Lafayette Campus News (www.lafayette.edu), April 25, 2005 — The student body, faculty, and staff of Lafayette will be represented in a panel discussion on “Defining Body Image at Lafayette” 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Oechsle Hall auditorium.

The event is organized by Psychology Club, which will provide free pizza and refreshments.

The speakers will be Susan Basow, Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology; Karen J. Forbes, director of counseling services; psychology major Kelly Foran ’05 (Medford, N.J.); Inku Subedi ’05 (Katmandu, Nepal); a double major in psychology and anthropology & sociology; and McKelvy Scholar Danielle Pollaci ’06 (Trenton, N.J.), a double major in English and international affairs.

They will address the following questions:

• Is body image perception related to Greek life?
• Are there cultural differences in perception of body image?
• What are the related disorders?
• Can we redefine body image?

“Perception of body image among young women and men has become an important issue to be discussed because it does affect individuals’ self-esteem and in some cases, functioning in life,” says Subedi. “I got interested in the issue while doing my honors thesis. As psychology students, we are trying to organize a platform such that people can get informed about body image issues and eating disorders, and discuss existing perceptions at Lafayette.”

The event is sponsored by Psychology Club, Association of Lafayette Feminists, Students for Social Justice, the women’s studies program, and the Counseling Center.