kling@ICS.UCI.EDU (Rob Kling) (10/24/90)
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COMPUTING, ORGANIZATIONS, POLICY AND SOCIETY
at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
C O R P S
The University of California, Irvine provides an opportunity for
scholars and students to investigate the social dimensions of
computerization in a setting which supports reflective and sustained
inquiry. The primary educational opportunities are separate PhD
concentrations in the Department of Information and Computer Science
(ICS) and the Graduate School of Management (GSM). Students in each
program can specialize in studying the social dimensions of computing.
However, CORPS faculty and students work together across departmental
boundaries on specific research projects, in regular seminars, etc. The
faculty at UC-Irvine has been active in this area, with many
interdisciplinary projects, since the early 1970's. The faculty and
students in CORPS have approached them with methods drawn primarily
from the social sciences. The CORPS concentrations focus upon four
related areas of inquiry:
1. Examining the social consequences of different kinds of
computerization on social life in organizations and in the
larger society.
2. Examining the social dimensions of the work and organizational
worlds in which computer technologies are developed,
marketed, disseminated, deployed, and sustained.
3. Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for managing the
deployment and use of computer-based technologies.
4. Evaluating and proposing public policies which facilitate
the development and use of computing in pro-social ways.
Studies of these questions have focused on complex information systems,
computer-based modeling, decision-support systems, the myriad forms of
office automation, electronic funds transfer systems, expert systems,
instructional computing, personal computers, automated command and
control systems, and computing at home. The questions vary from study
to study. They have included questions about the effectiveness of these
technologies, effective ways to manage them, the social choices that
they open or close off, the kind of social and cultural life that
develops around them, their political consequences, and their social
carrying costs. CORPS studies at Irvine have a distinctive orientation:
1. in focusing in both public and private sectors,
2. in examining computerization in public life and homelife as
well as within organizations,
3. examining advanced and common computer-based technologies
``in vivo" in ordinary settings,
4. by employing analytical methods drawn from the social sciences, and
5. by encouraging critical inquiry about the management and
consequences of computerization while eschewing monolithic
positions ``pro" or ``anti" computing.
Organizational Arrangements for CORPS The CORPS concentrations are
special tracks within the normal graduate degree program of ICS and
GSM. Admission requirements for these PhD concentrations are the same
as for students who apply for a PhD in ICS or an MS or PhD in GSM.
Students with varying backgrounds are encouraged to apply for the PhD
programs if they can demonstrate strong research promise. The seven
primary faculty in the CORPS concentration hold appointments in the
Department of Information and Computer Science and the Graduate School
of Management. Several other faculty in both the Department of
Information and Computer Science and the Graduate School of Management
share research interests in CORPS topics, although their work is
anchored in other fields. Additional faculty in the School of Social
Sciences, and the Program in Social Ecology have collaborated in
research or have taught key courses for CORPS students. Research is
administered through an interdisciplinary research institute at UCI
which is part of the Graduate Division, the Public Policy Research
Organization. People who wish additional information about the CORPS
concentration or research done by CORPS participants should write to
Professor Rob Kling or Professor Kenneth Kraemer.
Professor Rob Kling
Kling@ics.uci.edu
Department of Information
and Computer Science
Professor Kenneth Kraemer
ken@ucippro.bitnet
Graduate School of Management
University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717