WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Two Purdue University graduate students studying communication will work in the media offices at both national political conventions this summer.

Kinnari Sejpal and Nandita Shetty, both master’s students from Bombay, are two of 35 university students selected to participate in the Aug. 15 to Sept. 5 Leadership in Communication Program at the National Political Conventions. The Purdue students’ participation in the program is funded by a $5,500 scholarship in honor of communication alumnus and C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, as well as a stipend from the Washington Center. The center sponsors the program.

Sejpal and Shetty will assist media professionals working at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver, and the Republican convention is Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul, Minn.

“These students are not only gaining valuable experience in the field of communication and media relations, but they also will be part of history in the making at both conventions,” said Howard Sypher, professor and head of the Department of Communication. “They will receive course credit for their participation, and they also will share what they learn with other students in the department.”

Sejpal and Shetty will arrive in Denver more than a week before the convention begins for orientation and training. They also will attend lectures and participate in small group activities.

The Department of Communication is housed in the College of Liberal Arts.

Lamb, who earned his bachelor’s degree in communication in 1963, also received an honorary doctorate from Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts in 1986. Lamb is a Lafayette native, and, in 2007, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, that nation’s highest civilian award. In 2003 Lamb was honored with the National Humanities Medal, and, in 2005, he was inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame and named one of the country’s best 25 leaders by U.S.News and World Report. Lamb also is a 1987 recipient of the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Alumni Award.

The Washington Center is an educational nonprofit organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States and other countries by providing select students opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts will begin offering a new program and an undergraduate minor in Latin American and Latino studies.

“Globalization and changing demographics have motivated faculty, students and the public in general to learn about the Latino communities in the United States, as well as the region of the world from which they come,” says Adriela Fernandez, the associate dean for academic programs who coordinated the program’s proposal in conjunction with the faculty participating in the Purdue Council on Latin American and Latino Studies.

“Purdue’s program will be housed in liberal arts, but it will serve the entire university and community. The program is interdisciplinary and it will draw on the expertise of Purdue’s diverse faculty. In addition to courses, the program will offer Purdue students opportunities for study abroad, community service and outreach, as well as collaborative activities with Ivy Tech, other colleges and universities, public schools, and community and state organizations.”

The 15-credit hour minor will require the “Introduction to Latin American and Latino Studies” course. Then students can select other courses that include “Spanish and Latin American Cinema,” “Hispanic Women Writers,” “The Archaeology of the Ancient Andes” and “History of Mexico.” Students also are required to demonstrate advanced oral and written proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese through testing or courses in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Undergraduates interested in enrolling in these classes during the 2008-09 academic year should contact their academic advisers. New study abroad and scholarly exchange opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean will be offered through the program.

In 2007-08, Purdue’s Council on Latin American and Latino Studies, which is composed of faculty from across the university, and the College of Liberal Arts organized a series of public events on topics such as immigration, education trends and Latino life in Indiana.

The new program and undergraduate minor in Latin American and Latino studies, which was approved by the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Senate in April, will be housed in the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies. The other interdisciplinary programs in the College of Liberal Arts are African American studies, American studies, Asian studies, Asian American studies, classical studies, comparative literature, film/video studies, Italian studies, Jewish studies, linguistics, medieval and renaissance studies, peace studies, philosophy and literature, religious studies, and women’s studies.

The College of Liberal Arts is home to the departments of communication, English, foreign languages and literatures, health and kinesiology, history, philosophy, psychological sciences, sociology and anthropology, speech, language and hearing sciences, and visual and performing arts. On Aug. 1, sociology and anthropology will become two departments.