Information is Power: Hidden Histories, Knowledge Justice & Future Systems

Information is never neutral: it is produced, mediated, classified, preserved, corrupted, obscured, mis-used, recovered, and re-used. How this is done, and critically, by whom, shapes whose knowledge is recognised, whose histories are archived, and whose futures can be imagined. The Department of Information Studies (DIS) Annual Research Symposium (19 May 2026) is a UCL Faculty Arts and Humanities flagship event that brings together researchers and practitioners across libraries, archives and records management, publishing, digital humanities, data/AI, and information science to explore information power – information as a currency of power and, potentially, empowerment – as a grand challenge of our time. As part of UCL200, we ask what it means to “rediscover” and “reclaim” information: to recover hidden histories, redesign systems of stewardship, and build equitable knowledge infrastructures that serve communities with fairness, integrity, accountability, and care. The symposium invites colleagues from across UCL, the cultural sector, policy, and civil society to engage with our groundbreaking departmental foundations and current emerging research on knowledge justice, information governance, AI ethics, information activism, and future-facing infrastructures.

Note on event timings: The symposium is scheduled to run between 9 AM - 5:30 PM. It is followed by an evening event at the nearby venue of The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, where at 6 PM there will be a drinks reception followed by a film screening and discussion. Separate registration is required for this event - see further information in the adgenda below and booking link here.

Background image adapted from UCL COLLEGE ARCHIVES. PHOTOGRAPHS. STUDENTS - Education Cuts. A poster protesting at government spending cuts in education, March 1977

Info: Opening Address by Oliver Duke-Williams, Professor of Population Information, and Head of Department of Information Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University College London (UCL).

Info: What is Information Studies and where do our information systems come from? This panel explores the roots of our discipline, highlighting the hidden histories and power dynamics that have shaped the origins and development of our domains of theory and practice. PANEL CHAIR: Dr Lucy Brownson, Lecturer in Archives and Records Management, Department of Information Studies
PANELLISTS:
Professor Vanda Broughton, Professor Emerita of Library and Information Studies (UCL DIS).
Professor Elizabeth Shepherd, Professor Emerita of Archives and Records Management (UCL DIS).
Professor Julianne Nyhan, Emeritus Professor of Information Studies (UCL) and Professor and Chair of Humanities Data Science and Methodology, Institute of History, Technische Universität Darmstadt .
Dr Alice Corble, Lecturer in Library and Information Studies and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, UCL Department of Information Studies.

Info: Professor Fidelia Ibekwe will deliver a Keynote Lecture titled 'Whither Information Science in the 21st century, and going forward?', followed by Q&A and discussion.
Fidelia Ibekwe is Full Professor, Aix-Marseille University School of Journalism & Communication (EJCAM), member of Laboratoire Parole et Langage research team, and Honorary Professor at UCL Department of Information Studies (DIS). Professor Fidelia Ibekwe is also the Principal Investigator of the ARCHERIF project (Towards an Anti-Racism Certification for Higher Education and Research Institutions in France) as well as the Editor in Chief of Education for Information. More information on her trajectory can be found on her homepage: https://www.fideliaibekwe.info/

Info: What’s breaking and for whom? In an era marked by crisis, data deluge, mis- and dis-information, this panel considers contemporary challenges facing Information Studies, exploring power asymmetries across themes of information control, curation, publishing, and access. Chaired by Dr Photini Vrikki, Lecturer in Digital Methods in the Humanities, Department of Information Studies, UCL. PANELLISTS: Dr Daniel Onah, Associate Professor (Teaching) in Computer and Information Systems (UCL DIS).

Dr Deborah Lee, Lecturer in Library and Information Studies (UCL DIS).

Dr George Cooper, Lecturer in Publishing Practice (UCL DIS).

Dr Xiange Ren Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication (University of Sydney).

Info: How can we reimagine fairer information futures? This panel explores ethical horizons of information infrastructures, stewardship and governance, considering the power of participatory design, human-centred AI, responsible records management, and culturally inclusive collections.
Chaired by Dr Arabella Sinclair, Lecturer in Knowledge, Information and Data Science, Department of Information Studies, UCL. PANELLISTS: Dr Jin Gao, Lecturer in Digital Archives and Co-Director of the UCL Centre for the Digital Humanities (UCL DIS).

Dr Anna Sexton, Associate Professor in Archives, Records Management and Information Governance (UCL DIS).

Dr Andreas Vlachidis, Associate Professor of Information Science (UCL DIS).

Dr Denise R. S. Almeida, Head of Policy and Compliance, Element (and UCL DIS alumna).

Info: The final panel invites DIS alumni guests to reflect on the discursive themes of the day, considering interdisciplinary, intercultural, and institutional angles on information as power across our academic and professional fields of theory and practice.
Chaired by Dr Bonnie Boyana Buyuklieva, Lecturer in Data Science for Society, Department of Information Studies, UCL. PANELLISTS: Tavian Hunter, Library and Archive Manager of the Stuart Hall Library at iniva.

Dr Billy Tong, Lecturer (Teaching) Publishing, Knowledge Production, Platforms and Society.

Dr Marco Humbel, Honorary Research Fellow, Digital Humanities.

Dr Kaya Marczewska, Rare Books and Academic Liaison Librarian, UCL Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science (LCCOS).

Info: Please note that additional registration is required for the evening event, which will be hosted at the nearby venue of The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), School of Advanced Studies, University of London (additional registration required here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lights-echoes-libraries-moving-images-of-global-knowledge-justice-tickets-1985945353011).

Info: Venue: The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) Lecture Theatre, Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Sq, London WC1B 5DR.

Please note: additional registration is required for this event, which is part of a film series programme co-hosted by UCL Department of Information Studies and The IALS Library (University of London School of Advanced Studies), with thanks to funding from the Dean’s Strategic Development Fund, UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities . Link to register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lights-echoes-libraries-moving-images-of-global-knowledge-justice-tickets-1985945353011

Info: The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Sq, London WC1B 5DR

Info: Free screening of How to Build a Library, a feature documentary following Shiro and Wachuka as they set out to transform Nairobi’s McMillan Memorial Library – once a whites-only colonial institution – into a vibrant, inclusive public space. As they navigate political constraints, funding challenges, and competing public expectations, their work reveals the complexities of remaking a cultural institution shaped by colonial histories. Blending intimate, character-driven storytelling with archival material, directors Maia Lekow and Christopher King explore how libraries function as sites of memory, de/coloniality, power, and knowledge production. The film offers a nuanced reflection on what it means to reclaim, reinterpret, and rebuild shared cultural heritage in the present.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with the film’s directors, alongside invited speakers, reflecting on libraries, archives and the role of cultural institutions in shaping reparative futures.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

UCL Laws Denys Holland Lecture Theatre, Endsleigh Gardens, London, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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