Tuesday, February 20, 2024
12:00–1:30 pm, Memorial Union, Multicultural Greek Council Room, 4th floor.
This seminar features two short talks followed by discussion and refreshments.
Jacob Thebault-Spieker and Aziza Jones
Jacob Thebault-Spieker, Assistant Professor, Information School, UW–Madison
Title: Rural Information Gaps: Ruralness and Digital Representation
Abstract: Rural places (and people) have less, and lower quality content about them in important information resources like OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia, and these information gaps cascade through technological and intelligent systems. Our work on information gaps seeks to understand causes, and think about tools to help fill these information gaps. This talk will present the overall area, and one recent study from the UW–Madison Collaborative Computing Group that suggests an important tension between diversity of contribution, and content creation in OpenStreetMap.
Aziza Jones, Assistant Professor, Marketing Department, UW–Madison
Title: Marketing Toward the Desegregation of Schools
Abstract: In addressing school segregation challenges, we suggest that administrators can use targeted marketing to promote integration. Through machine learning, we explored the beliefs of Black and White parents regarding racially-diverse schools. Our research found that school-sponsored marketing campaigns highlighting the benefits of diversity can be effective in diversifying schools, especially among White parents, but this effectiveness varies based on the school’s racial composition. These findings offer valuable insights for administrators and policymakers seeking to diversify their academic environments.