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Dr. Meltem Ö. Gürel, Assistant Professor from the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at Bilkent University, Turkey, is invited to Hong Kong to host the upcoming lecture of the Public Lecture Series on Gender Studies 2011, organized by the Gender Studies Programme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and sponsored by the Lee Hysan Foundation. The lecture is titled 'Women and the Modern Domicile in Turkey in the Mid-20^th Century'. 

Dr. Gürel joined the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at Bilkent University in 1994 and is currently head of the Department. She taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign, where she received her Ph.D. in Architecture. Her research interests include cross-cultural histories of modernism with an emphasis on society, gender and culture as they have influenced the built environment, domestic domain, interior space and interior design/architectural education. Her papers were published in various journals including Journal of Architectural Education; The Journal of Architecture; Gender, Place and Culture; Journal of Design History; The International Journal of Art & Design Education.

In the lecture, Dr. Gürel will analyze how women have become national assets representing the country and their critical role in spreading and normalizing modernization and Westernization. Dr. Gürel conceptualizes domestic space as a domain where gender roles are formed and performed, and argues that women have played a significant role in shaping the modern domicile despite the powerful discourses on the structures of patriarchy. 

Members of the public are welcome to register for the public lecture at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/gender/publiclecture.htm. Details are as follows: