iSchool assistant professor Yubo Kou, Ph.D., is committed to advocating for undergraduate students in the field of information.

Dr. Kou has been an assistant professor with Florida State’s iSchool since August 2018. His area of research focuses on human-computer interaction, social media/game research, social computing, and computer-supported cooperative work. This year he is serving alongside Matthew Bietz (University of California, Irvine) as co-chair for the Undergraduate Symposium at iConference 2019, taking place in Washington, D.C., March 31 to April 3, 2019.

iConference is “an annual gathering of a broad spectrum of scholars and researchers from around the world who share a common concern about critical information issues in contemporary society,” says the iConference website.

This is the first year the organization will have an event specifically aimed toward undergraduate participants. Kou and Bietz are responsible for building the symposium from the ground up, including recruitment and structure of the event as a whole.

Kou says their goal is to “help participants better understand the iConference and the information field, network with other students and faculty, and discuss career paths as an information professional.” To learn more about the event, visit their webpage.