Monthly Archives: October 2019

Senior Spotlight: Taneisha Arora Pursues Her Passions, From Working in Industry to Running a Bakery

October 7, 2019

For the past three years, Taneisha Arora has been double majoring in software engineering and data science, straddling all three departments in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS). With software engineering being offered by the Department of Informatics jointly with the Department of Computer Science, and data science offered through the Department of Statistics, the double major supported her work at the intersection of machine learning and statistics. In addition to her studies, Arora volunteered for the AppJam+ program, mentoring middle school students on STEM concepts, and won a “Best Web App” hackathon award. Then, she spent the past summer in Boulder, Colorado, interning at Google. Now, as she starts her senior year, she decided to swap her software engineering major for a minor in ICS, allowing her more time to focus on her research and take classes that excite her.

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Informatics Ph.D. Student Lucy Pei Receives Zonta Women in Technology Scholarship

Since 1923, Zonta International has been “empowering women through service and advocacy,” providing more than $41.2 million through clubs in 63 countries to expand “access to education, health care, economic opportunities and safe living conditions.” This year, Zonta encouraged women to pursue educational, career and leadership opportunities in technology-related fields by offering the inaugural Women in Technology scholarship. The selection process was based on “outstanding potential in the field,” and Informatics Ph.D. student Lucy Pei was one of the recipients.

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Inclusive Streaming Workshop Builds Community to Advance Research

October 2, 2019

The Inclusive Streaming Initiative recently hosted a two-day workshop, bringing together leading scholars in areas such as game studies and cultural anthropology, to promote diversity and inclusion in livestreaming. Funded through an Exploration Grant of $75,000 from the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS), the workshop tackled challenges related to identity-based harassment.

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The Atlantic: “What Fan Fiction Teaches That the Classroom Doesn’t” (Rebecca Black quoted)

October 1, 2019

These communities also “allow for a lot of different forms of expertise,” says Rebecca Black, an informatics professor at the University of California at Irvine who has studied fan fiction. “Even if you aren’t the best writer, you might know everything there is to know about a certain character in the series.” People can switch between the roles of teacher and student, depending on their strengths and weaknesses.

Read the full story at The Atlantic.