Research

Posthuman Media & Subjectivity 

    My scholarship explores how media technologies—from the telegraph to TikTok—configure human and more‑than‑human subjectivities and publics. Grounded in posthuman theory, materialist conceptions of information, and critical data studies, I investigate how big data, algorithms, and platform infrastructures shape everyday life and how we might re‑design them for justice and joy. This includes field research on anti-fascist media design inspired by Italy’s resistance movements and immersive rhetorical studies in Greece exploring the roots of truth and democracy.

    Key Questions

    • How do data infrastructures enact processes of subjectivation, and how do these shape our relationship with democracy?
    • What counts as an “individual” when bodies, microbes, and machines are entangled?
    • Which design interventions might foster more joyful, just, and plural ways of becoming?

    Interests

    • Posthuman media studies & informational ontology
    • Critical data & AI studies
    • Digital rhetoric & platform design
    • Citizen science, open data, & civic technology
    • Creative coding, critical making, & media archaeology
    • Philosophy of communication & ethics of technology

    Methodology & Projects

    I blend media genealogy, assemblage theory, post‑qualitative inquiry, speculative design, and practice‑based methods such as critical making, VR prototyping, and open‑data hackathons. This mixed toolkit links theoretical reflection to empirical intervention. Many projects are done in collaboration with my students in my classes and with students who have been hired through grant funding. 

    Methods in Practice

    • Critical / cultural studies
    • Hackathons
    • Critical making studios
    • Open‑data collaborations with civic partners
    • VR prototyping
    • Mixed qualitative/quantitative analytics
    • Anti-fascist platform design (Italy-based field research)
    • Rhetoric, truth, and democracy (study abroad research in Greece)

    • LiveJournal & Russian Disinformation

      Drawing on deep archival work, this book, published by Bloomsbury, shows how the Kremlin turned the early blogging platform LiveJournal into a testing ground for large-scale “epistemic sabotage.” By tracing the tactics that hollowed out shared truth in Russia, and later the rest of the world, I reveal why social media is now a frontline in the fight for democracy and what we can do about it.

      More on the book here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/livejournal-and-russian-disinformation-9781978765887/

    • History of the Arts in Fitchburg

      Created with students in COMM 1105 and the Fitchburg Historical Commission/Society, this interactive walking tour guides visitors along Main Street to six key sites—from the Whitney Opera Theater to the iconic Rollstone Boulder. Each stop pairs archival research with on-site images, and the built-in Google map offers turn-by-turn directions or a scannable QR code for mobile use. The project demonstrates place-based pedagogy in action: students mined local archives, wrote the narratives, and plotted the route, turning Fitchburg’s cultural heritage into an accessible public resource.

      You can see the full project here: https://theclio.com/tour/2402.

    • Empathy in VR

      Step into a classroom from two perspectives, first as a Black student, then as an Asian American peer, and feel how subtle racial biases land in real time. In trials with 83 undergrads, this dual-perspective simulation boosted empathy and sharpened recognition of microaggressions, showing VR’s power for social-justice learning and hinting at how perspective choices shape impact.

      The paper is here: https://ht.csr-pub.eu/index.php/ht/article/view/506

      And you can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38kzWaa0cJk

    Funding and Collaboration

    Funding & Recognition

    Since 2018 I have secured more than $80,000 in competitive grants, including the 2025 OER Faculty Gold Award, and funding for archival research in Italy and Greece. 

    Pedagogical Research

    Classrooms function as living labs for critical data and media studies. Recent open‑pedagogy initiatives include the Data Renaissance OER (2024) and student‑curated Media Archaeology Museum exhibitions. I regularly mentor undergraduate researchers and lead faculty learning communities on AI and OER.

    Collaboration Invitation

    I regularly partner with groups such as the Society of Philosophers in America and the Fitchburg Historical Society. I welcome partnerships with scholars, technologists, journalists, and civic groups interested in critical data studies, platform redesign, and public scholarship. Let’s build better media ecologies together.