Staff
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Ann Bishop (Ph.D., Syracuse) is co-director of the Community Informatics Initiative and an associate professor at GSLIS. Her research interests include social justice in the information professions; participatory action research in LIS; the scholarship of engagement; and community informatics. Professor Bishop currently teaches two service-learning courses. One is a project-based course entitled Community Engagement that is held at Urbana-Champaign and off-site at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC) in Chicago. She also teaches a course devoted to after-school programs, called Serving Children in Schools and Communities, which represents a collaboration with the Champaign School District and the College of Education. Professor Bishop recently returned from a trip to Brazil as a Senior Fulbright Specialist, where she taught a Community Informatics seminar at Universidade Federal da Paraíba (UFPB) and visited with faculty and community leaders to learn about local community-based research projects. She is also associate editor for the Journal of Community Informatics and her recent publications include co-authored “New Literacies and Community Inquiry” in The Handbook of Research in New Literacies (2007) and “Community Inquiry” in Liberating Voices! A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution (2008). Professor Bishop will be on sabbatical during the 2009-2010 school year. |
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Staff |
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| Paul Adams (MA, Western Illinois University) has been director of Prairienet since 1999 and is currently Director of Community Networking. He spent 15 years working in community development and urban planning in Davenport, Iowa, and Champaign, Ill. Service has always been at the forefront of his personal and professional life. Mr. Adams considers Prairienet a community development initiative that uses digital tools, and is currently involved in an effort to extend this concept to developing countries, including Sao Tome and Malawi, Africa. padams@illinois.edu |
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| Sharon Irish (Ph.D. Northwestern) is the project coordinator for the Community Informatics Initiative. She is an historian with particular interest in community cultural development and urban spatial practices. She serves as an advisory editor for the journal, Technology and Culture, and has authored three books and numerous articles. slirish@illinois.edu To learn more about Sharon visit her website at: http://www.sharonirish.org |
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| Martin Wolske (Ph.D. Rutgers) is a senior research scientist and adjunct faculty in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. His research interests include ways to develop and effectively use information and communication technologies as a tool for individual and community development and advocacy; Community Technology Centers as resources to facilitate social inclusion; and working with community members as citizen scientist collaborators. His recent publications include Service Learning: A Complex and Compelling Interest in Library and Information Science Education (in press). mwolske@illinois.edu |
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