The Conversation Project: A New Chautauqua offers Oregon nonprofits free programs that engage community members in thoughtful, challenging conversations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our state's future. Conversations are facilitated by some of Oregon's most respected humanities scholars.
Life in a Mega City: Images of Urban Bangladesh
Bangladesh, which is the size of Wisconsin, is home to more than 150 million inhabitants, including 15 million in the capital city of Dhaka alone. The country is also the fifth- largest exporter to the U.S. of ready-made garments, which are made by a largely female workforce whose hourly wages are lower than those in China, India, Indonesia, or Mexico. Considered one of twenty-two mega cities in the world, Dhaka continues to reinvent itself on a weekly basis as new industries spring up and rural citizens flock to the city for jobs and opportunities. Through slides, videos, and stories, photojournalist and Fulbright Scholar Geoffrey Hiller will lead a conversation about the reasons for and challenges associated with the growth of mega cities, the differences between Bangladeshi and American culture, and the connections between our consumer choices and a global work force.
Details
Equipment required: digital projector; screen
Program available through October 2011
- Geoffrey Hiller | Portland
- hillerphoto@yahoo.com
- 503-335-8679
Geoffrey Hiller's photography has been published in the United States, Europe, and Japan in such publications as Geo, Newsweek, Mother Jones, and The New York Times Magazine. His photo-essays have covered Asia, Latin America, Europe, and West Africa. He was on the staff of the Brazilian edition of National Geographic for two years. Hiller's award-winning multimedia projects about Vietnam, eastern Europe, Ghana, Burma, and Brazil have earned recognition from Adobe, the Soros Foundation, Apple, The Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today. He has also developed web projects for Tektronix, Xerox, Canon, and the National Press Photographers Association. Hiller was a Fulbright Scholar between 2008 and 2009, photographing and teaching interactive media in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He maintains two blogs: www.banglaphoto.wordpress.com, about his work in Bangladesh, and www.vervephoto.wordpress.com, where he edits the work of contemporary documentary photographers.
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