February 20, 2007

Media expert from Bangladesh to speak at SIUC

by K.C. Jaehnig

CARBONDALE, Ill. — M. Golam Rahman, professor of mass communication and journalism at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh and a Fulbright senior scholar at the University of Oklahoma, will give a free talk on the challenge of communicating about risky health issues in his home country at 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in Room 214 of Pulliam Hall on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus. Light refreshments will follow. SIUC's Department of Health Education and Recreation is sponsoring the presentation.

Rahman recently served as a consultant for a Foreign Investment Advisory Service project aimed at developing and implementing a strategy for communicating about public sector development. He also conducted a study of how newspapers in Bangladesh responded to increased vulnerability to HIV and AIDS caused by migration, sex trafficking and drugs, presenting his results at a conference sponsored by the United Nations Development Program and the Rotary Club of Dhaka.

Rahman previously served as a national media specialist for the United Nations International Drug Control Program. A prolific author, he has published numerous research articles in national and international journals. He served two stints as chairperson of his department before beginning his postdoctoral research at Oklahoma.