Syracuse Symposium^TM continues its “Networks” theme with a panel discussion on the media’s portrayal of women—from gossip circles in the early 20^th century to modern-day social networks—and its ensuing impact on gender bias.

Titled “Glamour and Damage: Women, Scandal, and Social Media Networks,” the event will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. at Syracuse Stage (820 East Genesee St.), immediately following the matinee performance of Steve Martin’s The Underpants. 



The discussion, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, call 315-443-7192 or visit syracusehumanities.org.



Using The Underpants as a launch-pad, the discussion will explore how women have been characterized, victimized, shamed, and sensualized throughout history.

Panelists include Kal Alston, professor of cultural foundations of education in the School of Education and Syracuse’s senior vice president for human capital development; Harriet Brown, associate professor of magazine journalism in Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Public Communications; and Christine Courtade Hirsch, assistant professor of communication studies at SUNY Oswego. 



Running through Nov. 8, The Underpants is a witty commentary on gender politics and instant celebrity. Adapted from Carl Sternheim’s 1911 work Die Hose, the play is set in early 20th-century Germany, and follows one woman’s “very public wardrobe malfunction.”



Show tickets may be purchased by calling 315-443-3275 or visiting syracusestage.org.

The Syracuse University Humanities Center, founded in 2008, fosters public engagement in the humanities, and is home to the Syracuse Symposium™, the Central New York Humanities Corridor, the Jeanette K. Watson Distinguished Visiting Professorship, the Mellon Visiting Collaborator, the HC Mini-Seminar and Symposium Seminar series, the Perpetual Peace Project, and other annual research initiatives, annual fellowships and public programming.