Preparing Students to Shape What’s Next with the Bachelor’s in Emerging Technologies in Society

Artificial intelligence. Extended reality. Information security. Social media. The technologies shaping modern life influence what people see, buy, believe and share—and increasingly, how people work.

According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2025, 86% of businesses expect AI and information-processing technologies to transform their operations in the next four years, while nearly 40% of workers’ core skills are expected to change during that same period.

At the University of Arizona College of Information Science, those shifts are driving the evolution of the Bachelor of Arts in Emerging Technologies in Society, a STEM-designated online degree centered on understanding and influencing the relationship between technology and human experience.

“The technologies shaping society today look very different than they did when this program was first created,” says Michael McKisson, professor of practice and associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs. “Technical awareness alone isn’t enough. Understanding the broader impact of these systems on individuals, communities and society is exactly where information science excels.”

The Bachelor’s in Emerging Technologies in Society builds on the college’s long-standing strengths in information science while reflecting the realities of today’s technological landscape. Students explore topics such as artificial intelligence, information security and privacy, social media, user experience, digital storytelling, algorithms and extended reality not simply as technologies, but as forces shaping communication, culture, business, learning and civic life.

Through an interdisciplinary curriculum, students examine both the opportunities and challenges emerging technologies create. Courses such as Digital Storytelling and Culture, Disruptive Technologies, Information Security, Decoding Disinformation and Information Trust, Manipulation and Deception encourage students to explore how information moves through society, how technologies influence human behavior and how ethical questions emerge alongside innovation.

The degree’s evolution from the former BA in Information Science and eSociety reflects not only the changing technological landscape but also the growing breadth of InfoSci faculty research and expertise, which increasingly spans emerging technologies, information systems and their implications for society.

“The term ‘eSociety’ made sense when the digital world felt separate from the physical world,” McKisson says, referring to the eSociety degree, which anticipated many of the questions about technology, information and human behavior that now shape everyday life. “Today, technology is woven into nearly every aspect of our lives. The Bachelor of Arts in Emerging Technologies in Society gives students a framework for understanding not only how emerging technologies work, but how they are changing human experience.”

That perspective is increasingly valuable as employers seek professionals who can navigate both technological systems and the human contexts in which those systems operate. Graduates are prepared for careers ranging from digital marketing, content strategy and business analytics to user experience, information systems and technology consulting.

More broadly, they graduate with the analytical, research and communication skills needed to adapt in a world where change itself has become a defining feature of work and society.

Rather than preparing students for a single technology or platform, the Bachelor of Arts in Emerging Technologies in Society prepares them to navigate—and shape—what comes next.
  

Learn more about the Bachelor of Arts in Emerging Technologies in Society.