2015 ALISE Academy

Social Justice in the LIS Classroom: Making it Happen
January 27, 2014 12:15 - 4:15 p.m.


The ALISE Academy is a half-day pre-conference professional development opportunity that will address issues of social justice and its potential application in the library and information science classroom.


Pre-registration is required. Enrollment is limited to 75 participants. Academy fees will be covered by regular ALISE conference registration.

 Target audience: LIS instructors who incorporate social justice into their course content and those who are interested in learning more about how to address social justice in their classrooms.


The session will be a three-part workshop that provides the pedagogical foundation and motivation for teaching social justice as a full course or as a theme within topic courses that seemingly “have no relationship” to such issues. Participants will leave prepared with strong arguments for inclusion of social justice in their LIS classroom, curriculum, and school policies, an array of practical techniques intended to secure such inclusion, and – as a result of discussion and hands-on application – a sense of renewed confidence in advocating for incorporation of social justice as a mainstay of LIS education. Participants will also have access to a suite of tools to facilitate teaching and further discussion.

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the importance and history of social justice theory and practice within the information professions;
  • Articulate reasons for explicitly incorporating social justice thinking into the LIS curriculum;
  • Cite examples of LIS faculty and information professionals who use social justice theory to drive their teaching and practice;
  • Develop individualized goals and strategies for the inclusion of social justice elements in their teaching/curriculum/organization.


The 2015 ALISE Academy will be led and facilitated by Nicole A. Cooke (Assistant Professor, The Graduate School of Library and Information Science of  the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Kevin Rioux (Associate Professor, Division of Library and Information Science of St. John’s University), New York, and Miriam E. Sweeney (Assistant Professor, the School of Library and Information Studies of the University of Alabama).