The University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Events Science, technology & society

NCDG co-sponsors World Bank forum

The National Center for Digital Government (NCDG) is co-sponsoring the 2nd Annual US-Korea Information and Communication Technology-Based Policy Forum at the World Bank on November 5, 2009.

Building off of discussions from the 1st US-Korea Forum held in Seoul, Korea, this year’s forum provides a unique opportunity for dialog between Korean and U.S. experts on national information technology enablement, green IT, knowledge infrastructure, and job creation in a knowledge-based economy. The Forum will also act as the kick-off-meeting for a US-Korean committee for cooperation on IT policies.

The forum is organized by Korea’s National Information Society Agency and sponsored by NCDG, the Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the World Bank, the Center for Advanced Technology Strategy, and Intel.

NCDG is a research center based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Center for Public Policy and Administration and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. NCDG’s mission is to build global research capacity, to advance practice, and to strengthen the network of researchers and practitioners engaged in building and using technology and government. For more information visit www.ncdg.org.

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Faculty Research

Hanson Receives Teaching Award

One of this year’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ Outstanding Teaching Award has been presented to one of our own, Jarice Hanson.

Hanson is a faculty associate at the Center for Public Policy and Administration and director of graduate education in the Department of Communication. Her research and teaching involve the relationship of media and digital technology with society; international telecommunications policies, and social and behavioral aspects of interacting with technology. Current research involves the social and behavioral aspects of cell phones and the Internet; the emerging field of nanotechnology; and the impact of media coverage of the war in Iraq on rhetorical dimensions of dealing with democratic practices.

On campus since 1985, Hanson has, since 2004, concurrently held the position of Verizon Chair in Telecommunications at the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University. From 2001-03, while on leave from UMass Amherst, she served as the founding dean of the Quinnipiac University School of Communications.

Hanson is a dynamic teacher, as evidenced by her students. “She breathes exuberance into every single one of her classes and demands attention with her quirky anecdotes that always help me place lessons into a personal context,” says one. Another adds, “Professor Hanson has the wonderful ability of being able to explain complicated concepts in a straightforward, accessible and thought-provoking manner… Most admirable is Professor Hanson’s obvious passion for helping students learn.”

Inspiring to undergraduate and graduate students alike, Hanson has a reputation for providing “great intellectual and moral support for graduate students’ academic development.” A five-time nominee for the SBS teaching award, Hanson was also a finalist for the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993, 2000 and 2007.

Congratulations, Jarice!

See the SBS newsletter for the complete article

Categories
Events Student news

2009 Capstones

The MPPA class of 2009 presented their capstone projects May 13th & 14th in 620 Thompson Hall. A list of project topics is available here. Most papers are available upon request from CPPA.

Congratulations to everyone who presented!

Categories
Science, technology & society

UMass Amherst Receives Federal Grant To Create Test Site For Digital Library on Ethical Research Practices

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a $250,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop an online digital library that contains research findings and other materials about the ethical and responsible conduct of research. The grant, from the NSF’s Office of Integrative Research, funds a beta, or test site.

The online depository at UMass Amherst will contain written, video, audio and other material that can be used to teach responsible and ethical research practices to undergraduate and graduate students, along with postdoctoral researchers.

The UMass Amherst project will be directed by Jane Fountain, professor of political science and public policy and director of the National Center for Digital Government and Science, Technology and Society (STS) Initiative, and Marilyn Billings, scholarly communication and special initiatives librarian at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library.

The project is being developed in response to a new federal law and will direct faculty from a range of academic disciplines to appropriate resources for their classrooms, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The availability of a wide range of teaching materials and the ability to search for specific information is a key element of the project.

Fountain says, “The ability to freely, quickly and easily locate and review materials for use in training future generations of scientists and engineers is invaluable. A beta site that compiles existing materials with the objective of making them as freely and easily accessible and useful as possible, while incorporating Web 2.0 and social networking tools that might enhance and expand usability, is the starting point for a national digital library for the 21st century.” The materials collected by UMass researchers will provide a robust, up-to-date collection of multimedia, multi-purpose materials upon which a permanent site may be based, she says.

The federal law that created the project is called the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act.