The African influence on science will be the topic of two lectures on campus today.

Ivan Van Sertima, a linguist, anthropologist and literary critic, will lecture at NIU today. The event, sponsored by the Center for Black Studies, BROTHERS and the Student Association, will focus on two topics.

Van Sertima will conduct a seminar called “Blacks in Science: African Contributions to World Science” at 3 p.m. in the Center for Black Studies.

At this lecture, Van Sertima will discuss the scientific contributions made by blacks from antiquity to modern day—including Emhoptep, the “father of medicine,” said Van Amos, program coordinator of the Center for Black Studies.

The topic of Van Sertima’s second lecture is “Egypt Revisited: Civilization in Progress” at 8:40 p.m. in the Visual Arts Building, Room 100.

Van Sertima is a noted cultural anthropology professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the editor of a journal on African studies, Amos said.

“(Van) Sertima is the most important black cultural thinker in the United States,” Amos said.

Van Sertima has written several literary reviews, nominated candidates for the Noble Prize in literature and edited several books.

Amos said Van Sertima’s 1977 book, “They Came Before Columbus,” is about the African presence in America before the arrival of Columbus. In 1987, Van Sertima appeared before Congress to challenge the Columbus Myth.

“I encourage everybody to come out and see this great man,” Amos said. “He tells the truth about man and his beginnings. He speaks in a language that everybody understands.”