TORONTO: Academics from around the world recently convened at Toronto’s Ryerson Polytechnic University for a two-day conference on youth in film and television in the nineties entitled ‘Pictures of a Generation on Hold.’

Conference co-chair Murray Pomerance, of the department of sociology, says the organizers targeted the issue of youth in the media because of a growing fear of educators of the perceived decline in the ‘intellectual status’ of youth. According to Pomerance, attacks on education through budget cuts and the onslaught of media have led educators to question the technical capabilities, the ability to deal with language and the scope for critical thought among young people. ‘There’s a real crisis and we thought it would be important to see to what extent media images representing youth were playing into this crisis,’ says Pomerance.

Over 50 papers were presented including ‘The Depiction of Gender in Saturday Morning Cartoons’ and ‘Computer Images Changing the Face of Disney.’

Conference organizers are collecting a selection of papers to include in a 240-page book due out in September (US$18.50, CDN$24.95) available by contacting the department (see The Contact File on page 76). A Web site (http.www.ryerson.ca/pgh/papers.html) listing the papers presented and an order form for the papers are also available.