Top scholars on Afghanistan and Iraq will meet on the Indiana University Bloomington campus Friday and Saturday (Nov. 13-14) for one of the first collaborative conferences on state-building in both nations. "State-Building in the Contemporary Islamic World: U.S. Intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan" is being presented by the Indiana Democracy Consortium. The two-day event is being held in the Indiana Memorial Union's State Room East and is open to both the public and the media.

A professor and an alumnus of Indiana University's Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology have been selected to share one of the most venerated awards in their field, the Chicago Folklore Prize.

After years of pouring their efforts into three separate, sometimes-competing events, three of Bloomington's cultural organizations have joined forces to present "2009 Bloomington Multicultural Expo," featuring the Soul Food Festival, Festival Latino and the Moon Festival. This effort evolved into the creation of "festival villages" with a fourth village added to focus on the celebration of cultures around the world. The Soul Food Festival is hosted by the Bloomington Black Business and Professional Association. Festival Latino is organized by La Casa, the Latino Cultural Center at Indiana University, while the Moon Festival is overseen by IU's Asian Culture Center.

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today (Sept. 4) joined with the chief executive of the Australian National University -- that nation's top-ranked institution of higher education -- in signing a partnership agreement for the creation of a jointly operated Pan-Asian Institute. The new institute will combine the complementary academic strengths of the two universities into a single research and teaching enterprise with expertise that encompasses a broad range of Asian countries.

News organizations are reporting that about 35 government and commercial Web sites in South Korea and the United States have came under major attack in recent days. Suspected in the coordinated cyber attack is North Korea or its sympathizers. Heon Joo Jung, an Indiana University expert on Korean politics, is available to speak with the news media.

The third annual Chinese Pedagogy Institute concludes this week on the Indiana University campus after two and a half weeks of intensive work to prepare more teachers of the Chinese language. The institute is a project of the Center for Chinese Language Pedagogy (CCLP) within the College of Arts and Sciences.

An Indiana University faculty expert is available to comment on issues related to recent news that North Korea conducted its second nuclear bomb test, that it plans to test a long-range missile and that a successor to leader Kim Jong-il has been selected, as well as other developments on the Korean peninsula. Michael Robinson is incoming chair of IU Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and is a professor in the department.

Two centers in Indiana University's College of Arts and Sciences have received nearly $290,000 in additional federal funding to educate middle- and high school teachers and students in three strategic languages spoken in some of the most populated countries -- Chinese, Hindi and Urdu.

Indiana University announced that Huang Ping, consul general for the People's Republic of China in Chicago, will visit Indianapolis to participate in an IU-organized conference on U.S.-China business cooperation.

A lecture by Jenny 8. Lee, a reporter for the New York Times and author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, and the annual Taste of Asia and AsianFest events will highlight IU's early observance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which honors the rich history and presence of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Indiana University and several of its research centers and schools in business, law and international studies are coming together to host an ambitious conference on U.S.-China business cooperation that is designed to assist entrepreneurs and promote the prosperity of both countries.

South Korea's former minister of unification Chung Dong-Young will deliver a presentation, "Korean Reunification and South Korea's Policy toward North Korea," as part of the Indiana University East Asian Studies Center's Colloquium Series.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's failing health could present an even greater challenge to the next president than his diplomatic exploitation of his country's nuclear weapon's program, according to an Indiana University historian who has written extensively on the Asian nation.

The Indiana University Center for Chinese Language Pedagogy (CCLP) has received a $1 million grant over three years from The Language Flagship, an initiative of the National Security Education Program (NSEP) within the U.S. Department of Defense.

Robert Compton, executive producer of "Two Million Minutes," a provocative documentary about global education, will show the film and participate in a discussion at Indiana University Bloomington's Willkie Auditorium on Monday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. Compton will discuss the film with Yong Zhao, Michigan State University Distinguished Professor and director of the U.S.-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence.

A new project at Indiana University, funded with a $96,600 grant from the Social Science Research Council, hopes to break down some of the misconceptions about Islam and increase intercultural dialogue and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Indiana University's Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR) has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to provide language and culture training to 70 senior U.S. military and State Department officials who will command and participate in 12 U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan.

Indiana University professors Phil Henson, Phil Stevens and Scott Kennedy discuss the political and environmental climate surrounding the Olympic Games.

Recipients of the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award at Indiana University Bloomington this year are Candy Gunther Brown in the Department of Religious Studies, Tony H. Grubesic in Department of Geography, Scott Michaels in the Department of Biology, Ethan Michelson in the Departments of Sociology and East Asian Languages and Cultures, Sima Setayeshgar in the Department of Physics, and Chen Yu in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Four Indiana University scholars will participate Saturday in a roundtable discussion, "The Crisis in Tibet." The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. in room 003 of Ballantine Hall on the IU Bloomington campus. The public is invited. The IU experts will lead a wide-ranging discussion of the events, their causes and their implications for China, Tibet and the international community.

An "American Idol" semi-finalist and the author of The Chopsticks-Fork Principle, A Memoir and Manual will highlight Indiana University's annual early observance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, which honors the rich history and presence of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

In this edition of Lecture Notes, March 17-30, meet New York Time's political columnist William Safire and enjoy some quality time in the garden with the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.

Celebrate Black History Month, explore the Supreme Court in two Patten Lectures by Martha Nussbaum and meet the daughter of ABC anchor Ted Koppel in this edition of Lecture Notes.

Visit the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center for the opening of "Bridgwaters Family Photographs" and celebrate the beginning of Black History Month in this edition of Lecture Notes.