Winter 2024

IMT 589 B: Web Application Offensive Security 

• Instructors: Emmanuel Gambliel and Adele Miller
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Prerequisite: IMT 555 or INFO 310 - To verify you have fulfilled the prerequisite please complete this form. 

Course introduces professional offensive web application penetration testing techniques. Students learn the penetration testing process and how it is scoped and managed. Students learn offensive security industry-standard practices and procedures through hands-on exercises and labs, including modern exploits and remediations.

IMT 589 E: Product Strategy & Leadership

• Instructor: Terri Carol Eccles 
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Prerequisite: IMT 587 - To verify you have fulfilled the prerequisite please complete this form.

This course provides a deep dive of skills, practices, and frameworks foundational to a career in product management (with a focus on product strategy in diverse markets and organizations). Emphasizes strategic storytelling, leadership of teams and the development of proposals and roadmaps grounded in customer needs, business objectives, and technical possibilities.

IMT 598 B: Understanding and Building Low-Code and No-Code Business Solutions for Your Organization

• Instructor: Fawad Khan
• 3 credits; standard grading

According to Gartner, 65% of overall application development will be using No-code/Low-code in organizations by 2024. Start with understanding the basics of digital transformation, Cloud computing, and how they are evolving the development and business landscape. Learn about the next revolution in cloud computing development using the low-code and no-code development platforms. Using these platforms, both business and IT users can create business applications with minimal development experience. Discover and learn how you, as a regular IT or business user, can solve some of the common and complex business problems using these platforms. Understand the power of data and how to build business solutions quickly by integrating data from various sources, incorporating business flows, building internal/external Websites, and including virtual chatbots in your applications.

INFO 415: Emerging Topics in Information Assurance And Cybersecurity: Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)

• Instructor: Lindah Kotut
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Writing Credit

This course is geared at covering topics in cybersecurity that are not otherwise covered in the IAC curriculum. The Winter 2024 version of the course will center around the theme of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) in the context of cybersecurity. Topics discussed in the class will include tools and technologies used to effect OSINT, privacy enhancing technologies (PETS), threat actors, and operational security (OPSEC). We will also discuss how emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence/ChatGPT etc., impact the offensive and defensive postures in Red and Blue teams.

INFO 492 A: Intensive Capstone - Digital Remembrance Practices

• Instructor: Temi Odumosu
• 8 credits; standard grading
• Prerequisites: INFO 300 and INFO 360
• To enroll in INFO 492 A, fill out this form by Nov. 8

Students will develop qualitative research skills, whilst considering the issue of preservation in a dynamic way. The aim is to explore the role that information technologies have and continue to play in the preservation and production of personal and collective memories. In particular with GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), on social media, as well as augmentation strategies in public space (e.g. AR tools such as "What was there", or, the 2012 "Tupac Hologram" at Coachella). Student projects would include studying existing strategies and case studies, considering their affects/effects and ethical challenges, and then making their own design propositions in a space or institution of their own choosing.

INFO 492 B: Intensive Capstone - Music Recording and Distribution in the Era of Generative Music

• Instructor: Frank Martinez
• 8 credits; standard grading
• Prerequisites: INFO 300 and INFO 360
• To enroll in INFO 492 A, fill out this form by November 8th

Students will research the intersection of music recording and artificial intelligence. They will examine the distribution of music as an information medium, and ways in which music serves purposes beyond just entertainment. Additionally, students will compose music at the Area 01 Sound Lab, as their expression of the emerging hybrid art form that AI introduces. This project is sponsored by Fishing Comets Farm (https://www.fishingcometsfarm.com), a Seattle-based record label.

Students who have a formal background, informal background, or a strong interest in music are encouraged to enroll.

INFO 498 A: Public Interest Technology

• Instructor: Nicholas Weber
• 4 credits; standard grading

This course will provide an introduction to the field of Public Interest Technology. Through a survey of historical, contemporary, and prospective research problems that require public servants to deploy technologies in under-resourced environments, students will better understand how they can use their skills to work in the public sector. This course will be a mix of lecture and research / exploratory work. The research / explorations will have community-based-organizations as a sponsor.

INFO 498 B: Fundamentals of Game Design for Social Good

• Instructor: Andy Cargile
• 5 credits; standard grading

The course will start with several weeks of game design basics, including mechanics, dynamics, “fun”, visual and UX design for games, narrative, user research for games, and an overview of game genres. We’ll then cover various aspects of games for social good, including game-based learning, social awareness games, social action games, and social engagement games in a variety of categories. We will also cover topics such as toxicity in multiplayer games, representation, and more. Assignments will focus on team creation more than theory and we will have a final team project where you create a game prototype.

