The Mary F. Shipper Library on the campus of West Virginia University (WVU) Potomac State College will host two guest speakers this spring. These events are free and the public is invited to attend.
Kofi Opoku will speak on Thursday, March 22 at 3 p.m. as he presents “Face of Homelessness” an extension of his master’s thesis, in which he created a website where he shares stories of veterans, former drug addicts, the terminally ill, and many others who live on the streets of Morgantown.
Opoku currently serves as an assistant professor in graphic design at WVU Morgantown. He earned his MFA from WVU, and his BFA from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. He views design as a way of inspiring behavior change, which has led him to explore ways in which human-computer interaction can aid in the understanding of social issues and other complex subjects.
Steven Kinsey, Ph.D. will speak on Monday, April 9 at 5 p.m. as he presents “Cannabis: Ancient healing medicine or addictive drug?” Having received postdoctoral training in cannabinoid pharmacology, Dr. Kinsey’s presentation will provide an overview of cannabis, its historic uses, challenges in cannabis research, and its interaction with brain chemistry.
Dr. Kinsey currently serves as an associate professor and area coordinator in the Department of Psychology’s Behavioral Neuroscience program at WVU. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University, and also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University.
For more information, contact Nicholas Gardner at 304-788-6901, or at ngardner@mail.wvu.edu.
Information about additional speakers coming to Potomac State College this spring will be announced at a later date.