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February 20th, 2025
On Wednesday, February 19, Purdue Libraries and the Black Cultural Center hosted a lecture by Georgetown Professor of Law and author Sheryll Cashin titled “Residential caste: How West Lafayette can transcend segregation and opportunity hoarding” in honor of Black History Month.
About the lecture
How does a community with a history of segregation and disenfranchisement move forward to heal, repair, and transform?
West Lafayette is similar to other cities where Black migrants have settled. As a law professor at Georgetown University, Cashin applied her theories to the specific contexts of various communities, drawing on examples of hope, transformation, and healing from different cities.
“America is where the residential caste is destroying opportunity, if high opportunity is sequestered only in certain places. Neither cities, nor struggling suburbs, nor far out rural hamlets are an engine of opportunity of this country anymore. We’re not the land of opportunity in this system of residential caste,” said Cashin in the lecture’s introductory video.
Cashin discussed Indianapolis and West Lafayette, and how both cities are affected by the residential caste system—a system of segregation that separates wealthy white neighborhoods from impoverished Black neighborhoods. This system creates inequality and opportunity gaps that are passed down through generations. She also talked about “redlining,” the illegal practice of denying financial services to neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity. Her lecture took a deep dive into the history of these practices and how they appear now in the 21st century.
She also provided hope and ways to begin repairing the residential caste system. Repair involves forming a multiracial coalition that advocates for policies promoting and uplifting vulnerable populations. Dismantling and repairing residential caste necessitates perfecting local multiracial democracy, which W. E. B. Du Bois referred to as abolition democracy.
“The residential caste is born of a very peculiar history of anti-blackness. If you can set aside that decades-long pathologizing of those folks, it frees your focus on evidence-based strategies that work and actually cost a lot less than what the state is spending now for surveilling, containing, policing and incarcerating these people,” she concluded.
About Sheryll Cashin
Sheryll Cashin, a law professor at Georgetown University, authors works focused on race relations and inequality in America. Her most recent publication, “White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality,” released in September 2021, reveals how the government established “ghettos” and wealthy white neighborhoods, solidifying a system of residential caste in the U.S. that serves as a core element of inequality, while advocating for abolition.
Cashin is a prominent member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council. She has served as an advisor on urban and economic policy during her time in the Clinton White House, focusing on community development in inner-city neighborhoods. Additionally, she was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, where her parents were political activists, she now lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two sons.
View her website to learn more about Cashin and her work.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsFebruary 19th, 2025
On February 14, the Knowledge Lab celebrated its second anniversary with an exciting array of activities, including button-making, crochet, and origami. These hands-on crafts brought students together for a fun and festive day and provided a perfect opportunity to develop creative thinking skills while exploring new technologies and techniques.
Throughout the day, students were invited to express their appreciation for the lab by writing Valentine’s messages on paper hearts. Now displayed in the lab, these messages reflect the community the Knowledge Lab has fostered over the years. The anniversary event highlighted the lab’s mission to expose students to innovative offerings and showcased the lab as a space for exploration, experimentation, and skill-building.
About the lab
Located on the third floor of the Wilmeth Active Learning Center, the Knowledge Lab is a rapid prototyping space where the Purdue community can experiment with exploring and presenting their ideas using various materials, equipment, and software.
The space offers low-stakes resources such as a vinyl cutter, sewing machines, a Riso printer, a podcast booth, a heat press, yarns, cardboard, fabrics, and more. It serves as a first stop within a pipeline of opportunities on campus to actualize an idea and integrate the left-brain and right-brain.
Visit the Knowledge Lab website to learn more, borrow equipment, and view workshops and events.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsFebruary 18th, 2025
Adriana Harmeyer, an archivist for university history and clinical assistant professor at Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, competed and placed third overall in “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” from January 27–February 13, 2025. She earned the Jeopardy! “super-champion” title and won a grand total of $351,600 during her initial 15-game winning streak.
What is “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions?”
“Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” is a yearly tournament featuring the top 15 players who won the most games from the previous season. The first six games are the quarterfinals, with three new contestants daily. The winners of these five games move on to the semifinals. The three semifinal winners move on to the finals, and the first finalist to win three games wins the overall championship. Adriana was seeded directly into the semifinals because she had one of the top winning streaks out of the super-champions, which began on February 4.
Adriana’s experience
For five consecutive matches, she competed against Isaac Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, CA, and Neilesh Vinjamuri, a software engineer from Lionville, PA. Adriana won the first game despite being tied with Nielesh and winning after the Final Jeopardy question. However, Neilesh won the second and third games, Isaac won the fourth, and Neilesh won the last, giving him three wins and the overall champion title. The final match was a close race between all three contestants, with multiple lead changes.
Adriana won $75,000 from her third-place win in the 2025 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “The Jeopardy Tournament of Champions was an incredible experience. I first went to Jeopardy months ago with no expectation that I would win one game, let alone win fifteen and have the opportunity to return to play again in the Tournament of Champions. It was a pleasure to meet and play alongside this year’s greats.”
Thank you, Adriana, for representing Purdue Libraries again with brilliance and grace. Congratulations on another remarkable run!
For detailed statistics on each match, visit The Jeopardy Fan website.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsFebruary 10th, 2025
Celebrate all things data with the 2025 Love Data Series, which features online collaborative sessions with Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies (West Lafayette) and Purdue Fort Wayne Libraries. The series will consist of five sessions on select Tuesdays, 3:00–4:00 P.M., from February through April.
Register now for the first session, “Love Data: Effective Research Data Management,” on Tuesday, February 11, 3:00–4:00 PM on Teams.
Be sure to mark your calendar with the full schedule, included below:
More details for each topic, registration, and guest speakers will be announced soon. For questions, contact Kelly Burns, research data management specialist, at burnsmk@purdue.edu, or Erika Mann, director of digital initiatives technology and scholarship, at manne@pfw.edu.
The Research Data Offices in STEW 242 will also have fun Love Data Week stickers available starting February 11. Be sure to stop by and grab some for yourself, your friends, or your students.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsFebruary 7th, 2025
On January 30, Libraries Associate Professor Michael Witt, alongside Engineering Education Professor Sean Brophy, and their Engineering in the World of Data learning community enjoyed a discussion with Will Sheley, Purdue alumnus and former senior vice president of Visa and JPMorgan, as part of the Executive in Residence (EiR) program. This program is part of Residence Academic Initiatives, a subset of University Residences.
The Engineering in the World of Data learning community, now in its eighth year, offers a unique opportunity for 100 first-year engineering students and faculty to live together in Shreve Hall and take five courses as a cohort. The EiR program invites prominent executives and Purdue alumni to live on campus for a week. Students interact with executives in various mentorship settings, enabling executives to give back to their alma mater and forge meaningful professional connections with students.
Witt meets with the executives before their discussion with his learning community to craft scenario-based learning opportunities for his students. At this session, Sheley gave a chalk talk and engaged in a corporate earnings challenge involving the students picking an industry—operating at a $10 billion a year revenue scale—and having them identify opportunities to increase earnings by 17 percent next year. Data was provided as an example from one of the companies where Sheley previously worked. After the session ended, Witt, Sheley, and the students enjoyed an informal dinner at Wiley Dining Court.
About the program
Witt carefully selects the most relevant executives for each session from a list provided to him each semester. He then meets with the incoming executive to collaborate on learning outcomes and scenario-based learning, typically as a challenge for his students based on their professional practice and experience. He assigns two students to host the executive, participate in the call, meet the executive when they arrive on campus, and escort them to other parts of their itinerary.
“The learning objectives are customized for each executive, but I always prompt them to talk about their leadership style and give examples of it. Then, I always ask students to reflect on their own ideas about what their style may be, compare it with the executive’s, and ask questions,” Witt said. This process empowers students to recognize and develop their own leadership styles, fostering personal growth and confidence.
Witt selects 12–20 students from his learning community to participate in each session. After introductions, students are split into gold and black teams. The executive then presents the scenario, and the teams work together to address it and pitch their solutions to the executive, gaining feedback and eventually learning how the problem was solved in the executive’s career. At the conclusion, the session adjourns for an informal dinner, providing a relaxed setting for students to network and build connections.