INFO 498 C: AI, Robots, and Transcending Religion

• Instructor: Wes Eli King
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Online asynchronous

Can a Robot Be Divine? Will humans merge with technologies that enable them to transcend current reality? This course will engage with these questions and others as we survey philosophical concepts, ethical principles, and popular culture connecting AI and religion.

This course aims to:

• Introduce students to theories about the influence of religion on technological innovation.
• Explore development of religious robots.
• Develop students’ critical and analytical skills for examining ethical debates about AI.

By the end of the course, successful students will be able to:

• Recognize key religious concepts and theories of technology.
• Describe ways religions use robots and imagine technological futures.
• Engage with religious worldviews and ethical principles that influence the development, content, form, and use of AI.

INFO 498 F: Understanding Asian Students' Experiences in Technology Education

• Instructor: Mina Tari
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Online Synchronous

Asian students are often perceived as overrepresented in technology education and industry in the United States. However, we will break down this perception by understanding how intersecting identities, historical context of Asian immigration, and the model minority myth create false narratives around Asians' participation in technology fields. In this class we will discuss the intersection of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and nationality in how these factors impact Asian students' experiences in higher education, especially in technology courses. We will introduce the lens of feminism, critical race theory, intersectionality, decolonialism, and Indigenous theory. Additionally, we will discuss the lack of attention on international Asian populations, as well as key differences in Asian and Pacific Islander experiences, bringing in the context of colonialism and Indigenous identity.

INSC 578 A: Research Seminar -  Neurodiversity 

• Instructor: Hala Annabi
• 2 credits; Credit/No-credit grading

Neurodiversity has attracted much attention in the information workplace over the last few years. Information technology workplaces continue to explore how best to include neurodivergent employees in their workplaces, as well as how to design information technologies accessible to the neurodivergent community. This DRG will explore issues around employment and technology design to serve neurodivergent people.

INSC 578 B: Research Seminar - AI Bias Feedback Cycle

• Instructor: Aylin Caliskan
• 2 credits; Credit/No-credit grading

This is a directed research group (DRG) on the artificial intelligence (AI) bias cycle to study the implicit social cognition of machines and human-AI interaction (HAI). We have open research questions on how implicit AI associations and biases propagate from society to models and their decisions. How do biased AI outputs affect humans-in-the-loop in critical decision-making processes as humans interact with AI? How does implicit AI bias impact individuals, society, and equity at scale? What are the ethical implications? How do the compounding effects of these mechanisms shape society and the future generations of AI models? Finally, how do we develop strategies to mitigate bias?

Social cognition of machines: We will research why AI automatically learns implicit bias from sociocultural data by developing statistical methods and algorithms, collecting data, training models in controlled experimental settings, and analyzing machine learning models. We will focus on unsupervised and self-supervised AI models such as static word embeddings and dynamic word embeddings of language models (English or multilingual), multi-modal language-vision models, or speech models. Biases of interest are on age, all representations of gender, body-weight, disability, immigration, religion, intersectionality, language, nationality, race or ethnicity, political orientation, sexual orientation, and social class. I’d love to hear about any other concept or social group associations you might be interested in studying.

Human-AI interaction: The DRG aims to advance our understanding of the processes underpinning AI’s biased information acquisition, propagation and evolution of bias and associations, and AI’s impact on individuals, society, and AI. Approaches to HAI research might involve domain-based bias analyses, human subjects, humans-in-the-loop, and the replication of real-world AI applications.

INSC 578 C: Research Seminar - Responsible AI 

• Instructor: Chirag Shah
• 2 credits; Credit/No-credit grading

Responsible AI as a broad area, with a specific focus on information access systems. We will do problem formulation and literature review (Autumn); data collection, data cleaning, and developing metrics (Winter); and experimentation, writing, and presenting (Spring). Students will pick different projects or applications for their data collection and experimentation. Examples include bias in search, fairness in ranking, and explainability in recommendation systems.

INSC 578 D: Research Seminar - Misinformation and Disinformation Narratives Online

• Instructor: Emma Spiro
• 2 credits; Credit/No-credit grading

In this course, students will have the opportunity to engage, hands-on, in multiple aspects of the research process, including the development of research questions, review of the literature, data cleaning and analysis, and the writing of a scholarly paper. Research will focus on understanding how misinformation and disinformation flows through modern information systems and how this information translates into beliefs, actions and values. Students will work with data created at the Center for an Informed Public. The goal of the class is to produce a scholarly paper draft that can be shared broadly within this growing research community and on students’ resumes and recommendation letters.

