On Wednesday 13 april, Dr. Michael Begin, visiting professor at Pukyoung National University in Busan, South Korea, will give a public talk titled “Transcending All Boundaries: The Internet Bride Industry of Post-Soviet Europe”. The talk will take place in Oddi, room 101, at 12-13 pm.

Currently, Dr. Begin is serving as a visiting professor at Pukyoung National University in Busan, South Korea, in the Department of International and Area Studies. His doctoral degree was awarded by the University of Kentucky Department of Geography in 2007.

This project offers a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the contemporary post-Soviet ‘Internet bride’ phenomenon and the rationales, motives, and aspirations of the industry’s participants.  As international marriage services have incorporated information and communications technologies (ICTs) to assist in the marketing of women of post-communist nations for correspondence courtship with Western men, the industry has furthered the globalization of marriage markets and the opportunities for communicative exchange among disparate nations and cultures.  By way of case study, the project takes a special focus on the Belarusian/American segment of the industry, turning to personal interviews with participants and employing qualitative techniques to dissect marketing methods.  The study gives primary consideration to processes and elements of globalization, postmodern consumer culture, and aspects of human sexuality, recognizing their interactive and mutually-constitutive nature that calls for their analysis through a Baudrillardian lens.

The lecture is hosted by RIKK – The Center for Women’s and Gender Research in collaboration with Geography and Tourism studies, the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, at the University of Iceland.