Feb. 16, 1998 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--Feminist researcher Kathleen Karlyn grew up in the 1950s when the media portrayed girls as future wives, mothers and cheerleaders for male heroes. Today, more heroic girls are popping up everywhere. "Television characters such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena the Warrior Princess and Sabrina the Teen-Aged Witch have a lot of power," says Karlyn, the author of "The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter" and a UO assistant professor of English. Karlyn will explore the media's new interest in powerful girls when she joins eight other researchers on the podium at a University of Oregon conference on "Girls, Generations, and Globalization" on Friday, Feb. 27. The UO Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) is sponsoring the conference, which is free and open to the public. The conference opens at 9:30 a.m. in the Alumni Lounge at Gerlinger Hall, 1468 University St. "I`m taking a hard look at the kinds of fantasy girls are being encouraged to engage in," Karlyn says. "These television shows and films like `Scream' are speaking to girls in ways we need to pay attention to. Adults may not understand what is driving the phenomenon, but we need to find out what is causing this new media interest in girls and where it is leading," Karlyn adds. "This conference will focus on creating a new research agenda for girls," says CSWS director Sandy Morgen. "We want to expand the discourse about girls beyond today's media obsession with a narrow range of issues--eating disorders, teenage pregnancy and the problem of girls' falling self-confidence as adolescence approaches." The conference will examine issues about work, sexuality, popular culture and intergenerationality. In addition to Karlyn, speakers include Carol Stack, professor of women's studies and education at the University of California, Berkeley, whose work focuses on low-income youth and work; Sharon Thompson, author of "Going All the Way: Teenage Girls' Tales of Sex, Romance and Pregnancy"; and Claudia Long, a Native American researcher who has studied intergenerational transfer of knowledge about prenatal care and childbirth at Warm Springs, Ore. A mid-day panel will look at issues affecting girls globally. Panelists include Joanne Leslie, a UCLA researcher with considerable expertise on girls in Africa; UO professor of anthropology Karen Kelsky; and UO graduate students Nguyen Bich and Kadi Doucoure, who will talk about girls in Japan, Vietnam and Mali. Afternoon sessions will deal with issues ranging from the impact of welfare reform on girls to an examination of what the concept of girl means. The conference is one of three UO events in February focusing on girls. An evening event, "Girls Night Out," is scheduled from 7-9:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, at the UO Casanova Athletic Center, 2727 Leo Harris Parkway. "Girls Night Out" is co-sponsored by CSWS and the organizers of "Success in the Middle: A Conference for and about Middle School Girls" to be held Feb. 28 at the UO. Registration for the "Generations and Globalization" conference is open through the day of the event; however, advance registration is recommended. For more information, visit http:// darkwing.uoregon.edu/~csws/rigafair/index.html on the World Wide Web or call CSWS, (541) 346-5015. -30- #P-6062/Local,A&E,OrDailies