INSC 598 A: Social Computing 

• Instructor: Tanu Mitra
• 3 credits; standard grading

Social computing is a research area that is at the intersection of computational systems and social behavior. This project based course is geared toward developing a broad understanding of today’s online social systems. Team-based projects will focus on studying real-world challenges and opportunities in current social media platforms by analyzing the vast amounts of data people leave behind in these platforms, applying quantitative methodologies to investigate and model this data, and building social tools that can augment current social computing systems. Aligned with best industry practices, students will be expected to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and to demonstrate independence and leadership. In addition, students are expected to gain experience in reading technical papers, and giving good public presentations.

LIS 598 A: Trauma-Informed Care and the Library Profession

• Instructor: Karen Fisher
• 3-credits; standard grading

This course reflects findings from my current IMLS study on the effects of workplace trauma on library staff. The course will cover the nature of trauma, types of library workplace trauma and susceptibility, and methods of prevention, treatment, and awareness-raising. This course is novel: while trauma-informed care has been used to design library services, it hasn't been developed for library staff.

LIS 598 D: Library Collaboration and Partnership

• Instructor: Lorcan Dempsey
• 4-credits; standard grading

No library is an island. Libraries are embedded in multiple collaborative and partner networks to get their work done. Participation in, and management of, these network relations is a central part of a library's work. Several sets of relations are especially important. 

1. Libraries work with other libraries in consortia - to negotiate, to share systems and collections, to learn and innovate, and to lobby and concentrate their influence. 

2. Libraries collaborate with community partners to co-create or deliver services. This might include the Teaching and Learning Center or Office of Research for the academic library, or Departments of Arts and Culture or Education, or a local Community College, for the public library. 

3. Libraries work with vendors and may have long term relationships with suppliers. 

4. Libraries may work with groups of users to co-create services, to get feedback, to evolve.

It is important for libraries to recognize these relationships in their strategy, planning and management. To make decisions and allocate resources accordingly, and to decide when to collaborate and partner to get things done and when to do it themselves. 

This course will include opportunities to learn from library leaders, consortium leaders and others. The course will focus on public and academic libraries, but the principles and practices are broadly applicable.

LIS 598 E: Technology Law & Public Policy Seminar

• Instructor: Carla Wale
• 2 credits; standard grading
• Offered jointly with LAW E 553 A/B/C/D
• Synchronous for residential and online students

Survey of the domains of public policies that have been affected by the information revolution. Examines issues from Internet taxation, to personal data privacy, information warfare. Discusses the implications of the new public policies and whether it is feasible for states to enact different information policies. Concepts from various disciplines (public goods, market efficiency, right to privacy, democracy, to name just a few) will be applied to the new policy choices caused by the information revolution.

LIS 598 G: Foundations of Law Librarianship

• Instructor: Carla Wale
• 1-credit; Credit/No-credit grading

The legal information profession spans numerous professional sectors – each with unique work environments and a focus on specific users. This course introduces students to the public interest mission common to law libraries of all types; the structures, functions, and services of law libraries by type; scholarly and professional development expectations of law librarians across sectors; and the various institutional objectives that inform collection development and assessment of different types of law libraries.

Autumn 2023

IMT 589 A: People Analytics

• Instructor: Heather Whiteman
• 4 credits; standard grading

People are the most important resource to any organization, government, non-profit or social movement. People analytics focuses on the application of data-based insights to the process of understanding, measuring and recognizing the value of people. 

This course prepares students to think critically about the quantification of people with a particular emphasis on the measurement and use of data about people in employment, government, and other groups of individuals. It introduces concepts from psychology, sociology, business analytics, information systems, data science, and data visualization/storytelling in order to equip students with an ability to source, evaluate, manage, and analyze people data. 

The course places special emphasis on the unique challenges and societal implications of data created by, gathered on, and about people. It introduces student to the art of measuring intangibles and highlights the impact and importance of data privacy, ethics, governance and bias in the creation and use of people information systems and data driven technology.

