Professor Lori Pollock introduces guest speaker, Sue Lister
Sue was obviously very passionate about the topic.
We hope these interested audience members tell others about what they learned.
We had an impressive turnout!

Senior computer science and psychology major Sue Lister spent January in Nairobi, Kenya, learning about the digital divide and the social impacts of computer technology in Africa. In this talk, Sue described her experience and explained how to attain funding to go on your own socially aware adventure.

Presentation slides (PPT, 38MB; PDF, 14MB) | More information about Sue's trip

Some Highlights

• Sue described what it was like to help an African girl with the mouse: she placed the girl's hand on the mouse, and it was obvious how uncomfortable it felt to her.
• 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai spoke at the World Social Forum about giving people mosquito netting to prevent the spread of malari, but Maathai asked what people would hang the netting on. Sue equated this to improving people's technical skills: while governments and agencies may provide computers, they aren't providing the resources to teach people how to use the computers.
• While computers and internet access aren't as prevalent, cell phones are becoming ubiquitous: this may be the next step in closing the digital divide.
• Only about 3% of Africans have internet access.