ATHENS, Ohio -- Jennifer Lawson, the Visiting Rufus Putnam Professor at Ohio University, will speak on "Carrying Baggage and Cameras: Making Media about other People" at noon, Monday, Nov. 4, in Baker University Center's 1804 Lounge. The event, sponsored by Ohio University's African Studies Program and by the Center for International Studies, is free and open to the public.

Lawson teaches a course in Ohio University's School of Telecommunications, "The Executive Producer," and is co-executive producer of the "Africa" series. The eight-part program, a joint production by National Geographic, aired last fall on PBS. It was inspired by Lawson's experiences in Tanzania, where she lived from 1970 to 1972. She continues to travel extensively throughout the continent.

Lawson heads Magic Box Mediaworks, Inc., an independent production company that provides consulting to producers and broadcasters in the areas of program development, fundraising, marketing, management and strategic planning.

Prior to joining Magic Box, she served as the first chief programming executive in public television history at PBS. In that capacity, she was responsible for the highly successful broadcasts of two of PBS's most acclaimed presentations, "The Civil War" and "Baseball." Lawson also played a key role in the development of children's series "Barney & Friends," "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

In 1990, Entertainment Weekly cited her as one of the "101 Most Influential People in Entertainment." Four years later, she appeared in Hollywood Reporter's list of the 50 most influential women in entertainment.

A graduate of Columbia University, where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in film production, Lawson also worked for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and as chief executive officer of The Film Fund, a New York organization devoted to assisting independent filmmakers.