Abstract: | Undergraduate education is an important component of many i-Schools and of potential
interest to many others. The nature of undergraduate education within the i-School
movement will, no doubt, have a significant effect on our collective future.
Undergraduate programs are often the most visible programs to other departments within
the Universities in which we reside. They help shape first impressions of many current
and prospective students. And, they force us to synthesize our various interests into a
more basic core.
While all i-Schools have significant graduate programs, i-Schools vary widely in their
stance toward undergraduate education. Some offer a full Bachelor Degree program,
others offer a minor, and still others teach a single course at most. What’s more, the
undergraduate courses and curriculum vary widely across schools. This diversity is likely
a natural outgrowth of historical processes unique to each University and is unlikely to
disappear. Indeed, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with i-School
undergraduate education.
However, despite our different needs, there are some fundamental issues that all i-School
undergraduate programs must grapple with: the interdisciplinary nature of i-School
education, the shared domain knowledge, and the need to explain our relatively new
curriculum and programs to the wider University, students, and employers. This session
is designed to start a conversation about these (and other) commonly shared issues and
provide a platform for us to learn from one another’s experience. It is most likely to
benefit faculty members and administrators involved with undergraduate education in
their schools. It is also intended to be useful for schools considering expanding their
undergraduate program. |