By Ezra Engels and Gillian Dunn
Eric Meyer | September 8, 2023 RKCSI Speaker Series Blockchain as a Computerization Movement and Blockchain Technologies as Socio-Technical Networks
Dr. Eric Meyer, Dean of and Professor at the University of Texas at Austin as well a graduate of the ILS program, joined the ILS Department as part of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics (RKCSI) Speaker Series. Dr. Meyer explored the possibilities of blockchain technology within the macro-level computerization movement and the micro-level socio-technical interaction network. Also covered were issues around how digital replacements for analogue information systems evolve in use. He discussed this concept in the context of his own team’s project, a tool called Medilinker, which is built on blockchain.
Richard Marciano | September 22, 2023 ILS Colloquium Education & Practice Through Computational Archival Sciences (CAS)
Dr. Richard Marciano is a professor at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies contributing to the merging field of Computational Archival Science (CAS). Dr. Marciano discussed CAS, a field concerned with applying computational methods to archives and records processing. Dr. Marciano is the founding director of the Advanced Information Collaboratory (AIC), which focuses on the study of disruptive technologies in archives and records management.
Jeremy Birnholtz | November 3, 2023 RKCSI Speaker Series Self-Presentation in Socio-Technical Life: How We Present Ourselves to Each Other in a World of Digital Platforms
Dr. Jeremy Birnholtz of Northwestern University joined the ILS department as part of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics (RKCSI) Speaker Series. His talk explored how public identities are formed via digital social platforms, and how these technological developments have affected identity formation in unprecedented ways. He has collaborated with Dr. Michael Ann DeVito of Northeastern University to begin a book manuscript to address this research gap. The future publication focuses on LGBTQ+ populations and builds on both author’s lifelong human-computer interaction (HCI) research.
Jeffery Hart | November 10, 2023 RKCSI Speaker Series The Internet: Past, Present, and Future
Dr. Jeffery Hart is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Hart’s talk, given as part of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics (RKCSI) Speaker Series, summarized the main findings of a book-length study of the history and politics of the Internet. After reviewing the history of its creation and maturation, Dr. Hart addressed the key problems for the future: namely, bridging the digital divide, reforming antitrust, enhancing privacy and security, reducing cybercrime, curating content on social media, and reforming intellectual property laws.
Allan Martell | January 12, 2024 ILS Colloquium Towards an Information Science Approach to the Study of Social Memories of Violence
Dr. Allan Martell is an Assistant Professor of Information and Library Science here in the Department. Dr. Martell kicked off his spring semester by giving a talk as part of the ILS Colloquium series. Martell talked about the importance of information objects when it comes to understanding how one’s past can inform our individual and collective behaviors towards the future. Dr. Martell supported his argument with two case studies and concluded the talk by stressing the importance of the use of the information field for cultural heritage professionals.
Susan Herring | March 22, 2024 RKCSI Speaker Series Digital Face Manipulation: Toward Post-Authenticity
Dr. Susan Herring is a Professor of Information Science and Linguistics, as well as Director of the Center for Computer-Mediated Communication at Indiana University. Dr. Herring explored the uses and implications of digital face manipulation (DFM) while also introducing the concept of “self-DFM”, using DFM technologies to modify one’s appearance without inherently malicious intent. Dr. Herring used a recent survey experiment as well as interviews to support her argument and begin the discussion on how ordinary internet users will use DFM in the future. Finally, Dr. Herring discussed the relationship between DFM and authenticity in online interactions.
Javed Mostafa | April 12, 2024
ILS Colloquium + RKCSI Speaker Series
Enriching Digital Humanities and Social Science Engagements through Advanced Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Dr. Javed Mostafa, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, gave a talk as part of a co-sponsored ILS Colloquium and RKCSI Speaker Series on Friday, April 12.
Rongqian Ma | April 26, 2024 ILS Colloquium Intertextuality of Information: Two Empirical Case Studies from Digital Humanities
Dr. Rongqian Ma is an Assistant Professor of Information and Library Science here in the Department. In this talk, she discussed two experimental case studies which explored the roles of intertextuality of information in communication, one focused on visual inscriptions in digital humanities scholarly communication, and the other one examining the functions of embedded poems in Chinese pre-modern fictions.
