"The corporate takeover of children's play: why it's a problem and what we can do about it" takes place April 19
Author and psychologist Susan Linn will discuss how our media-saturated, marketing-driven culture poses a threat to creative play in the development of children. Listed as a guaranteed right by the United Nations, creative play is the foundation of learning, creativity and the ability to make meaning of life.
Linn will explain why hands-on creative play is so necessary, why we can no longer take play for granted, and what we can do to ensure that children are provided with the time, space, and tools essential for make believe.
Linn, Ed.D., is an instructor in psychiatry and the associate director of the Media Center at Judge Baker Children's Center at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of "The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World," and "Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood." She also is the director and co-founder of The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood and an award-winning ventriloquist. In 2000, she was appointed to the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Advertising to Children. In 2006, she received the American Psychological Association's Presidential Citation for her work on behalf of children. Her work has appeared on Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, The Today Show and Good Morning America.
When: 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19
Where: CMB 4.122 (Studio 4D)
Contact: Dave Junker, junker@austin.utexas.edu, 512-773-0673