iSchool guest speaker to discuss African American blogging, ethnic identity

Lynette Kvasny will speak at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at noon in the Katzer Room, Room 347 in Hinds Hall. Her lecture, “An African American Weblog Community’s Reading of AIDS in Black America,” is part of the iSchool’s ongoing Brown Bag Presentation Series.

Kvasny is an associate professor in the College of Information Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on how and why historically underserved groups use information and communication technologies (ICT). She is currently studying the influence of racial, class and gender identities on information-seeking behavior and content creation in the online health arena.

Kvasny’s guest lecture at the iSchool will focus on her research into how ethnic identity is represented in an African American community blog. In particular, she will talk about African Americans’ online discussion in response to a 2006 ABC News special report, “AIDS in Black America.” Her study found that blogs help African Americans assert their self worth and confront the damaging accusations of society. Her lecture will also discuss how blogs add to the vibrancy of social life by providing ethnic public spheres where people can discuss topics of interest from a black perspective.

Kvasny earned a Ph.D. in computer information systems at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. She has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation to support community informatics research and education projects in Harrisburg, Pa., and Philadelphia.

At Penn State, Kvasny teaches courses in human information behavior, the social impacts of technology, technology and popular culture, and the philosophy of science and technology. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, Kvasny developed network engineering and call center software at AT&T and Lucent Technologies.