The first panel of the Humanitarian and Development Communications project seminars will take place on Thursday, October 30th. Prof. Stan Cohen, LSE, Prof. Paul Gilroy, LSE and Prof. Jean Seaton, University of Westminster will speak on the topic of 'Humanitarian Communications in the Global Media Age', chaired by Professor Lilie Chouliaraki. The topic: Humanitarian communication is a unique form of communication: it aims at making us care about people we have never known and will never meet. How humanitarian campaigns choose to confront us with distant others and how they justify and legitimise their calls to action about suffering is crucial. This panel discusses the broader issues of ethics, persuasion and commitment that are thrown into relief as various forms of humanitarian campaigns are striving, on the one hand, to attract sponsors and create their own market niche and, on the other, to define conceptions of justice, citizenship and responsibility– ultimately, the very nature of humanity. The seminar is public, but as space is limited, please RSVP to ensure a seat at Polis@lse.ac.uk