Senior Research Scientist Martin Wolske will be trekking the globe this month, giving presentations and keynote addresses in Canada, Italy, and Illinois. His presentations will share a focus on scholarship related to engagement and social change and draw on his work in community informatics. Wolske will be joined by recent graduate Colin Rhinesmith (PhD ’14) in making presentations at one of the events.
At his first stop in Alberta, Canada, Wolske will serve as a coleader of the workshop, “Information and Marginality: Ethical Issues,” at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Annual Conference on October 5-8. This workshop will explore the ethical dimensions of engaged scholarship across difference: in relation to self, in relation with others, and in relation to the system. Wolske will also present a poster titled, “Mentoring Future Engagement Leaders: The Community Informatics Studio,” which will offer practical ideas of how studio-based learning and community inquiry can be combined to construct a capstone experience for future engagement leaders.
Traveling next to Prato, Italy, Wolske will deliver the keynote address, "Demystifying Technology: Community Inquiry for Social Change and Transformative Action,” at the Prato Community Informatics Research Network Conference on October 13-15. His talk will explore through theory and praxis how popular education and inquiry-based learning can demystify technology and advance a critical approach to sociotechnical systems. Wolske will cofacilitate the workshop, "Framework for a Working Group to Advance a Community Informatics Publication on Ethics, Diversity, and Inclusion,” with Rhinesmith and two others. Wolske and Rhinesmith will also present their paper, "Community Informatics Studio: A Conceptual Framework,” which introduces the Community Informatics Studio as understood for advancing community-defined development goals through participatory design techniques.
Back in Illinois, Wolske will again deliver the keynote, "Demystifying Technology: Community Inquiry for Social Change and Transformative Action,” at the Emerging Scholars Conference in Chicago on October 25-28. His talk will pursue a deeper understanding of digital technologies as sociotechnical systems and how such systems challenge or reinforce systemic injustice within society.
Wolske is a senior research scientist at the Center for Digital Inclusion and lecturer at GSLIS, where he teaches Community Informatics Studio, Introduction to Networked Systems, and Introduction to Technology. He has been actively involved in multiple grant-funded projects in the realms of community informatics and digital inclusion, including Sowing Seeds, Mix IT Up! Youth Advocacy Librarianship, and, most recently, Digital Literacy for ALL Learners. He is a recipient of the Campus Award for Excellence in Public Engagement and the Library Journal Teacher of the Year Award.