFT Research Symposium organized by Srivi Ramasubramanian (Newhouse), Othered Immigrants: Inclusive Storytelling for Well-Being, Advocacy, and Counternarratives.

This panel is Session 4 in the CODE^SHIFT Research Symposium, which involves over twenty media scholars and practitioners. Other sessions are titled “Other Immigrants & Well-Being” (9:00-10:15), “Immigrant Advocacy & Counternarratives” (10:15-11:30), “CODE^SHIFT Lunch & Poster Session” (11:30-12:30), and a “Syracuse Showcase Session” (1:45-3:00).

Iccha Basnyat

Associate Professor,

Global Affairs Program & Department of Communication,

George Mason University

Basnyat is concerned with how Western-centric health communication efforts employing development strategies have excluded local experiences, perspectives, and voices of the Global South. She argues that communication for development using health communication interventions has created a creeping crisis that threatens societal values in South Asia. Sustainable development goals fall with-in the paradigm of development communication, which has stressed the empowerment of women in the Global South since the ’90s. Drawing on the lived experiences of women’s empowerment interventions in South Asia, Basnyat highlights the importance of local contexts in order to center on non-Western perspectives and knowledge about health, health meanings, and health behaviors.

Muhammed Ittefaq
Assistant Professor,
School of Communication Studies, James Madison University

Ittefaq is concerned with how South Asian countries consistently rank among the world’s most polluted nations, with heavily polluted urban areas facing a potential reduction of up to four years in life expectancy. Prolonged exposure to various sources such as vehicle and industrial exhaust, agricultural and waste materials burning, fossil fuel-fired power plants, brick kilns, and inadequate pol-icy formulation and implementation leads to a range of health complications, including asthma, lung damage, strokes, and cardio-vascular problems. Addressing this alarming situation requires the concerted efforts of various stakeholders. Ittefaq proposes a comprehensive framework building on re-search emphasizing how creeping crises develop over time, and thus communities of practice and care must collaborate to main-stream their roles to bring about meaningful change.

Type

Conferences

Region

Open to

Public

Organizer

South Asia Center

Contact

Matt Baxter
315.443.2553

Mhbaxter@syr.edu

Accessibility

Contact Matt Baxter to request accommodations

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