Brown and White Vol. 124 no. 13

              THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Men’s lax takes on UPenn tonight
Page 16
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LIFESTYLE
Vol. 124 No. 13
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
‘All the Lehigh News First’
Altitude urges students to harness their ‘inner leader’
Graphic novelist,
best-selling author explore graffiti art
By ELISSA MIOLENE
Professor, artist and graphic novelist John Jennings visited Lehigh University Thursday night, along with New York Times bestselling author Adam Mansbach, to discuss their work and talk about how social issues and Black American culture is displayed through artistic expression.
This event, hosted by the Africana Studies program, the Berman Center and the Black Student Union, was inspired by a conversation between James Peterson, director of the Africana Studies program, and Ruth Setton, interim director of the Berman Center.
“Both Professor Peterson and I believe that the study of comic books and graphic novels can yield valuable, provocative insights into contemporary culture,” Setton said, noting both the “critical and cultural importance of comic books, graphic art and graphic novels.”
Jennings and Mansbach share this view too. Jennings, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo, recently created a graphic art exhibit called Black Kirby. The walls of the lecture room were lined with all different pieces of Jennings’ work, and every print in the room was donated to the Africana Studies program.
This exhibit celebrated the work of comic artist Jack Kirby by using his cre­ative forms and prototypes in a way to ex­press both African-American social issues and social change. Some focuses within the art included “Afrofuturism” and justice for inequality.
Students learn, discuss at THATcamp
By DOUGLAS BAJAN
Lehigh University hosted its first ever “THATCamp,” a humanities and technology conference, in Linder­man Library on Friday and Saturday. Scholars, students, professors, librar­ians, technologists, archivists and cul­tural heritage experts from all across the Lehigh Valley were in attendance.
“The purpose of THATCamp is pri­marily to educate people who work in the humanities or technology fields in any form,” said Amanda French, a co­ordinator for THATCamp. “It began in 2008 at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason Univer­sity and has been growing since.”
THATCamp, an abbreviation for “The Humanities and Technology Camp,” is underpinned by informal conferences, labeled as “unconfer­ences,” that allow participants to share insights regarding teaching, history and research—a structure with no for­mal sessions or agenda established.
“THATCamps do away with the sages on the stage in exchange for workshops, discussions, making or playing,” said Jessica Aberle, a Coun­cil on Library and Information Re­sources postdoctoral fellow at Lehigh. “It’s often described as the difference between a lecture and a seminar.”
French supported this point, ex­plaining that the purpose of the un­conference is for everyone involved to learn from one another, rather than from one static force.
“It’s a method for people to share solutions with each other,” French said. “People learn a lot that way, and that’s quite different from what you can usually do at a regular conference because its one person talking to the whole room.”
Friday’s workshops revolved around technology. Participants, or “campers” as they are known at THATCamp, learned how to use Wordpress, Omeka, Esri and Project Management. A basic understanding of these tools was necessary for what followed on Saturday.
“They come here to learn about new tools, because technology pro­liferates all the time,” French said. “Some of these tools are more useful for humanities purposes, history, study of literature […] than others.”
Another crucial tenet THATCamp emphasizes is that there is no set plan for what topics will be discussed, nor are there any booked guest speakers. What the campers want to learn more about is entirely up to them.
“The whole beauty of the un­conference thing is they decide the program,” said Heather Simoneau, a humanities librarian who helped co­ordinate the event. “We have fielded questions such as, ‘What am I going to learn?’ We don’t know what you’re going to learn, you have to come Sat­urday and tell us what you want to learn and vote on it.”
Even the event coordinators, or camp counselors, stay out of the plan­ning process. Discussion groups form spontaneously and without their input. The overall attitude is laissez-faire, and the counselors prefer it that way.
“We’re here to facilitate; we’re not trying to lead,” Simoneau said. “We’re trying to provide a conducive atmosphere.
B&W photos by LISA LARK
TOP: Sara Nowlin, the conference keynote speaker, poses with Altitude co-chairs Cheryn Amo-Adjei, ’13, Caroline Couzens, ’13, and Nate Dumm, ’13 (from left to right). BOTTOM: Altitude organizer Karina Medina, ’13, speaks with presenter Ed Ryan.
By CRISTIANO LIMA
The fourth annual student-run Altitude Leadership Conference, aimed at helping students identify and develop their leader­ship skills through a series of educational activities, was held Saturday in the Univer­sity Center.
The event was headlined by keynote speaker and Lehigh alumna Sara Nowlin, ‘99, who discussed the need to acknowledge and harness one’s individual leadership qualities. Her speech, entitled “Unleash Your Leader,” asserted that we are all born leaders, but must learn to channel this qual­ity daily in positive ways.
“Are you willing to unleash the leader within?” Nowlin asked of the crowd of students and professionals in attendance. Although primarily composed of Lehigh stu­dents, the group also consisted of members hailing from various other schools in Eastern Pennsylvania.
In her keynote speech she outlined her three keys to effective leadership: “Own Your Greatness,” “Own Your Humanity” and “Create Community.” She challenged attendees to share their strengths and weak­nesses with complete strangers in an attempt to gain acceptance of their leader within.
“The biggest thing that keeps us from stepping out of our comfort zone is fear,” Nowlin said. “The challenge today is to lean into discomfort and stretch outside your comfort zone.”
The theme for this year’s conference was “Innovative Leadership: Connecting Creativity and Imagination to Leadership Potential.” By having a different theme every year, the event organizers ensure an individualized learning experience for any students who have come before.
During the conference, students partici­pated in 19 different workshops, a diverse array of activities intended to engage them
See ALTITUDE Page 4
See BLACK KIRBY Page 2
See THATcamp Page 6