IMT 589 B: IT Governance

• Instructor: Sarah Lohmann
• 4 credits; standard grading 

Governance refers to a set of value systems, rules (including laws and regulations), principles, and core processes, by which an organization governs itself and makes strategic decisions. However, systems of governance may differ between public and private organizations. In either case, a range of stakeholders needs to be actively involved and considered in the governance of organizations. An increasingly important subset of organizational governance are Information governance and Information Technology (IT) governance, both of which need to be integral parts of the overall organizational system of governance. While IT governance and resulting IT strategy generally follow organizational governance and organizational strategy, they also might drive and shape the latter two. Information governance and IT governance, and their match with organizational requirements, can be evaluated along various performance measures. Frameworks of information governance and IT governance help advance good governance and are indispensable for overall organizational success, both in the public and private sectors.

IMT 589 C: Foundations of Entrepreneurship

• Instructor: Mike Teodorescu
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Offered jointly with LIS 598 B

This course will create a welcoming environment for students of all degrees to learn about the fundamentals of starting a new business, venture capital, developing intellectual property, and writing a a business plan. The theoretical foundations will draw from the management, economics of innovation, and entrepreneurial finance literature. The course will rapidly develop skills needed to think about building a business, such as defining a problem area, finding a market, feasibility analysis of proof of concept, IP considerations, and finally how to pitch for funding. The course will conclude with group projects where students develop a business idea proposal and will pitch it to a panel of judges for feedback, as in traditional startup accelerators. External judges such as angels, business faculty, or venture capitalists will be invited for the event by the instructor to provide diverse viewpoints and feedback for the business plan proposals.

IMT 598 A: Digital Transformation

• Instructor: Fawad Khan
• 3 credits; standard grading

This course is going to introduce the concept of Digital Transformation and Cloud's key emerging technologies and how they are forcing companies to review and formulate a digital strategy which affects the bottom line of any company. We will review the key digital transformation strategy pillars and use Cloud's key emerging technologies, including Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and IoT to build solutions and applications to help the organizations along this digital journey.

INFO 415 A: Emerging Topics in IA And Cybersecurity | Risk Assessment

• Instructor: Lindah Kotut
• 4 credits, standard grading 

This course is geared at covering topics in cybersecurity that are not otherwise covered in the IAC curriculum. The Autumn 2023 version of the course will center around the theme of Risk Assessment and will include topics touching on tools and technologies used to support Red and Blue teams, alongside policy guidelines (from privacy policies to GDPR), alongside emerging topics on ransomware, Artificial Intelligence (AI), among other topics. We will further discuss implications on people (individual users, groups, and even countries), devices (from internet of things to critical infrastructure) and domains (from healthcare to automotive security).

INFO 498 A: Internet Dating 

• Instructor: Wes Eli King 
• 4 credits, standard grading 

This course will explore the role of internet dating in structuring romantic and sexual relationships in a global context. Lines of inquiry in this course will focus on how particular forms of internet dating, ranging from those based on self-reports, psychological profiling, niche markets, location, or DNA testing, may inform, mobilize and challenge social and political norms, expectations and practices. Using the walkthrough method, students will “walk through” a selected internet dating platform and offer a critical analysis of the interface, business model, and environment of expected use including design recommendations for creating new or revising existing internet dating sites.

INFO 498 B: Text Mining and Analytics

• Instructor: Lucy Lu Wang
• 3 credits; standard grading

This course will cover techniques for analyzing and gaining insights from large amounts of textual data. We will cover foundational methods for search and retrieval, information extraction, text classification, and visualization, with an emphasis on statistical and unsupervised approaches. Text data can be found in many high-values domains such as social media, news, science, law, and medicine, and contains rich descriptions of human activity and productivity. You will learn how to collect and represent text data, discover patterns, and extract useful evidence to support decision making and resource allocation.

INFO 498 C: Introduction to Search and Recommender Systems

• Instructor: Chirag Shah
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Course counts towards the Data Science and Information Architecture degree options

Search and recommendation systems for organizing and accessing information have become indispensable. It is critical, therefore, to understand their design and operational foundations. In this course students will have an opportunity to learn about search engines, recommendation systems, web crawling, and search interface technologies based on hands-on experience and with a focus on techniques that can be used to access, retrieve, organize, present, and recommend information. Students will work with practical developmental tools and learn relevant concepts through experimentation. For instance, students will employ an open source search engine and learn about indexing, retrieving, and ranking techniques. The course will also introduce some of the latest techniques that various services including e-commerce (Amazon, eBay), social media (Facebook, reddit), and streaming (Netflix, Spotify) use for recommending content and engaging users.

