Patricia Zimmerman, professor of screen studies and codirector of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, was an invited speaker and scholar in residence for a special two day convening on women, food security, the environment, and Kenya for the Inequality Initiative, a special project of the Women and Gender in Global Perspective Institute at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign on November 11 and 12, 2013.Zimmermann spoke on a panel with former Wall Street Journal reporter Roger Thurow, responding to issues raised in his new book on food security and women in rural Kenya, The Last Hunger Season.
As part of her residency, Zimmermann participated in roundtable discussions with faculty and graduate students exploring media representations of food security, the environment, and Africa.