Message from UCLA Wasserman Dean
Christina A. Christie
July 2026
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies! This website describes the wide range of work being done by faculty, students, and staff across our two departments, both on- and off-campus. I invite you to take some time to explore and get to know us.
One thing you will notice as you learn about our work is the importance and centrality of community. It is at the heart of who we are and all that we do. It shapes how we teach, conduct research, prepare future leaders, and engage with the world beyond campus. Across our two departments, community takes many forms: the partnerships our centers build with schools, libraries, and local organizations; the intellectual communities that our faculty foster with each other and with our students; and the everyday relationships among faculty, staff, students, alumni, and collaborators that make meaningful work possible.
The Ed&IS community comprises scholars who are not only global and national leaders in their fields but also award-winning teachers who both mentor and learn from their students. Their voices drive local, national, and global conversations around contemporary issues, and they bring this expertise directly to their scholarship as well as their teaching and pedagogy.
Undergraduate students in Ed&IS engage in our bachelor’s degree program and undergraduate minor; graduate students enroll across 11 master’s and doctoral programs. All of our students blend theoretical knowledge with practical experience, and our alumni go on to lead schools, classrooms, and libraries, design state-of-the-art information systems, and partner with communities to effect real social change.
The strong Ed&IS tradition of innovative scholarship and impactful instruction is strengthened by 30 research centers and projects that ensure our work is rooted in meaningful connections to research and practice. The experiences of practitioners and communities continually inform the questions we ask, the methods we use, and the ideas we bring into classrooms. A dynamic exchange between inquiry and practice ensures that the knowledge we create is grounded in the realities and concerns of the people and institutions we serve.
We undertake all of this work with the knowledge that right now we are facing new and unprecedented challenges. Technology, for example, is transforming how we teach, learn, explore, and connect. In Ed&IS, we engage this transformation with rigor and intention. As educators, researchers, and information scholars, we have a unique responsibility to help shape our future by advancing innovation while also asking the difficult questions about ethics, equity, privacy, and the future of work and learning.
But we also know that our mission remains fundamentally human, as relationships, curiosity, wisdom, and an unwavering commitment to justice and equity cannot be automated. Members of our community embrace this tension and, in so doing, create thoughtful and effective responses to the challenges of our time.
Above all, Ed&IS is a community defined by openness, collaboration, and a shared commitment to making a difference. Our work depends on many perspectives and voices, and we look forward to including yours.
Warmly,
Tina
Christina A. Christie
Wasserman Dean of Education and Information Studies