"Above and Beyond" is the theme for the 16th annual A Potpourri of the Arts in the African American Tradition, presented by IU's African American Arts Institute.

The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will mark 40 years of providing support and educational programming to the African American community and others at Indiana University Bloomington, with events next Thursday (Nov. 19).

The Atkins Living Learning Center Memorial Weekend will take place at IU Bloomington this Friday through Sunday (Nov. 6-8). As part of the weekend, 37 elementary school students from the Bloomingdale School, a public school in Manhattan, will visit IU.

As part of an Indiana University conference on black experiences in rock music, the producer of the Tony Award-winning musical Passing Strange will speak after a screening of a filmed version of the production.

The 2009 Men of Color Leadership Conference at Indiana University Bloomington will have a different look and feel to it this year. In honor of our nation's first African-American president, the committees for IU's leadership conferences for men and women of color decided to combine forces to hold a combined event.

Nearly 30 years after its founding, an alumni organization that helps to steward Indiana University's African American legacy has planned a major celebration and reunion Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Indianapolis.

The exhibit "In the Shadow of Cortés: From Veracruz to Mexico City" will open at 5 p.m. Friday (Oct. 2) at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, 416 N. Indiana Ave. at Indiana University Bloomington.

Cultural centers at Indiana University have joined efforts to create a brown bag discussion series this fall, "Choice of Colors," which will address issues of diversity, identity and cultural awareness. The first event takes place Thursday (Sept. 24).

The Indiana University Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs will again host its "Science Saturday at Classic IU" outreach program during the Circle City Classic celebrations.

Entrepreneur Anurag Mendhekar of Los Altos, Calif., founder of Blue Vector Systems and twice an alumnus of Indiana University, will be the 2009 recipient of the IU Asian Alumni Association's Distinguished Asian Pacific American Alumni Award.

The third annual Black Student Orientation at Indiana University Bloomington will take place on Sept. 18, with a focus on academic excellence and service to the community. The event will include representatives from more than 30 campus and community organizations and businesses.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has named Gerald Campano, associate professor in the Department of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education of the Indiana University School of Education, as the 2009 recipient of the David H Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English, one of the most distinguished awards in English language education. The organization selected Campano for his 2007 book Immigrant Students and Literacy: Reading, Writing, and Remembering (Teachers College Press).

As South Africa continues to move away from its apartheid past, its film culture has taken a similar path of reflection on the past during the country's first decade as a democracy. Audrey Thomas McCluskey, an Indiana University professor, writes about the changes in a new book featuring interviews with 25 South African filmmakers.

Tributes continue to celebrate the life of pop star and musical icon Michael Jackson, who died last week (June 25) at the age of 50. Three Indiana University experts on popular music are available to discuss the Indiana native's life and musical legacy. Glenn Gass is a professor at IU's Jacobs School of Music and author of the first for-credit course at any music school or conservatory on the history of rock 'n' roll. Portia Maultsby is a professor in IU's Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology and director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture. Charles Sykes, director of IU's African American Arts Institute and an adjunct professor of folklore and ethnomusicology, developed the first for-credit college course on the Motown Record Corp.

Millions of people worldwide are mourning Thursday's (June 25) death of pop star and musical icon Michael Jackson at the age of 50. An IU expert on popular music is available to discuss the Indiana native's life and musical legacy.

Indiana University will honor the 11th annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, sponsored by IU's Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, with a one-evening gala Friday, June 26, at 5 p.m. Juneteenth recalls June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom.

The 11th annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration sponsored by Indiana University's Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center and previously scheduled as two-day event has been consolidated into a one-evening gala on June 26.

This is the first year for Camp S.O.U.L. (Students Obtaining Unique musical Levels) at Indiana University under the leadership of Professor Nathanael Fareed Mahluli, director of the IU Soul Revue. Underrepresented high school students from the state of Indiana will participate in a week-long camp. The culminating event will be a free concert at 11 a.m. Friday (June 19).

The Asian Culture Center (ACC) at IU Bloomington will hold its 10th annual Culture Camp for Children. The center is offering free workshops July 13-24 to groups of children between 6 and 12 years of age.

Members of the Saudi Student Club at IU have extended an invitation to people living in their adopted home of Bloomington. They hope their open house this Thursday (April 23) will foster better understanding of their first home, Saudi Arabia.

Indiana University's African American Arts Institute is presenting the annual spring concert by its IU Soul Revue on Saturday, May 2, at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Indiana University will host a free two-week ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp for underrepresented middle school students to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Indiana University's First Nations Educational and Cultural Center will mark its move to a larger and more accessible location with an open house Tuesday (April 14).

Filmmaker Aishah Shahidah Simmons will be the next speaker at Indiana University's Critical Issues Lecture Series, a collaboration between IU's Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

Indiana University Diversity Committees are scheduled to meet on five IU campuses in April.