The iSchool Inclusion Institute (i3) is an undergraduate research program that prepares students from underrepresented populations for graduate study and careers in the information sciences. Students undertake a year-long experience that includes two summer institutes held at the University of Pittsburgh and a year-long team research project. Students are immersed in special-topics workshops, professional development seminars, research projects, and network-building opportunities.
Past i3 Scholars have completed a variety of interdisciplinary research projects. A sample of past project topics have included:
- Viral videos and the leading factors related to online sharing
- Youth education and recruitment into STEM fields
- Gender representation in video games
- Online community building in social movements like Occupy Wall St.
- Social media and political involvement in campaigns
- Identity representation and catfishing on social media
- Environmental sustainability efforts in the information technology sector
- Psychological incentives to donate to crowd-sourced campaigns on Kickstarter and similar online platforms
The 2014 i3 will be held at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Information Sciences from June 1-27, 2014.
