explore | Grilled Cheese

Congratulations to #iSchoolUI MSLIS student Wendy Rein on receiving the 2026 @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social Century Scholarship!

Rein's research focuses on improving access to library services, and they hope to continue that work through research, advocacy, and policy.

▶️ bit.ly/3VZ8U6x

#iSchoolUI Assistant Professor Ismini Lourentzou will give a talk on “Generative Models for Interactive Worlds” today from 4-5 PM, as part of the IMMERSE Seminar Series. This event is hybrid. More details here ▶️ bit.ly/4hPFoHC

#iSchoolUI Interim Dean and Professor @ejmknox.bsky.social joined the Liberating Lit podcast to talk about censorship, intellectual freedom, the power of reading, and the role libraries play in our communities.

Listen to the conversation during #BannedBooksWeek 🎧 ▶️ bit.ly/4rRP1tT

#iSchoolUI researchers will present their work this week at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium’s 2026 annual conference in Knoxville, TN.

This year’s theme is “Changing Lives and Improving Society: Data-Driven Engagement and Innovation.”

Learn more ▶️ bit.ly/4drhGA9

#iSchoolUI Assistant Professor @jiaqima.bsky.social has received a $90k grant from the Amazon-Illinois Center on AI for Interactive Conversational Experiences (AICE) to improve data and compute efficiency in large language model training. Congratulations, Jiaqi!

Learn more ▶️ bit.ly/4dohZvE

For #BannedBooksWeek, we’re highlighting #iSchoolUI adjunct lecturer @jarrettdapier.bsky.social’s "Wake Now in the Fire," a graphic novel about Chicago students that was honored by @bookriot.bsky.social.

Read more ▶️ bit.ly/4y1C6qM

#iSchoolUI Professor @katemcdowell23.bsky.social will give two invited talks on library data storytelling next week:

🔸 Oct. 7 — Illinois Library Association's annual conference ▶️ bit.ly/4zg2Y7M

🔹 Oct. 9 — Midwest Collaborative for Library Services annual conference ▶️ bit.ly/4e5jYoL

#iSchoolUI Assistant Professor Jill Naiman’s research explores how AI can help scientists work more efficiently, while also ensuring accuracy, trust, and understanding in the research process. Learn more in this video ▶️ youtu.be/VPtHLjOewvk

Library Trends and the #iSchoolUI are pleased to present an online symposium expanding upon themes from 74 (4) “Compelling Tensions in LIS,” guest edited by Katherine M. Wisser. The symposium takes place on October 29, 12–4 PM (CT).

#iSchoolUI faculty and PhD students will present their research at the 29th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (#CSCW26), held from Oct. 10-14 in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the online portion taking place today. Learn more ▶️ bit.ly/4hUPet0

#iSchoolUI Professor Dong Wang and students from his Social Sensing and Intelligence Lab are presenting their research at the 2026 ACM Conference on Human-AI Complementarity and Alignment, held this week in Alexandria, Virginia. Read more about their work ▶️ bit.ly/3VjMgpm

#iSchoolUI Professor Catherine Blake has been selected for the 2026 cohort of the University of Illinois Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, which supports faculty innovators in realizing the commercial and/or social impact of their research and scholarship.

Learn more ▶️ bit.ly/4z0MWOZ

Several #iSchoolUI faculty, staff, and students will participate in the Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC54), taking place Sept. 25–26 in Washington, DC.

See the list of featured presenters here ▶️ bit.ly/3TLEdB2

Kyle Chong, Yvette Iribe Ramirez, Leigh Levinson, and Soumita Mukherjee joined the 2026–27 cohort of #iSchoolUI Postdoctoral Research Associates, bringing research interests ranging from Asian American studies to digital equity, AI governance, and more. ▶️ bit.ly/4yVgDAU

#iSchoolUI Professor Jingrui He was featured by @nitmb.bsky.social in a conversation about leveraging AI and machine learning for multidisciplinary discovery.

Read the interview here ▶️ bit.ly/3VjbaVS

Join the #iSchoolUI! Applications are open for our Director of Recruitment and Admissions. Link to the full announcement, including salary and benefits, can be found here ▶️ bit.ly/4riYeev

How can AI help patients better understand their health? #iSchoolUI Assistant Professor Yue Guo explores how she’s making medical AI more accessible and understandable, helping patients navigate complex health information and get answers when they need them. Learn more here ▶️ youtu.be/W7ZR0l7gP1U

Today, Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams visited IS 100: Exploring the iSchool with a Human-Centered Lens to talk to #iSchoolUI students about career readiness and preparing for life after college. Thank you for stopping by to share your insights, Mayor Williams!

#iSchoolUI Assistant Professor @haohanwang.bsky.social is part of a team receiving a Beckman Institute research seed grant to create a Center for Orchestrated Agentic Biology, aimed at developing an AI framework to model molecular pathways involved in brain aging ▶️ bit.ly/4xTyUyd

Three #iSchoolUI faculty are named on four National Leadership Grants from the IMLS: Jiangping Chen, Sara Schwebel, & Kahyun Choi.

Their projects focus on services for older adults, oral histories, American history programming for youth, & AI literacy.

Congratulations! 👏

▶️ bit.ly/4h8bJJw