Technology and citizenship conference to take place at Purdue

The conference, which is open to the public, will be July 24-27 in Stewart Center, Room 218D, and will bring together about 30 scholars from around the country to present research on how technology, especially the Internet, has changed the way citizens interact with their government and each other.

The title of the colloquium is "Citizenship Education in a Digital Age: A Window to Our Future?" It is being sponsored by the College of Education's James F. Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship.

"This will be a unique opportunity to bring scholars in many different areas together to discuss what we know about how technology has changed the way we do the job of 'citizen,'" said Phillip VanFossen, the Ackerman Professor of Social Studies Education and director of the Ackerman Center. "That the Ackerman Center and the College of Education can be at the center of this event is very exciting."

Colloquium attendees will explore how much the Internet has affected citizenship participation in the United States, the degree to which the Internet has been utilized in citizenship education and changed the content or delivery of citizenship education, and how much the Internet has been used in the practice of citizenship education.

Additional topics and themes include "Ethics, the Internet and the Role of the Citizen" and "The Intersection of Citizenship, Consumerism and Democracy."

Attendees also will hear two keynote speeches: one by Michael Cornfield, a political scientist at George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management whose research has focused on the Internet's impact on voting patterns; and one by Jennifer Kurtz, assistant director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, known as CERIAS.

"What's exciting about holding this colloquium at Purdue is that we have access to so many cutting-edge players in the technology world, including CERIAS," VanFossen said. "Participants will also be getting a behind-the-scenes look at Purdue's Envision Center."

The Envision Center for Data Perceptualization, located off the walkway that connects the Purdue Memorial Union with Stewart Center, is an interdisciplinary, high-performance visualization showcase facility that supports research and teaching at Purdue.

The Ackerman Center was established through a gift in 1993 from James F. Ackerman, a Purdue alumnus, and his wife, Lois. The center also sponsors the Ackerman Center Summer Institute, and co-sponsors with the Krannert School of Management the Purdue Series on Corporate Citizenship and Ethics. It also organizes a student program for the annual Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference and coordinates "We The People ... The Citizen and the Constitution" and Purdue's celebration of Constitution and Citizenship Day.

Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu

Source: Phillip VanFossen, (765) 494-2367, vanfoss@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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