Welcome
to Bharat Mehra’s web page
I
am Associate Professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University
of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK). Broadly, my research philosophy and teaching
practices bring in a deeper understanding of the users and their social and
cultural contexts into library and information science education. Specifically,
my work has focused on community informatics or the use of information and
communication technologies to enable and empower communities to meet their
needs and goals. This has involved creating awareness of social justice and
social equity in the information professions for representing the needs of
minority, disenfranchised, and international populations. For example, click on
a summary table
of my involvement in various research projects documenting the effects of
technology on different ethnic and "marginalized" cultures of
"difference."
Teaching and Research Interests
· Diversity and Intercultural
Communication, Social Justice in Library and Information Science, Critical and Cross-Cultural
Studies, Community Informatics, Information Seeking Behaviors of Minority
Populations, Qualitative Methods, Action Research, Public and Rural Library
Management, Information Organization and Representation, Collection
Development, Resources and Services for Adults, Grant Development for
Information Professionals.
My
growing up experiences in India
created an awareness and acceptance of human diversity in its multiple forms of
expression, thought, and action. My training as an architect at the School of Planning
and Architecture, New Delhi,
made me visually literate and sensitive towards human factors in design. In India, I worked
in the vernacular spirit of architecture where I developed a respect for
"local" traditions and cultural practices. Graduate education in the
United States in the disciplines of Landscape Architecture and in South and
Middle Eastern Studies helped me recognize the importance of cultural and
behavioral factors in architecture and design, the role of public participation
in the historic preservation-planning process, issues in community building and
community development, and the need for participatory design in the creation of
relevant social spaces.
During
my Ph. D. in Library and Information Science, I gained experience in study of
social-human factors, cultural informatics, community development, and
internationalization of American academia. In my dissertation entitled “The
Cross-Cultural Learning Process of International Doctoral Students: A Case
Study in Library and Information Science Education” I propose a model of the
cross-cultural learning process of international doctoral students in LIS
education in terms of the following eight non-hierarchical phases:
Phase 0: Post-admission before the first semester starts
Phase 1: Program initiation
Phase 2: “Gathering” experiences
Phase 3: “Triggers” realization of differences
Phase 4: Dyslexic state of existence
Phase 5: Conditioned awareness comparison-contrast to
“home”
Phase 6: “De-conditioning” of expectations based on the
past
Phase 7: Enlightened adaptation
These phases represent significant cognitive
(thoughts), affective (feelings), and physical (actions) aspects of the
experiences of LIS international doctoral students. The research identified
interventions at the level of individual student, faculty, doctoral student
community, program, and discipline during each of the eight phases of students’
cross-cultural learning process that together needed to be applied holistically
in conjunction with each other to further internationalization in American
education.
As a faculty member in the UTK I plan to
continue work with diversity and internationalizing issues, critical
multiculturalism, and creating awareness in library and information science
professions about the need for supporting proactive participation of
disenfranchised individuals in the processes of information creation,
organization, dissemination, and use. Such efforts will, I believe, help
strengthen our service-oriented industry to become more actively involved in
furthering democratic ideals of social justice and social equity in local and
global communities.
***IN
THE SPOTLIGHT***
Bharat Mehra and Donna Braquet. (2012). A
Website Evaluation of the Top Public Universities in the United States to
Assess their Offering of Domestic Partnership Benefits for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, and Questioning People.
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