INFO 498 D Entrepreneurship Fundamentals for Devs, Designers, and PMs

• Instructor: Jeremy Zaretzky
• 4 credits; standard grading

Designed for INFO majors who are interested in startups and entrepreneurship, this course will cover how new companies are founded, managed, funded, and grown. Through readings, guest speakers, activities, and case studies, students will learn what life is like as a startup founder and how to navigate the inevitable challenges that arise, as well as the mechanics of raising money for a startup through both equity and non-dilutive funding options. While the course material is applicable to many different types of startups, there will be a particular emphasis on social impact startups, SaaS companies, and online marketplaces. Developers, designers, and product managers who are thinking about launching a startup at some point in their career, as well as those interested in joining an early-stage startup after graduation, are encouraged to enroll in the course.

INSC 598 A Privacy, Surveillance & Trust

• Instructor: Lindah Kotut
• 4 credits; standard grading

This graduate course draws on perspectives from computer and information sciences and covers key frameworks for understanding privacy, surveillance, and trust, and examines how these concepts shape, and are shaped by policies on data collection, retention, reuse, and/or deletion.  The topics will encompass privacy-enhancing and privacy-eroding technologies and the ways in which personal devices, internet of things, cloud computing and other emerging technologies affect privacy.  Through a combination of readings, case studies, and hands-on exercises, students will critically evaluate policies, and analyze the contextual expectations and understanding of privacy across different cultures and communities and emerge with the knowledge and tools to navigate the ethical, and technical challenges in the field of privacy.

INSC 598 B Critical Data Studies

• Instructor: Anna Lauren Hoffmann
• 4 credits; standard grading

This graduate seminar will ground students in critical social and theoretical concepts for evaluating—and normatively assessing—the data scientific practices and algorithmic processes that pervade our lives. The seminar’s frame is three-fold: biopolitics, power, and forms of administrative violence; historical perspectives on the rise and role of data-based and statistical knowledge in shaping lives and life chances; current perspectives on the role of big data and algorithms in the normative construction of bodies and identities.

LIS 598 A Designing User-Centered Learning Environments in Information Settings

• Instructor: Helene Williams
• 3 credits; standard grading
• Online asynchronous 

No matter what type of library or information organization you work in, part of your job will be instruction-based: whether that’s in one-on-one reference interactions, one-shot sessions for classes, credit-bearing courses, or justifying your budget request to a supervisor, you’re going to be teaching people. In this course we will explore current methods of designing effective and inclusive learning opportunities for diverse users in your desired library or organization type. We’ll examine what teaching looks like in different information environments, with the focus on school, public, and academic libraries; these concepts readily translate into non-profit and corporate settings as well. Critical pedagogy, universal design for learning, and accessibility are the lenses you’ll use to meet the applied course outcomes as you create and reflect on instructional styles and formats as well as outcomes-oriented curriculum and assessment tools.

LIS 598 B Foundations of Entrepreneurship

• Instructor: Mike Teodorescu
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Offered jointly with IMT 589 C

This course will create a welcoming environment for students of all degrees to learn about the fundamentals of starting a new business, venture capital, developing intellectual property, and writing a a business plan. The theoretical foundations will draw from the management, economics of innovation, and entrepreneurial finance literature. The course will rapidly develop skills needed to think about building a business, such as defining a problem area, finding a market, feasibility analysis of proof of concept, IP considerations, and finally how to pitch for funding. The course will conclude with group projects where students develop a business idea proposal and will pitch it to a panel of judges for feedback, as in traditional startup accelerators. External judges such as angels, business faculty, or venture capitalists will be invited for the event by the instructor to provide diverse viewpoints and feedback for the business plan proposals.

LIS 598 C Indigenous Librarianship in the Digital World

• Instructor: Sandy Littletree
• 3 credits; standard grading
• Online asynchronous

The discipline of Indigenous librarianship incorporates an Indigenous perspective on library services by and for Indigenous people. Digital issues in the field of Indigenous librarianship include digitization of Indigenous knowledge in institutions, internet access, language and cultural revitalization, ebook access, knowledge organization, and more. In this course, we will explore the field of Indigenous librarianship with particular focus on the respectful use of digital tools within Indigenous librarianship. By the end of this course, students will understand how relationality informs the field, as well as the respectful and appropriate uses of information technology that is designed by and for Indigenous people in information environments.

Summer 2023

INFO 498 A: Design Systems for Digital Experiences

• Instructors: TBD
• 5 credits; standard grading
• Course may be counted toward human-computer interaction (HCI) option 

A unified design system is an essential tool for building cohesive user experience across web, mobile and offline, embodying usability and accessibility best practices, while projecting the branding of the organization it serves. Industry leaders such as Google and Airbnb have recently developed comprehensive design systems and principles for efficiently managing design and interaction consistency across a vast array of digital products, online web properties and offline visual communications.

