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Itza Carbajal is a Ph.D candidate at the iSchool.

When you meet someone who doesn’t know about your research, how do you describe it?

I would describe my research as focused on materialized memories. I examine the social and cognitive frameworks of memory formation in addition to how people transfer memories into something physical like a toy, photograph, or even their social media. In my research, I specifically work with youth under the age of 18 to better understand how age-related social limitations might impact the way younger generations are forming and embodying their memories.

Who is the faculty member working closest with you? What are you learning from them?

What I love about my research is that it covers various information fields, allowing me the opportunity to collaborate with multiple faculty members on different topics. For example, I work with Marika Cifor on the archival component of my research, where we dig into the broader question of our effective relationship to archives. I also work with Anna Lauren Hoffman on the concept of populations and how populations have certain abilities or opportunities as well as certain limitations. Megan Finn is another faculty member I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with and we tend to focus on concepts around disasters. Since my dissertation specifically focuses on how young people are creating and engaging with memories before, during, and after natural disasters, my work with Megan has been especially valuable.

Why are you interested in this subject? 

For me, the concept of memory is a very personal one. Having experienced PTSD as a result of a natural disaster, I found this had a significant impact on my cognitive abilities and my perception of life in the present and even the future. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I struggled to grapple with both my family history and memories and the fact that I was not able to develop memories for a very particular moment in my time. I became really fascinated by this phenomenon and wanted to learn more about how difficult circumstances like natural disasters affect memory formation in other people. Especially now that climate change has led to a heightened risk of natural disasters, I think it’s very important to start understanding and highlighting the consequent effects on our cognitive functions. I don’t want other generations to have to go through anything that I went through without support.

What impact do you hope to make in the information field through your research/dissertation?

I hope to apply my research and dissertation into a teaching position where I incorporate this topic into the broader conversation around how we think about information. For instance, if I’m teaching a class on the organization of information, the concept of disasters helps us better understand that we won’t always be in a state of stability or peace to be able to organize our information. It helps us be more prepared in times of chaos. A goal of mine is to make sure that my findings from this topic around disasters, information and young people are always present in my teaching and are transferred to other professionals as well who can utilize the findings in their own specific scenarios.

What surprised you the most when digging into your research?

When I first joined the iSchool, it was during the height of the pandemic, a particularly challenging time to conduct research. What surprised me most was how difficult it was to focus my work on youth populations due to the stringent protections in place. These safeguards are important, but during COVID, my only method of outreach was through email, and with a limited network in the Seattle area, recruiting participants proved nearly impossible. While I understood the need for these restrictions, I couldn’t help but reflect on the broader implications, specifically how barriers like these can lead to a skewed understanding of younger generations in research. What are your career goals once you graduate? I’m very fortunate to be reaching my career goal so early on as I will be transitioning to a full-time teaching position at the Information School upon graduation. When I first started the Ph.D. program I was open to all sorts of career possibilities, but the prospect of being an educator always excited me. I’m thrilled that I now get to transfer knowledge to students who can then transfer that knowledge to others rather than having it end with me. I’m excited to think through the questions I had in my research but with a larger group of students and teaching peers who bring such valuable and diverse perspectives.