Explore Our Research Concentrations:
Global Communication and Media
Exploring the challenges posed by the global circulation of media and information. Faculty interests span citizenship and identity, immigration and diasporas, ethnic and racial minorities, human rights and social movements, neoliberalism and political-economic inequalities, war and geopolitics, international media treaties and policymaking. Faculty regional expertise include the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, South and North America, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.
Visual Culture and Sound Studies
Examining how visual and sound media shape everyday life on and offline, especially through politics and power. Faculty interests include global visual culture with a focus on the role of images (in news, art, advertising, science, fashion, television, film, digital images, architecture, and amateur media); visuality in colonial, imperial, and legal culture; visuality and the body, violence, and war; visual activism; the consumption and production of mediated sound; and the intersections of music and media.
Technology and Society
Researching information and communication technologies and their social, political and ethical implications. Faculty interests include the social, political, and ethical dynamics of information and communication technologies; the history of technological systems, devices, and forms of mediation; digital surveillance, data-tracking, and privacy; communications infrastructures of the built environment; assistive and wearable technologies; algorithms and platforms; cryptocurrencies; the design of media regulation and policy.
Media Industries and Politics
Studying the social, political, economic, and historical dynamics of media and information industries with a focus on governance and the use of media to shape and mobilize public opinion, social movements, and electoral politics. Covering such areas as state and corporate media manipulation and propaganda; political campaigns and public policy; dissent and censorship; media activism; platform capitalism; and the practices of culture industries such as journalism, social media, marketing and advertising, and entertainment.
Interaction and Experience
Researching how we relate to ourselves, each other, and the material world in various social, cultural, and technological contexts. Faculty interests include communication dynamics and interaction rituals; social identity and a sense of self; creativity and craft; structural violence and human agency; embodiment and affect; the lived experience of algorithms and data.