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News Briefs (10/12/10)

Staff

‘Niihka' to replace Blackboard system

The name Niihka (pronounced ‘neeka') has been chosen as the name for the Collaboration and Learning Environment, which will replace Blackboard in fall 2011.

Niihka, which means "friend" in the Myaamia language, won the naming contest by a large margin, beating the three other finalists. Votes were cast by 1,134 people from the Miami  University community.

The winner of the contest, Kathleen Pickens-French, is a public services librarian at Rentschler Library at Miami's Hamilton campus.

Pickens-French said "It's easy to say, catchy and is fantastic use of our Miami cultural heritage."

Pickens-French will receive a $200 Miami University Bookstore gift card in addition to the distinction of naming the new service.

Forums will be held for faculty, students and staff to learn about the Sakai implementation project and to ask questions and view demos of potential system functionality.

More information about the Sakai project can be found at www.muohio.edu/sip.

Art museum holds historical presentation

The Miami University Art Museum will be holding a talk free and open to the public.

The talk will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13 at the Art Museum. The talk is entitled Telling Tales: Understanding the Historical Framework of Uncle Remus.

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It will be led by Nishani Frazier, assistant professor in the department of history, and Cheryl L. Johnson, associate professor in the department of English and women's studies.

Both professors will present an explanation on the Uncle Remus stories that were published in the late 1800s. The presentation will also focus on plantation literature and early black culture literature.