PhD student Courtney Richardson has been selected as a Publicly Active Graduate Education (PAGE) fellow by Imagining America (IA), a consortium that "brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory 'America' and world." Fellows are selected for their creative and intentional commitment to public engagement and unique approach to engaged scholarship.

Leep student Tobias Paul is the recipient of the Sarah Rebecca Reed Scholarship from Beta Phi Mu, the international honor society for library and information studies. The scholarship provides financial support for a beginning student at an LIS program accredited by the American Library Association. Paul earned their bachelor’s degrees in professional writing and political science from Miami University in May 2020. Paul's interest in librarianship dates back to high school, when they worked as a student page at their local library. 

PhD student Qiuyan Guo will present her research at the Flyover Comics Symposium, which will be held virtually on September 24-25. The symposium is organized by members of the comics studies communities at the University of Illinois, University of North Texas, and Michigan State University.

PhD student Jack Brighton shared his expertise in audiovisual archives at the 105th Annual Meeting and Conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) on September 3. The theme of this year's conference, which is being held as a series of online events/webinars every Thursday and Saturday in September, is "2020—African Americans and the Vote." 

Leep student Marian Ekweogwu is the recipient of the 2020-2021 Diversity Scholarship from Atla, a professional organization committed to advancing the study of religion and theology. The scholarship, worth $4,000, includes the option of a travel grant to attend and participate in the Atla annual conference.

MS/LIS student Jonathan Puckett has been selected as a recipient of the Sherrill Carlson Fellowship by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. The fellowship, worth $35,000, is one of two national awards given by the society to the top-ranked nominee in the humanities and the arts.

Since COVID-19 began its menacing march across Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and then across the world, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken a "whatever works" strategy to ensure its replication and spread. But in a new study undergoing peer review, University of Illinois researchers and students show the virus is honing the tactics that may make it more successful and more stable.

Members of Associate Professor Jingrui He's research group, the iSAIL Lab, will present their research at the 26th SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD2020), which will be held virtually August 22-27. The conference, hosted by the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (SIGKDD), is the premier international forum for data mining researchers and practitioners from academia, industry, and government to share ideas, research, and experiences.

A record fifteen iSchool master’s students were named 2020-2021 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. MS/LIS student Anthony Martínez holds a BS in business administration and marketing from Idaho State University.

Doctoral candidate Kirstin Phelps successfully defended her dissertation, "Collective Leadership for Community Action: A Case-Based Inquiry into Supporting Digital Literacy Initiatives," on August 14.

MSLIS student Nada Abdelrahim discusses her practicum experience at the Newberry Library.

Master's students Jerilyn Tinio and Hailey Vasquez have been selected to participate in the 2020-2022 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Diversity Scholars Program. With the goal of attracting MS/LIS students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to careers in research libraries and archives, the Kaleidoscope Program offers financial support to scholars as well as leadership development through the ARL Annual Leadership Symposium, a formal mentoring program, career placement assistance, and a site visit to an ARL member library.

iSchool faculty, staff, and students presented their research at the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL 2020), which was held virtually August 1-5. The event brought together international scholars focusing on digital libraries and associated technical, practical, organizational, and social issues. 

A record fifteen iSchool master's students were named 2020-2021 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. MS/LIS student Ashley Mitchell holds a BS in psychology from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Athena Tang, an incoming student in the BS in information sciences (BS/IS) program, was drawn to the iSchool because of her interest in human-computer interaction and user experience. A sophomore from Walnut, California, Tang is pursuing a dual degree in graphic design. In the spring semester, she took Social Aspects of Information Technology (IS 202) and Design of Usable Interfaces (IS 351), which gave her a better idea of what to expect as a student in the iSchool's new undergraduate program.

Members of Associate Professor and PhD Program Director Jana Diesner's Social Computing Lab will present a tutorial, paper, and posters at the 6th Annual International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2), which will be held virtually from July 17-20. The conference brings together academic researchers, industry experts, open data activists, and government agency workers to explore challenges, methods, and research questions in the field of computational social science.

MS/IM student Manshi Shah discusses her summer internship at Salesforce.

MS students Katherine Howell and Randi Proescholdt and recent graduate Patty Templeton (MS '20) are spending this summer as Library of Congress Junior Fellows. This competitive internship program, which is being held remotely for the first time, provides students with the opportunity to explore digital initiatives and increase access to the institution’s collections while working under the direction of library curators and specialists in various divisions.

MS student Madina Grace is the recipient of a Fritz Schwartz Education Scholarship from NASIG, an independent organization working to advance and transform the management of information resources. The award provides enhanced educational opportunities to an aspiring library student who has prior experience with managing information resources.

MS/IM student Adarsh Agarwal discusses his summer internship at Amazon.