Canada-U.S. Fulbright Lecture - Karen Kedrowski
Title of Lecture: Human Rights and Breastfeeding: Applications of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes
In response to marketing practices of infant formula manufacturers and the International Nestle Boycott of the 1970s, the World Health Assembly passed the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in 1981. This marked the beginning of a decades’ long effort on the part of the international community to promote breastfeeding world wide as a means to reduce infant mortality to and to improve maternal health. Other international documents also speak to the importance of developing national policies that support and encourage breastfeeding. In this presentation, Professor Kedrowski will discuss the human rights applications of breastfeeding policy, and discuss how implementing and enforcing the Code enables countries to protect the human rights of women and children especially.
Biography:
Dr. Karen Kedrowski has been a member of the Department of Political Science at Winthrop University since 1994, and Chair since 2001. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Carl Albert Congressional Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma in 1992, and her BA in Political Science, French and History from the University of Minnesota in 1986. She conducts research primarily in the fields of congressional communication and public policy. Her interest in health policy specifically stems from her two years as a Health Policy Analyst for Families USA in Washington, DC. Dr. Kedrowski advises Political Science students who wish to earn Secondary Education Certification. Dr. Kedrowski is also the faculty advisor for the College Democrats and she was the driving force in re-establishing Winthrop University's chapter of Pi Gamma Mu, the international Social Science Honors Society, in 2005. Dr. Kedrowski has received a number of honors and awards, including being named Winthrop University's Outstanding Junior Professor (1999) and the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Advisor (2007).