Lawrence defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate E.E. Lawrence successfully defended their dissertation, "Reading for Democratic Citizenship: A New Model for Readers' Advisory," on March 28.

Their committee included Associate Professor Emily Knox (chair); Associate Professor Kate McDowell; Professor and Dean Allen Renear; and Jonathan Furner, professor and chair of the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

From the abstract: Readers' advisors are tasked with suggesting leisure reading materials to library patrons. The current discourse within the field has it that these advisors ought to adhere to (what I am calling) a pure preference satisfaction model wherein they aim to satisfy readers’ existing preferences without judging or altering them. While such an approach to Readers' Advisory (RA) is politically commendable in some respects, in this dissertation I interrogate the incompatibilities that have emerged between contemporary theory and practice as a result of librarians’ core commitments to social justice, diversity, and democracy. In so doing, I provide a critical inventory of the (in some cases intractable) tensions evident in RA service, going on to offer normative critiques of the dominant moral framework underpinning RA. In each case, I propose theoretical revisions that will help to alleviate harms associated with the problems identified. In light of the cumulative effects of these revisions, I propose an alternative aesthetic education model for RA. Drawing on insights from reader-response theory, I argue that leisure reading is valuable in part because it offers us opportunities to deliberate on our aesthetic experiences. Ultimately, I hold that RA-as-aesthetic-education functions as a dynamic forum for readers to practice democratic citizenship and thus develop its requisite character traits. The new model both furthers the overarching political aims of the public library and reestablishes continuity between theory and critical practice. 

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Kaushik defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Smirity Kaushik successfully defended her dissertation, "Digital Trust, Safety, and Privacy in the Age of Emerging Technologies," on June 16. 

Smirity Kaushik

New book explores how AI is reshaping cultural heritage

Glen Layne-Worthey, associate director for research support services for the HathiTrust Research Center (HTRC), and J. Stephen Downie, professor and HTRC co-director, have edited a new book, Navigating Artificial Intelligence for Cultural Heritage Organisations, which was recently released by UCL Press. 

Han defends dissertation

Doctoral candidate Yingying Han successfully defended her dissertation, "Community Archives as Agency: Documenting Chinese American Experiences in the U.S.,” on May 28.

Yingying Han

Student award recipients announced

The School of Information Sciences recognized student award recipients at the iSchool Convocation on May 18. Awards are based on academic achievements as well as attributes that contribute to professional success. For more information about each award, including past recipients, visit the Student Awards page. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

Award recipients Mahir Thakkar, Delia Kerr-Dennhardt, Katie Skoufes, Audrey Bentch, and Adam Beaty.