This course equips students with industry standard practices for understanding, developing, and implementing design systems for digital environments and experiences. Students will have hands-on project-based activities to research and analyze existing branding and usage contexts, develop principles and components, and apply them to real-world scenarios to test the robustness of their designs.

Spring 2023

IMT 589 A: Cloud Computing

• Instructor: Fawad Khan
• 4 credits; standard grading

This course is going to introduce the concept of Cloud Computing and how it is transforming and evolving the IT industry and the developer ecosystem, as we move away from on-premises to Cloud-based infrastructure and app development scenarios. Discussion of Cloud services models including SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. Review of Cloud services usage and migration scenarios considering business goals and objectives along with developing a Costs/Benefits Analysis model. Understand primary business consideration for migrating to cloud services including cost, security, compliance, fault tolerance, backup, disaster recovery and monitoring. Learn about the most popular and consumed services including deploying, managing and maintaining a VM network infrastructure, developing Cloud-based App solutions, Containers, Serverless and Identity & authentication. Discussion of on the horizon key Cloud services in the new digital transformation age including Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and IoT.

IMT 589 B: Problematic Information

• Instructor: Emma Spiro
• 4 credits; standard grading

Addressing the problem of misinformation is among the most pressing challenges of our time — and times to come. Recent decades have seen a profound shift in the ways people, groups and organizations produce and consume information and participate in public discourse. This new paradigm for human interaction and information sharing creates space for diverse voices and enhances collective action in positive ways. Yet these information environments have also opened the door to misinformation, disinformation and other forms of networked manipulation, which function not only to mislead and create divisions, but also to diminish trust in democratic institutions such as science and journalism.

This graduate seminar will introduce students to the lexicon of problematic information, tracing the historical roots and context of this phenomena and exploring the new realm of online information operations employed in today’s socio-technical infrastructure.

IMT 589 C: Portable Information Structures

• Instructor: Steven Gustafson
• 4 credits; standard grading

Introduces the concepts and methods used to analyze, store, manage, and present information and navigation. Equal weight given to understanding structures and implementing them. Topics include information analysis and organizational methods as well as metadata concepts and application.

IMT 589 D: Advanced Product Management (PPMC)

• Instructor: Terri Carol Eccles
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Online Synchronous
• Prerequisite: IMT 587 - To verify you have fulfilled the IMT 587 prerequisite please complete this form.

This course provides a deep dive of skills, practices, and frameworks foundational to a career in product management (with a focus on product strategy in diverse markets and organizations). Emphasizes strategic storytelling, leadership of teams and the development of proposals and roadmaps grounded in customer needs, business objectives, and technical possibilities.

IMT 598 D: Blockchain 

• Instructor: Jochen Scholl
• 3 credits; standard 

Blockchain technology has once been labeled a game changer in information management. Since then it has gradually become integral to and important in developing organizations' information management strategies and architecture options. Blockchain is one particular instantiation of the group of so-called Distributed Ledger Technologies (or, DLTs), which provide another unique way in how companies and individuals can share important data. Blockchain/DLT has become known and visible to a broader audience as the underlying technology that enables cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Meanwhile Blockchain and other DLTs have expanded into broader uses and forms of data storing and tracking in areas such as smart contracts, deed and property registries, intellectual property, music, aircraft assemblies, medical records, agriculture and more. This course is non-technical in nature and not designed to cover the technical nuts and bolts of DLTs and Blockchain; however, it provides a general understanding of how DLT/Blockchain works, how its various uses have been evolving, and what its current and future challenges are, all of which also includes regulatory and governance aspects. Understanding Blockchain/DLT and its uses is an asset to and provides career opportunities for information professionals of all designations.

IMT 598 E: Advanced Leadership Development Seminar

• 3 credits; credit/no credit grading
• Prerequisites: IMT 580 and Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) with at least 5 reviewers.
• Application required - To be considered for this unique special topics course, students must complete an application form due February 2, 2023.

In this seminar, we seek to deepen the skill development started in IMT 580, through continuation of The Leadership Challenge and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). As a class, we will dive more deeply into each of the 5 practices, through discussion and reflection exercises. Through individual coaching sessions, the instructor will examine each student’s LPI, and discuss strengths and areas for improvement, working with them to better understand the results and coaching them on how to develop and implement strategies for long-term leadership development. Students will also leverage peer groups to share, reflect and advise each other on LPI results and leadership development lessons learned. 

