Page 16 • Thur-sday, September 11, 2003 _ ' FcatU reS^ The Pendulum
Carol Magee sheds light on cultural portrayals in media
Mary-Hayden Britton
Features Editor
While flipping through Sports
Illustrated, most would not think twice
about seeing Kathy Ireland standing tall in
her one-piece tribal bathing suit. But at a
closer look, a viewer might note of the two
Ndebele women sitting on either side the
model ethnically dressed matching the
theme to the pinup spread.
In society today, association with visu
alization plays an intricate part in people’s
lives. The human eye encounters massive
amounts of media every day through tele
visions, computers, magazines, newspa
pers and film. But with these many
images, most do not take the time to ana
lyze what they are viewing.
On Monday, Sept. 15, Carol Magee, an
assistant professor of art and a Woodrow
Wilson Postdoctoral Fellow, will be dis
cussing “Sex and Safari: Sports Illustrated
Swimsuits in Africa,” through a slide
show featuring media images represented
in different cultures. She will focus on
American and African cultures, basing her
Mary-Hayden Britton / Photographer
Carol Magee works at her desk with the
photo taker) from Sports Illustrated in the
background. She will discuss the role of
race in the media at 7 p.m. Sept 15 in
Yeager Recital Hall.
discussion on a photo taken for a 1996
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Magee’s discussion will be taken from
chapters of the book she is currently writ
ing.
Magee said that Sports Illustrated is
continuing the traditions of African
Americans.
Magee said she literally stumbled
over the photo in a bookstore and decid
ed photos like this one should be recog
nized, since media such as Sports
Illustrated is such a dominant visual lit
eracy in the world today.
Magee said she believes portraying
African Americans in this way is super
ficial and problematic, and is concerned
with how images come to influence
Americans and their understanding of
Africa. However, she said a positive
would be letting the world know that
tribes such as the Ndebele exist.
The second part of her discussion will
stem from how she gathered her
research. Magee said she will discuss
her experience traveling to South Africa
for five weeks, where she spent time
with tribes like the Ndebele peoples and
others as well.
Kristin Ringelberg, assistant professor
of art history, said it is discussions like
Magee’s that teach about how people
think, what they care about and how they
present ideas and beliefs unintentionally.
“I think this discussion can have a wide
application and be useful to the Elon com
munity in thinking more self-consciously
about visual representations,” she said.
Magee graduated from the University of
California with a degree in art history.
After college, she said she decided she
wanted to seek her graduate degree in the
study of african american art.
She said she found out about Elon when
she applied for the Woodrow Wilson pro
gram, which has a partnership with Elon.
She teaches one art history class and does
research at the same time.
Magee said this experience has definite
ly been a good one.
“I think Elon is a really nice communi
ty of scholars,” she said.
Rindelbergh said more art history
speakers are scheduled to visit campus.
She said the department’s goal is to even
tually get a speaker once a month.
Whitney Biennia will be speaking in the
spring. It is free and open to the public.
Contact Mary-Hayden Britton at pendu-
lum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
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