UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three Penn State deans are co-hosting an event focusing on role of the University as Pennsylvania’s land-grant institution, the similar role of U.S. land-grant universities and the impacts of scholarly research they produce.
“Research Scholarship and the Land Grant Mission: Why It Matters in Turbulent Times” is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 24, in Foster Auditorium, Paterno Library, at Penn State University Park. The event is in-person, free and open to the public. Participants can also attend remotely, via a Zoom webinar.
The event is co-sponsored by Faye A. Chadwell, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications; Lee Kump, John Leone Dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts; and their respective University colleges and units.
“The goal of this session is to spotlight relevant, cutting-edge areas of research that speak to the pertinent issues of the day — and in doing so, highlight the importance of the land-grant university in advancing new discoveries that address our contemporary challenges as a society,” Lang said.
Featured presenters include:
- Ray Block Jr., Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor in the McCourtney Institute and associate professor of political science and of African American studies, will present "When False and Misleading Information Becomes Infrastructure: Restoring Trust in an Out-of-Balance Information Ecosystem." By reframing the challenges of misinformation, disinformation and other false or misleading narratives as a systemic infrastructure problem, this presentation moves beyond individual responsibility or government regulation and focuses on practical, multi-level solutions to rebalance our information ecosystem and rebuilding the foundations of truth itself.
- Jennie Knies, University Libraries associate dean for Commonwealth Campus libraries, and Rebecca Waltz, University Libraries associate dean for learning and engagement, will co-present “Research is a Conversation: Libraries, Information Literacy and Constructive Dialogue." This presentation explores the dynamic nature of information literacy, emphasizing its importance in the context of media literacy, artificial intelligence and technology, and will provide insights into the evolving roles of libraries and educators in promoting a nuanced understanding of information literacy, preparing students to be informed and responsible citizens.
- Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography, director of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and associate director of the Institute of the Energy and the Environment, who will present “Reimagining the Land Grant mission to meet our climate moment.” Land-grant institutions have a unique and pivotal role to play in stewarding the trust of the communities we serve and accelerating climate solutions, and using examples from the Penn State Climate Consortium, media campaigns (e.g. ScienceMoms) and examples of ongoing climate work from across the University, this session will invite conversation about how to more meaningfully advance climate solutions in the commonwealth.