One Book One School Community-Wide Reading Program

(Project completed 2021) Reading in community broadens our understanding of how we belong and how we connect to one another. I propose to develop and execute a community-wide collective reading program including related events programming around one book that addresses topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion issues featuring a topic around the design, use, and implementation of data-driven technologies at UT’s iSchool. Typical diversity and inclusion initiatives in iSchools focus on curriculum development. Instead of focusing on syllabus redesign, this community-wide reading program will shift this focus from the classroom environment to contemporary issues in society by engaging with the near-term impact that the datafication of social life that impacts our students as citizens, professionals, and individuals, such as: big data policing, algorithmic bias in hiring, platform filter bubbles, or machine learning models that automate social services and obfuscate discrimination, amongst many other possible data-driven technologies. An overarching community-wide reading program will be designed to create authentic extra-curricular experiences for incoming and current iSchool graduate students that is inclusive for students who are underrepresented in the graduate school, including underrepresented minorities, international students and first-generation higher education students. Each of these student populations will have different motivations (and barriers) for participating in a community-wide book focused events and activities. In year 1 we ran a successful science fiction discussion group, in spring we pivoted online due to COVID-19. In year 2 we are reading one book each semester, and continue to maintain attendance of 20-30 students at each event. During the pandemic, this virtual format has proven to have strengths for socializing in small-group breakouts. The community-wide program has been very popular with our incoming graduate students who have few opportunities to build new relationships outside of class during “WFH” life.