Witt has hosted other sessions this year with a diverse range of executives, including NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, AT&T’s former distinguished network architect Margaret Chiosi, and Accenture’s managing director of the communications and media industry in the northeast market unit Todd Montabana.
Visit the EiR website to learn more about Will Sheley, and follow the learning community’s Instagram to stay updated on their latest activities.
Filed under: general, News and Announcements, UncategorizedFebruary 6th, 2025
In today’s world, information shapes every aspect of our lives—from driving technological innovation to fueling the spread of misinformation. Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies is proud to offer an undergraduate minor in Information Studies, providing a unique opportunity to learn how to navigate and critically engage with the complex information landscape.
“The minor focuses on preparing students for the informed workplace,” said Heather Howard, director of undergraduate education at Libraries and School of Information Studies. “It’s designed to complement any major, from business, to engineering, to liberal arts, and more,” she said.
The Information Studies minor embodies the historical, technical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of information, equipping graduates with the skills to navigate today’s information landscape. The minor welcomed its first students at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester.
“Using information is essential in all professions,” said Dr. Clarence Maybee, Libraries and School of Information Studies associate dean for learning. “Basic information literacy skills are not enough anymore. Every company has a unique information and data landscape that students need to be equipped to navigate,” he said.
About the minor
Course requirements for the minor cover trending topics in today’s interconnected, technology-driven world. Specifically, the minor involves coursework that focuses on preparing students to:
After completing an introductory course and choosing a required course on either information culture or data tools and applications, students select three courses in topics such as data ethics and management, artificial intelligence (AI), business and technical information, digital humanities, misinformation and conspiracy theories, online culture, and archives and rare books.
Visit the Information Studies website to learn more about the minor and view course requirements. Email infostudies@purdue.edu for minor-related questions and contact your academic advisor to officially enroll in the Information Studies minor.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsJanuary 29th, 2025
Purdue Libraries invites you to attend a talk by Douglas Rushkoff, author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age, on Thursday, February 20, 5:15–6:15 PM in WALC 1132. The talk is titled “Program or Be Programmed: The Biases of Digital Media” and will be hosted by Libraries faculty member Melissa Chomintra and co-sponsored by Purdue University’s Tech Justice Lab.
About the talk
We continue to accept new technologies into our lives with little or no understanding of how these devices work and work on us. We do not know how to program our computers, nor do we care. We spend much more time and energy trying to figure out how to use them to program one another, instead—this is a potentially grave mistake.
Just as the invention of text utterly transformed human society, disconnecting us from much of what we held sacred, our migration to the digital realm will also require a new template for maintaining our humanity. In this talk, Rushkoff shares the biases of digital media, and what that means for how we should use them.
About Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff, named one of MIT’s “world’s ten most influential intellectuals,” is an author, documentarian, and expert on digital age autonomy. His twenty books include “Survival of the Richest” and “Team Human,” and he has produced PBS Frontline documentaries like “Generation Like” and “The Persuaders.” Rushkoff has coined terms such as “viral media” and “social currency” and advocates for using digital media for social justice. A professor at CUNY/Queens and research fellow at the Institute for the Future, he is also a columnist for Medium, with his novels and comics in development for film.
Visit Rushkoff’s website to learn more about him and his work.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsJanuary 27th, 2025
In honor of Black History Month, Purdue Libraries and the Black Cultural Center invites you to attend a lecture by Sheryll Cashin titled, “Residential caste: How West Lafayette can transcend segregation and opportunity hoarding” on Wednesday, February 19, 10:30–11:30 AM in STEW 202.
About the lecture
How does a community with a history of segregation and disenfranchisement move forward to heal, repair, and transform?
West Lafayette is not different from other cities where Black migrants landed. As a professor of law at Georgetown University, Cashin has experience applying her theories to the particulars of multiple communities, with examples of hope, transformation, and repair from other cities. Repair requires building a multiracial coalition that supports policies that include and lift up vulnerable people. Dismantling and repairing residential caste requires perfecting local mulitracial democracy, or what W. E. B. DuBois called abolition democracy.
