Cooke, GSLIS welcome Spectrum Doctoral Fellows to campus

Kate Williams
Kate Williams, Associate Professor Emerita

The American Library Association hosted a spring retreat for the Spectrum Doctoral Fellows on April 5-7 at the iHotel and Conference Center on the Illinois campus. Assistant Professor Nicole Cooke co-planned the event, which was sponsored by the American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship Program seeks to reinforce and expand efforts to recruit racially and ethnically diverse individuals to the LIS professorate. 

“I was a 2008 Spectrum Doctoral Fellow at Rutgers University and without this program I would not have earned my PhD,” said Cooke. “Spectrum is a gift to the library profession and has done unparalleled work in terms of diversifying the field of librarianship. It is an honor and a pleasure to be able to continue working with and giving back to the program as the new cohort of Fellows begins their doctoral journey.”

During the retreat, the Fellows enjoyed conversations with a number of GSLIS faculty and staff, including Assistant Professors Emily Knox and Kate Williams as well as doctoral student Karla Lucht.

GSLIS doctoral student and Fellow RaShauna Brannon attended this year’s retreat. Brannon’s research interests include digital literacy, digital inclusions, and diversity issues in libraries. Before pursuing her doctorate, she worked in a number of library and educational settings including school, public, and academic libraries serving diverse communities.

“The Spectrum PhD retreat was an affirming time,” Brannon said. “We had valuable discussions with GSLIS faculty about managing transitions from being practitioners to researchers and beyond, and the presentation on frameworks of marginalization was enriching.”

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Guadalupe Castillo

Twelve iSchool master's students were named 2024–2025 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. MSLIS student Guadalupe Castillo earned her BA in international studies and Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of California, San Diego.

Guadalupe Castillo

Grissom joins admissions and records team

Charlei Grissom joined the iSchool on April 14 as an office support specialist. In her new role, she will provide administrative support to the admissions and records team.

Charlei Grissom

iSchool researchers to present at CHI 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025), which will be held from April 26 to May 1 in Yokohama, Japan. 

Kemboi receives the Research and Advocacy Social Justice Award

PhD student Gladys Kemboi has received the 2025 Research and Advocacy Social Justice Award from the Office of Diversity & Social Justice Education in the Office of Student Affairs. She was presented with the award at the Social Justice Awards Ceremony, which was held on April 8 in the Illini Union. The annual event honors and celebrates the work and dedication of University of Illinois community members seeking to create a more inclusive and equitable campus.

Gladys Kemboi

Undergraduate Research Symposium features iSchool students and mentors

Several iSchool undergraduate students will participate in the 18th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. During the event, visitors will learn about undergraduate research projects through oral and poster presentations, creative performances, and art exhibits. All are welcome to attend the symposium, which will be held on April 24 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. in the Illini Rooms and South Lounge of the Illini Union. Oral presentations will be held on the second floor of the Illini Union.