Toledo professor to give
speech on minority roles in technology
 By
Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant Features Editor
The man who engineered the only known Internet-based
course taught from Africa to students in the United States is coming
to Purdue to speak about minorities and technology.
Abdul Alkalimat, professor of Africana studies
and director of the Africana studies program at the University of Toledo,
is the featured speaker for the Black Cultural Center's symposium on
culture and technology entitled, "Culture and Technology: Moving African
Communities Toward a Position of Strength, II," at 1 p.m. Saturday at
the Black Cultural Center.
Dorothy Washington, Black Cultural Center librarian,
said the program will provide and opportunity for students to understand
the technological needs of African communities.
"And then they can use this to consider the ways
they can utilize the skills they are developing at Purdue towards community
development and service," she said.
Abby Cramton, a library aide at the Black Cultural
Center, said Alkalimat's presentation, "From Panthers to Spiders: Black
Liberation and the Information Society," is important to students because
the topics he will discuss are relevant to our society.
"He is here to speak about using libraries in our
communities, and he will also stress that everyone should be lifelong
learners," Cramton said. "We are a technology-based society, and to
be a participating member you must be able to access this knowledge
and use it to your advantage."
Besides being considered an expert on cyberspace,
Alkalimat, an African American studies scholar for over 30 years, is
also the moderator of H-Afro-Am, the largest African American studies
list.
"Students should come because what he is saying
is valuable to all of us, especially to groups that may traditionally
not always have had the same advantages," Cramton said. "He will say
how technology can be advantageous. It's like leveling the playing field."
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