Upcoming events

Upcoming NDSU events that may be of interest:

Faculty and Staff:

Two excellent educational opportunities are being made possible in our community by the Eating Disorder Institute in early February. In the hopes that you may want to use these learning experiences as a part of your coursework, this email is being sent to inform you of these two very fine presentations.

The first is Darryl Roberts' documentary 'America the Beautiful', which examines the question,"Does America have an unhealthy obsession with beauty?" This movie will be shown at The Fargo Theater on Sunday, February 8th at 2pm and again at 6pm. Following the documentary, Mr. Roberts will take questions from the audience. Admission is free.

In almost 40,000 media messages a year, youthful Americas are being told that, unless you look like supermodels and rock stars, you’re not good enough for anyone to love. This is a message that too many people are buying.

Filmmaker Darryl Roberts goes on a two year journey to examine America’s new obsession; physical perfection. In America the
Beautiful, we learn secrets, confessions, and strikingly harsh realities as Roberts unearths the origins and deadly risks of our nation’s quest for physical perfection.

In America the Beautiful we see how these increasingly unattainable images contribute greatly to the rise in low self-esteem, body dysmorphia, and eating disorders for young women and girls who also happen to be the beauty industry's largest consumers. Who actually benefits from this high-priced journey towards this ideal? Is corporate America’s bottom line so important that it justifies a nation’s psychosis? What are the true costs of our obsession with youth, beauty, and a slender physique?

For more information on this film, you can check out the web page.

The second educational opportunity will be on Monday, February 9th when Kitty Westin will give a presentation in the Century Theater in the NDSU Memorial Union at 4pm. Kitty Westin is the founder and former President of the Anna Westin Foundation which was recently merged with the Emily Program Foundation. The Anna Westin Foundation was started by Anna’s family after Anna died as a direct result of anorexia in 2000. The Westin’s also started the first and only residential program to treat people with eating disorders in Minnesota. For the past 8+ years Kitty has spent the majority of her time speaking to groups, offering support and guidance to people with eating disorders and advocating for an end to discrimination against people with eating disorders. Kitty is also the current President of the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action and she serves on the AED Patient Career Task Force and she is the Co-chair of the AED Advocacy Committee.

Kitty is very active in national advocacy with the EDC and she travels to Washington DC frequently to fight for Mental Health Parity and to educate Congress about eating disorders. She helped create the FREED (Federal Response to Eliminating Eating Disorders Act) which will be introduced to Congress early next year.

For more information on Kitty and her daughter, Anna, go to this website.

Please inform and encourage students to attend these free educational opportunities, especially if these topics relate to your course of study in the classes you teach or in the area you work. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Marlys K. Borkhuis, MS, LPC
Assistant Director/Counselor
NDSU Counseling Center
212 Ceres
701-231-7680
www.ndsu.edu/counseling