Young Alumni Profile: LIS alumna Lindsay Mattock (PhD’14) begins tenure track position
08/11/2014
The School of Information Sciences (iSchool) is proud to share the news of iSchool alumna Dr. Lindsay Mattock’s (PhD‘14) new position at the University of Iowa. Lindsay will begin her appointment as tenure track Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science in August 2014. At the University of Iowa, Lindsay will teach a course on “Archives and Media” for the newly-created Digital Humanities certificate program.
Also a graduate of the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS’09) program at the iSchool, Lindsay was inspired to pursue her doctorate based on a research project she began as a master’s student. During her four years of doctoral work, Lindsay taught several classes including “Moving Image Archives” which she redeveloped for current iSchool students. Lindsay credits “having the opportunity to teach my own courses” as one of the most important experiences of her graduate work. She also noted that “working with the MLIS students was always rewarding. Many of them had great ideas and insights that challenged me to see my research in a different light.”
The interdisciplinary focus of Pitt’s iSchool enabled Lindsay to experience and understand very different perspectives on research. She believes these different perspectives, which extended to her own doctoral committee, have made her a stronger researcher and a better teacher. She defended her dissertation, “Media Arts Centers as Alternative Archival Spaces: Investigating the Development of Archival Practices in Nonprofit Media Organizations” in June 2014. Her committee included advisor Richard Cox and members Sheila Corrall, Brian Beaton, and Annette Vee (Department of English).
Lindsay advises current doctoral students to be flexible in their search for a tenure track position and reminds them to “explore every opportunity because you never know what’s going to fit.” But of all her advice for current students to keep in mind when considering their careers after the iSchool, Lindsay thinks perhaps the most important is to “always believe in yourself and the training you received here.”
Congratulations, Lindsay, and best wishes from the iSchool!