INFO 198 A: Technology, Policy, & Ethics

• Instructor: Ryan Calo
• 5 credits; Standard grading 

This course examines technology from the perspective of law, policy, and ethics. Students will learn about technology governance and apply what they learn to case studies and hypotheticals. The class will cover technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics and concepts such as privacy, misinformation, and liability. Assessment includes class participation and short answer questions.

INFO 498 A: Afrofuturism and Information Technology 

• Instructor: Temi Odumosu 
• 3 credits; Standard grading 

This course provides an introduction to the evolution of Afrofuturism as global multidisciplinary movement, with mainstream visibility in the arts and culture. In particular it explores how Afrofuturist ideas, images, and methodologies contribute to an expanded understanding of information technology. The course centralizes Afro-Diasporic epistemologies as critical for thinking through issues in the informatics field.

INFO 498 C: Internet Dating 

• Instructor: Wes Eli King 
• 4 credits, standard grading 

This course will explore the role of internet dating in structuring romantic and sexual relationships in a global context. Lines of inquiry in this course will focus on how particular forms of internet dating, ranging from those based on self-reports, psychological profiling, niche markets, location, or DNA testing, may inform, mobilize and challenge social and political norms, expectations and practices. Using the walkthrough method, students will “walk through” a selected internet dating platform and offer a critical analysis of the interface, business model, and environment of expected use including design recommendations for creating new or revising existing internet dating sites.

INFO 498 D: Exploring Information Science through BTS & Kpop

• Instructor: Jin Ha Lee
• 3 credits; standard grading 
• Course may be counted toward human-computer interaction (HCI) option 

What can BTS teach you about information science? Explore different aspects of information science such as classification, social media, misinformation and disinformation, transmedia storytelling, participatory media, fan wars and fandom gatekeeping through Kpop, in particular, the case of BTS. Design and conduct a research study investigating an information science problem in the domain of popular culture media.

INFO 498 E: Introduction to Cultural Analytics: Data, Computation, and Culture

• Instructor: Melanie Walsh 
• Offered jointly with TXTDS 413 A
• 4 credits; standard grading 

This course will prepare students to analyze cultural data — such as books, songs, Reddit posts, and film screenplays — with computational methods. After a basic introduction to the programming language Python, we will cover topics including web scraping, data analysis, text mining, and network analysis. We will survey and discuss how these computational tools are applied in humanistic and social scientific research. We will also reflect on the specific problems, challenges, and ethical dilemmas posed by the computational study of culture. This course is designed for students with humanistic and/or social scientific interests who have no previous programming background.

INFO 498 F: Indigenous Ways of Knowing in the Digital World 

• Instructor: Sandy Littletree
• 4 credits; standard grading

Indigenous people are using a variety of digital tools such as video games, virtual reality, language apps, and digital heritage sites to maintain their relationships to place, language, history, and culture. In this course, we will explore the respectful use and development of these tools with an emphasis on Native North American Indigenous approaches to knowledge. By the end of this course, students will understand how relationality can inform thoughtful, respectful and appropriate uses of information technology that is designed by and for Indigenous people.

INFO 498 G: Understanding Asian Students’ Experiences in Technology Education

• Instructor: Mina Tari
• 4 credits; standard grading

Asian students are often perceived as overrepresented in technology education and industry in the United States. However, we will break down this perception by understanding how intersecting identities, historical context of Asian immigration, and the model minority myth create false narratives around Asians' participation in technology fields. In this class we will discuss the intersection of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and nationality in how these factors impact Asian students' experiences in higher education, especially in technology courses. We will introduce the lens of feminism, critical race theory, intersectionality, decolonialism, and Indigenous theory. Additionally, we will discuss the lack of attention on international Asian populations, as well as key differences in Asian and Pacific Islander experiences, bringing in the context of colonialism and Indigenous identity.

INFO 498 H: Games and Information 

• Instructor: Travis Windleharth
• 3 credits, standard grading

This course explores games from the perspective of information. As media artifacts, both digital and non-digital games are increasingly utilized not just for entertainment and expression, but also for learning, training, persuasion, data collection, therapy, and community building. This course examines games and information from four perspectives including i) the form and elements of games as designed interactive media artifacts, ii) existing and emerging game functions across multiple domains of human activity, iii) learning and rhetoric in games, and iv) games as information objects. Students will build a solid understanding of the informational aspects of games, the breadth of their use, their potential and limitations, and their place in modern society as an increasingly important media format. In addition to course readings, interactive lectures, and guest speakers, students will engage in a range of in-class gameplay to actively experience concepts.

