October 11, 2007

Community invited to hear immigration issues at summit

The Purdue Liberal Arts Community Engagement summit is 9-11:30 a.m. at Tippecanoe Arts Federation, 638 North St., Lafayette. West Lafayette Mayor Jan Mills and Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski will attend.

This event is part of the college's engagement initiative Building Communities, said Susan Curtis, associate dean for interdisciplinary programs and engagement.

"Building Communities links courses across the College of Liberal Arts with an issue in need of research attention from students and faculty," Curtis said. "This year, students enrolled in courses offered by communication, political science, English, and foreign languages and literatures are studying various aspects of 'Immigration, Migration and Living in Diverse Communities.' We will hear updates and reports from faculty and students on this subject."

After the presentations, the group will discuss possible policy or actions. 

Purdue Liberal Arts Community Engagement program, which is known as PLACE, started in January. The program also offers the Public Square Forum, which will utilize public lectures, poster sessions, art, music and other performances, question-and-answer sessions, and videos to examine a subject of importance. The first Public Square Forum, yet to be scheduled, will focus on aspects of Islam - dance, music, art, architecture and religious artifacts - that are often overshadowed by reports on war and intercultural conflict, Curtis said.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765( 494-9723, apattterson@purdue.edu

Source: Susan Curtis, (765) 494-4159, curtis@purdue.edu

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

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