About Sheryll Cashin
Author of works centered around race relations and inequality in America, Sheryll Cashin is a professor of law at Georgetown University. Her latest book “White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality” published in September 2021 shows how the government created “ghettos” and affluent white space and entrenched a system of American residential caste that is the linchpin of U.S. inequality, while issuing a call for abolition.
Cashin is an active member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council; worked in the Clinton White House as an advisor on urban and economic policy, particularly concerning community development in inner-city neighborhoods; and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. She was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, where her parents were political activists, and currently resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two sons.
View her website to learn more about Cashin and her work.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsJanuary 23rd, 2025
On January 14, a reception was held to celebrate former Dean Beth McNeil’s professional accomplishments and honor the relationships she built, the lives and careers she touched, and the legacy she leaves behind as she enters the next phase of her career.
Beth served as dean of Purdue Libraries for 5 ½ years. She first came to Purdue Libraries in 2007, serving as associate dean for information resources and scholarly communication, and became associate dean for academic affairs in 2009. She remained at Purdue for eight years, leaving in 2015 to become dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University. In 2019, Beth returned as dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies and Esther Ellis Norton Professor of Library Science.
Throughout her tenure, Beth has led the Libraries to many accomplishments, including the launch of the 2022–2025 strategic plan, the formation of the new Information Studies minor, the expansion of Open Access opportunities for Purdue faculty and researchers, and the renovations of campus libraries. Her commitment to Purdue students will remain evident in library spaces that provide them with flexible study spaces, and the ongoing curriculum development to meet their academic needs.
Reception recap
Mark Puente, associate dean for organizational development, and Rebecca Richardson, associate dean for collections and access, began with opening remarks. Two of McNeil’s former colleagues submitted their remarks to be read in place of their absences: Scott Brandt, Libraries professor emeritus, and Jim Mullins, dean of Libraries emeritus and Esther Ellis Norton professor emeritus. Five additional speakers followed to commemorate and speak of Beth’s accomplishments, character, and friendship:
“She’s been an incredible advocate and mentor for faculty and staff. She encourages folks to take risks, embrace opportunities, and strive to be the best you can be while always keeping in mind that a work-life balance is important, too,” said Ferullo.
“There’s a lot that’s been said about her leadership, but to me, that’s the most impressive, “said Akridge. “She led with intelligence, passion, grace, and good humor.”
Beth has consistently led with integrity, vision, and care for everyone around her. Under Beth’s leadership, Libraries has experienced tremendous growth, innovation, and an enduring sense of belonging and purpose within the Purdue community.
Filed under: general, News and AnnouncementsJanuary 8th, 2025
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies and The Eleventh House coffee shop is proud to partner with Corey Ewing, Indiana visual artist, to bring an exciting poetry slam and workshop opportunity to the Lafayette area. We invite all members of the community to apply to be a part of a cohort of 20 people who will participate in the workshops and final poetry slam event!
Ewing will offer two poetry slam workshops and a community-wide poetry slam where participants will perform their poetry created in the workshops. Participants will also receive instruction on how to use the equipment in the letterpress studio in the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue (the PrintBay), so they can design and print a publication that showcases their work.
The workshop involves two sessions on March 6 and 7, 4:00–6:00 PM at The Eleventh House, 116 N. 3rd St., Lafayette, IN; the poetry slam will be held on Wednesday, April 16, 4:00–6:00 PM at The Eleventh House as well. If you would like to be considered as a participant for this event, please fill out this form by midnight on Monday, February 3.
Workshops
Dates: March 6 and 7, 2025
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: The Eleventh House
Poetry slam
Date: April 16, 2025
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: The Eleventh House
About the artist
Corey Ewing is a native of Indianapolis, IN and supports various poetic projects, including Indianapolis Poetry Slam, Word As Bond, Fighting Words Poetry, Cafe Creative and curates Vocab. Currently an artist at work with the Kheprw Institute, Ewing continues to teach, coach, and create as an interdisciplinary artist focusing on poetry and photography in Indy. Learn more about his work here.