Abstract

Increasing concern focuses on how Americans self-sort—choosing to live, socialize, worship, and more with like-minded people. The ways in which people interact with information, among other dynamics, may perpetuate this self-sorting. Although much discussion describes the damaging nature of the sorting, minimal ideas for reversing it have emerged. An international ambassador concerned with the trend recently became aware of information schools with computer science programs and challenged affiliates with programs thusly combined to find ways to reverse the trend. In this provocative Session of Interaction and Engagement, scholars from CS/IS iSchools will lead participants in meeting that challenge. After viewing the challenge, attendees will use an audience participation system to react to initial ideas presented by the authors. A final large group discussion will focus on how CS/IS and all iSchools can contribute to ongoing dialog about complex social tendencies, like self-sorting