Indiana State University Newsroom

 Indiana State University's Community Semester has three events planned for the week of March 24.

 Programs include a bat box building workshop and discussions related to the impact of Title IX on women's sports and the lives of Nigerian traders in China.

The 2014 Community Semester, which focuses on the theme "Crossroads," is a way for the College of Arts and Sciences to showcase what it does best and to encourage faculty and students to share with the community what they are learning. It is also a way to bring innovative ideas in the science, humanities, liberal and creative arts to the area.

On March 26, the women's studies program will present "Title IX: Crossroads in Women's Sports at ISU" from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Cunningham Memorial Library events area.

Professors Jolynn Kuhlman and Mildred Lemen witnessed the revolution in women's high school and collegiate athletics over the course of their careers as athletes, coaches, teachers, and administrators before and after Title IX. Part local history and personal reminiscence, part cultural analysis and part clarion call, this lively presentation-rich in stories and photographs from university archives-will not only recount the story of how Title IX played out at Indiana State and beyond, but also as a reminder to what is at stake in safeguarding its ongoing protections.

A program examining the work and lives of Nigerian traders in Guanghou, China is the topic of a Community Semester program March 27 in Root Hall room A-264 beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Wendy Thompson Taiwo of the department of African and African-American studies will focus on a small bustling commercial hub in southern China powered by Nigerian traders. With jobs scarce at home, a sizeable Nigerian population has resettled in the bustling port city of Guangzhou, China. Many survive as middlemen, offering services as cargo shippers, personal shoppers, or shopkeepers. This presentation will explore the lived reality of men and women engaged in low-end globalization, paying special attention to the ways Nigerian traders use social networks, play, and interracial relationships to negotiate business, leisure, and daily survival. This event is co-sponsored by the Richard Landini Lectures.

The public is invited to build a bat box at the Institute for Community Sustainability house, located at the corner of 11th and Chestnut streets, beginning at 10 a.m. March 29. Materials will be provided to build a birdhouse-style bat box designed to accommodate up to a hundred bats, which will provide free pest control in your own backyard. Members of the ISU Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation will assist with assembly and will provide information on the natural history of backyard bats in Indiana and ways of attracting those bats to your yard and box.

These events are free and open to the public. A complete list and description of the Community Semester's activities may be found at: http://www.indstate.edu/communitysemester/  .

Media contact and writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications and Marketing, 812-237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu