Academic Conference Fundraising

One of the more exciting things to happen over the last few weeks was that I was invited to attend the George Gerbner Conference on Communication, Conflict, and Aggression later this month (note that they have not yet published this year's program, although last year's should give you an insight into the types of papers that get presented there). This was a somewhat short-notice opportunity for me, and given that it is located in Budapest, Hungary, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The one drawback to handling the process of travel to academic conferences late in the academic year in this age of austerity and budget cuts is that it was not entirely clear what, if any, funding the university would be able to provide to me. I did manage to get the airfare covered, which truly was the major hurdle. However, I am going to be funding the rest out of pocket. A student recently suggested setting up a fundraising campaign to help offset the remaining expenses, and at this time I am going to make the fundraising site available to you. If you have some spare change to chip in (at least enough to offset lodging and some food and subway expenses), I would be appreciative. I can't really offer a lot in return, other than evidence of my attendance, and perhaps copies of my own work from the conference (such as my PowerPoint presentation and the final copy of my accepted paper), but for those interested in attitudes toward torture and media effects more broadly, perhaps you would find something of value in what I do. If you do choose to contribute, I thank you tremendously.