The iSchool is expanding rapidly, adding programs, faculty, and students. In the past four years, student enrollment and the number of faculty have nearly doubled. A new partnership created by Dean Eunice E. Santos, the iSchool Dean's Innovation Council (iDIC), provides an opportunity for leaders to engage with and benefit the School as it continues to grow.
Two students who were enrolled in the Government Information (IS 594) course this past spring are now published authors. Their papers began as their final project for the course, which acquaints students with government publications. With the students' permission, course instructor and Adjunct Lecturer Dominique Hallett submitted the papers to DttP: Documents to the People, and they were published in the journal's most recent edition (Vol. 51, No. 3).
Suzan Alteri joined the iSchool this month as assistant director of the Center for Children's Books (CCB). In her new position, she will foster cross-campus and community collaborations around youth media and literature, teach courses on children's literature, and manage the day-to-day operations of the CCB.
According to Daniel Kraus (MSLIS '05), the most beneficial course he took at the University of Illinois was Adult Popular Literature (LIS 590), in which students read a book from every popular genre—romance, western, sci-fi, fantasy, and more.
BSIS student Miranda Ma discusses her internship at the AbbVie Innovation Center. Ma advises job seekers to keep an open mind and not limit their job search to a specific industry, especially for a field like user experience.
Associate Professor Carol Tilley shared her expertise in comics research at several invited talks in Europe this month. Tilley served as the keynote speaker for the international conference, “Comics, the Children and Childishness,” at Ghent University in Belgium. In her keynote, “Re-Centering Children in Comics,” she encouraged researchers studying comics and children to give more focus to the lived experiences of young people, moving away from an over-reliance on studying specific texts or their uses.
Associate Professor Emily Knox testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary on September 12. She was one of five witnesses offering testimony for the hearing "Book Bans: Examining How Censorship Limits Liberty and Literature."
Patrick Martinez joined the iSchool this month as an endpoint services specialist. In his new position, he will work closely with faculty and staff to assist with their IT issues, needs, and concerns.
The effective use of data storytelling could positively impact public library managers' approaches to data collection and their advocacy for libraries, according to Associate Professor Kate McDowell. However, cultural roadblocks to data storytelling must be addressed for the process to be successful, McDowell discovered in a recently completed study.
The PhD degree program at the iSchool celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023. This profile is part of a special series featuring PhD alumni. Peter Organisciak (PhD '15) is an associate professor at the University of Denver.
