New Perspectives: iSchool Hires Five Tenure-Track Assistant Professors

iStudent Blog

Published June 7, 2022 by Hilary Meehan

I discovered something exciting while flipping through my June 2022 edition of ALA’s American Libraries yesterday; the SJSU iSchool has hired five new tenure-track assistant professors! Their names are José Aguiñaga, Jessica Bushey, Ulia Gosart, James Hodges and Norman Mooradian. Welcome one and all! 

As a 21st-century MLIS grad student with strong social justice, user-centric and community-directed professional values, the hiring of these instructors is wonderful news. While I have long been impressed with the quality, experience and diversity of our iSchool instruction, these new hires reinforce my appreciation of the iSchool’s programs of study.

In case (like me) you missed the announcement, here’s a list of our new assistant professors’ areas of professional expertise. Collectively, these topical interest areas include but are not limited to:

  • Advocacy
  • Archival Description
  • Archives
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Collection Development & Preservation
  • Copyright
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Data Ethics
  • Digital Archives
  • Digital Humanities
  • Digitization 
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gaming
  • Hispanic/Latinx Communities
  • Human Rights
  • Indigenous Librarianship & Collections 
  • Information and Society/Culture
  • Instructional Technology 
  • Intellectual Property
  • Media
  • Misinformation
  • Museum Archives
  • Storytelling
  • Strategic Planning/Marketing/Lobbying
  • Usability, UX, and Web Design
  • Virtual Reality
  • Visual Arts

Clearly, a great deal of thought went into the selection process and we students will surely benefit.

Professional Experiences & Upcoming Courses

José Aguiñaga: Community College Libraries, Reference Services and Hispanic/Latinx Communities

Dr. Aguiñaga serves as a member of the Reference & Instruction Library faculty at Glendale Community College, North Campus in Arizona and has taught at SJSU’s iSchool since 2020. Additionally, he is the current Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) liaison to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). As an academic librarian, Dr. Aguiñaga brings a wealth of experience to our program including online learning management, reference services, information literacy, staff supervision, program assessment, and facilities and budget oversight. Learn more about Dr. Aguiñaga’s professional background here and here.

Dr. Aguinaga’s Fall 2022 courses:

Jessica Bushey:  Museum Archives, Social Media and AI

Dr. Bushey joins the iSchool from British Columbia where they have served as Archivist for the Museum of Northern Vancouver (MONOVA), British Columbia since 2018. Additionally, they hold the Chair of the Working Group on Reference and Access with the InterPARES Trust Research Group on Artificial Intelligence and Archives through 2026. Bushey describes themself as an archivist, artist, curator and scholar. Learn more about Dr. Bushey’s professional background here and here.

Dr. Bushey’s Fall 2022 courses:

Ulia Gosart: Indigenous Peoples Advocacy, Human Rights, and Mentoring

Dr. Gosart (Popova) joins the iSchool from UCLA’s Department of Information Studies where she has taught various courses related to archives, collection development, indigenous communities and intellectual property management. Trained in intercultural pedagogy, Dr. Gosart is dedicated to the equitable and just representation of indigenous communities. She has participated as a representative and permanent member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues since 2004. Learn more about Dr. Gosart here and here.

Dr. Gosart’s Fall 2022 courses:

James Hodges: Digital Archives, Digital Software Preservation and Game Studies

Dr. Hodges joins us from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information where he has been the Fred M. Bullard Postdoctoral Research Fellow since 2020. Additionally, since 2021, he has been the Junior Fellow at the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography at Rare Book School, University of Virginia. Dr.Hodges is committed to making technology work for communities and developing strategies for managing misinformation. Learn more about Dr. Hodges here and here.

Dr. Hodges’ Fall 2022 courses:

Norman Mooradian: Digital Ethics, Information Governance, and AI

Dr. Mooradian has lectured at the iSchool since 2017. He holds a PhD in Philosophy with an emphasis in legal studies. Formerly a senior solutions analyst at Konica Minolta Business Solutions, USA, Dr. Mooradian is now the education services lead for the same firm, facilitating customer enablement training for OnBase, overseeing customer solutions training, and leading a professional knowledge-sharing program. Additionally, he is a working member of the PDF Consortium (formally AIIM) Trustworthy Storage Working Group 1 and the ANSI/AIIM C27 Trusted Systems Working Group which develop national and international standards for electronic content management. Learn more about Dr. Mooradian here and here.

Dr. Mooradian’s Fall 2022 courses:

The Time is Now: Register for Fall Courses

Continuing Regular Session Students: Registration for regular session fall courses is open by appointment until August 16. Click here for more information about registration appointments.

Continuing Special Session Students: Registration for special session fall courses is open until August 16. Click here for more information about available courses.

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