INSC 598 A: Indigenous Research Methods

• Instructor: Clarita Lefthand-Begay
• 3 credits, standard grading

Historically research conducted on Indigenous peoples in North America and around the globe was done using biased, dehumanizing and unethical approaches. In the 21st Century, it is now our responsibility to reject those egregious approaches in order to repair research relationships with Sovereign Tribal Nations and their citizens. When done with respect, reciprocity, relationality and rigor, research outcomes have the potential to inform decision-making and policy among tribal leaders and their counterparts in federal agencies and tribal organizations. In this advanced graduate class, students will engage with foundational reading at the intersection of Indigenous studies, information sciences, environmental and wellbeing. Students will lead class discussions, present published works by prominent scholars, and engage with tribal leaders and citizens to gain a broader understanding about the implications of research within these societies. 

INSC 598 C: Social Computing 

• Tanu Mitra
• 3 credits; standard grading 

Social computing is a research area that is at the intersection of computational systems and social behavior. This project based course is geared toward developing a broad understanding of today’s online social systems. Team-based projects will focus on studying real-world challenges and opportunities in current social media platforms by analyzing the vast amounts of data people leave behind in these platforms, applying quantitative methodologies to investigate and model this data, and building social tools that can augment current social computing systems. Aligned with best industry practices, students will be expected to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and to demonstrate independence and leadership. In addition, students are expected to gain experience in reading technical papers, and giving good public presentations.

INSC 599 - Independent Study in Information Science: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Sovereignty (IDEAS)

• Instructor: Wanda Pratt
• Credit: 1-2 credits

This independent study provides a supportive group for iSchool PhD students to meet regularly (online) and work together on student-led IDEAS work in the iSchool while earning 1-2 course credits each quarter. Class meetings will be held every other week throughout the quarter and will primarily focus on building community and space for this work, seeking guidance from mentors and peers, and reporting progress on projects. Students are welcome to bring their own project ideas or work on existing projects. In the first class of each quarter, all project options and ideas will be discussed. iPhDs will then be required to choose their project(s) and submit their goals and plans for the quarter before the second class. Everyone will submit the same INSC 599 Proposal template.

LIS 598 A: Indigenous Art is Indigenous Knowledge 

• Instructor: Miranda Belarde-Lewis
• 4 credits; standard grading
• Online asynchronous

This course examines the relationship between Indigenous art and Indigenous Knowledge (IK) with an emphasis on tribal groups in North America. How have Native artists documented oral history, cosmologies, maps and plant knowledge through art? How are the customary forms of art evolving to keep up with the needs of contemporary Native peoples? This course draws on theory from Indigenous Studies, Information Science, Art History and, visual and museum studies to unpack the intention, purpose and interpretation of Indigenous art and artifacts. 

In this course, students will be asked to explore: the concept of Indigenous Knowledge; the role of the arts in Native communities in ancient times and in the present-day; the complicated colonial legacy between museums and Indigenous peoples; and, the push by Native peoples to be consulted with and their views respected about objects from their home communities that reside in museum collections. In addition to engaging with research, theory and the practices related to the study of Native art, Native history and IK, students will be asked to complete an in-depth research project about a particular group of art works, a community-based effort to maintain the transfer of IK through Indigenous art, or, the presentation and incorporation of IK through a museum exhibit.

LIS 598 E: Information Architecture

• Instructor: Mike Doane
• 5 credits; standard grading

This course Introduces concepts and methods of front- and back-end information architecture. Includes hands-on teamwork using the latest software tools for data and content modeling, taxonomy development, controlled vocabulary creation and SEO considerations. The course also covers traditional user experience design topics such as inclusive design processes, design patterns, navigation, workflow, labeling, diverse user research and user flow diagrams. Teams produce a series of project deliverables suitable for building a professional portfolio.

LIS 598 F: Future of Research Libraries

• Instructor: Carole Palmer
• 3 credits; standard grading
• Online asynchronous 

This course will examine top trends in research libraries, covering short- and long-term trends that have been identified and predicted. Key trends will be examined and assessed, with particular attention to how libraries and the profession are responding and how they need to evolve in the future. A key tenet underlying the course: “Academic and research libraries are not just a vital part of scholarship, but also advance knowledge and society as a whole. They play an important role as curators and purveyors of high-quality research, supported by innovative infrastructure. (Annual Horizon Report: 2017 Library Edition.)

Overarching themes will include market forces, technology adoption, and the socio-cultural environment.