On Wednesday, September 25, GSLIS will participate in Inclusive Illinois Day, a campus-wide day of activities celebrating diversity and inclusion on our campus. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is committed to the idea of "one campus, many voices" and to cultivating a campus community where differences are embraced, and everyone is welcomed, celebrated, and respected. GSLIS shares this commitment, as expressed by Interim Dean Allen Renear:
Inclusion is at the very heart of our mission at GSLIS. We are preparing our students to be leaders in the design and management of the information services and institutions that are central to every aspect of our lives—social, scientific, commercial, and cultural. Our goal is to broadly advance the public good and meet the varied needs of all members of society. This goal cannot be met unless we can empower diverse communities and groups to achieve full and equitable participation in all aspects of our information institutions. This is not only about equal benefits, but about equal participation in the design, shaping, and operation of these institutions—only institutions that are themselves diverse and inclusive can provide the insight, innovation, and capability needed to respond to the challenges facing society today. Success in understanding how to realize this participation is in turn only possible with a community of faculty, students, and staff that is as diverse as the challenges. We are proud of our accomplishments in building that diverse community here at GSLIS. Particularly noteworthy is ongoing development of a new GSLIS center, the Center for Digital Inclusion, which has this mission: "to foster inclusive and sustainable societies through research, teaching, and public engagement about information and communication technologies and their impacts on communities, organizations, and governments."
Please join GSLIS in celebrating Inclusive Illinois Day at these events:
Ongoing: Use #InclusiveIllinois on Twitter throughout the day to participate in campus-wide conversation
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.: "Lightning Talk" session by GSLIS master's (LEEP & on campus) and doctoral students in LIS 126 and virtual. Presenters are as follows:
- Tad Andracki: "Queer Settler Colonialism in Books for Young People"
- Raquel Flores Clemons: "As They Reminisce Over You: HipHop Archive Disruptor of Norm Revisited"
- Jeff Ginger: "The Urbana Free Library Media-Maker Space: Cultivating Diversity Through Creativity and Inclusion"
- William Langston: "Libraries as Community Educators"
- Noah Lenstra: "Digital Hometown Heritage in a Mostly Rural Midwestern Region"
- Kate Rojas: "Information, Cognition, and Video Games"
- Lily Sacharow: "Community Ties: The Library's Responsibility for Academic Acessibility"
- Katrina Spencer: "Translating Children's Literature: Roald Dahl's Matilda"
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.: Lunch in GSLIS East Foyer
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Conversation table in LIS 109 and virtual
4:00 p.m.: Chancellor's Lecture Speaker, a campus-wide event, "Race is a Myth: Racism is Real," presented by Dr. Alan Goodman (Alice Campbell Alumni Center)
6:30 p.m.: Board Game Night with Research Associate Professor Dave Dubin in LIS 340