From the Desk of the Chancellor: Oct. 26, 2009

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

IUPUI is proud to host the first Public Scholars in Africana Studies International Conference, October 29-31, at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel.

This conference is the result of a commitment the campus made to recruit Public Scholars, faculty members who link their academic disciplines to community institutions. In 2007, three Public Scholars in African American and African Diaspora Studies were hired in the School of Liberal Arts. This was both an important step toward increasing diversity among the faculty and an opportunity to build strength in an interdisciplinary academic discipline that strategically dovetails with our local and international commitment to linking scholarship and civic engagement.

These Public Scholars—Bessie House-Soremekun, conference organizer, Ronda Henry director of the Olaniyan Scholars Program, and Modupe Labode—all have started projects, like this conference, that have already brought recognition to IUPUI and Indianapolis.