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Doctoral Students

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Daniel Akselrad

Daniel Akselrad

daniel.akselrad@stanford.edu
CV

Daniel works at the intersection of technology, rhetoric, and organizations, using historical and ethnographic methods to study language, ideology, and organizational culture. He has used this lens to examine distributed decision-making in fighter jet cockpits, the role of euphemism in Nazi bureaucracy, and the internal communications of the global cigarette industry.

Sacha Alanoca

sachaa@stanford.edu
CV

Sacha's interdisciplinary research lies at the frontier of AI, public policy, and social justice. Her work particularly focuses on examining the role of AI governance and regulation in mitigating rising inequalities and power asymmetries driven by algorithmic systems.

David Barnstone

dbarnsto@stanford.edu
CV

Barnstone studies the dynamics of media use in families with young children. He is particularly interested in understanding the influence of media exposure during infancy on child development and parental wellbeing.

Rachel Bergmann

Rachel Bergmann

rachberg@stanford.edu
CV

Bergmann uses interpretive and archival methods to deeply and critically contextualize contemporary information technologies. Her research interests include histories of computing, feminist science and technology studies, and the cultural politics of AI and algorithmic systems.

Caitlin Burke

Caitlin Burke

ccburke@stanford.edu

Burke is interested in user experience design, design ethics, and human-computer interaction.

Yikun Chi

Yikun Chi

yikunchi@stanford.edu

Chi is interested in leveraging media consumption and mobile sensing data and deep learning for the detection and prediction of mental well-being related issues.

Ross Dahlke

Ross Dahlke

rdahlke@stanford.edu 
CV

Dahlke researches the connection between online and offline civic life, particularly participation in political collective action such as social media use and political donations. 

Matthew DeButts

Matthew DeButts

mdebutts@stanford.edu

Matt is interested in how institutions get people to believe things, especially in China and the United States (media, politics, beliefs).

Cid Decatur

Cid Decatur

cdecatur@stanford.edu
CV

Decatur focuses on the cognitive impacts of social media, social networks, language, and jargon online.

Cyan DeVeaux

Cyan DeVeaux

cyanjd@stanford.edu 
CV

DeVeaux is interested in augmented and virtual reality, human-computer interaction, and human-centered design.

Elizabeth Fetterolf

elizfett@stanford.edu 
CV

Fetterolf is interested in how care work technologies shape and are shaped by the ongoing crisis of care in the US, particularly as this relates to workplace and intimate surveillance. 

Thay Graciano

thayg@stanford.edu 
CV

Graciano is interested in reducing political polarization and ensuring policy-making is guided by the wishes of common citizens through the implementation of Deliberative Democracy methods.

Tomás Guarna

Tomás Guarda

tguarna@stanford.edu
CV

Guarna is interested in the new meanings of citizenship, trust, and legitimacy in the digital public sphere. 

Bingxu Han

bingxu9@stanford.edu
CV

Bingxu explores in the intersection of communication, psychology, and health. She is interested in harnessing technology-mediated communication to facilitate (mental) health support and help individuals navigate challenging psychological scenarios.

Eugy Han

Eugy Han

eugyoung@stanford.edu
CV

Han is interested in understanding how virtual reality environments and the embodiment of digital identities transform cognitive processes.

Zhenchao Hu 

zhenchao@stanford.edu
CV

Zhenchao is interested in (intensive) longitudinal methods, social media uses and effects, interpersonal relationships, children and adolescents' identity development, sexuality, and well-being.

Young Jee Kim

Young Jee Kim

kimyj@stanford.edu
CV

Kim studies democratic processes for risk prevention in society through deliberative practices.

Angela Lee

Angela Lee

angela8@stanford.edu
CV

Lee is interested in understanding the impact of media and technology on users’ health and well-being by studying psychological processes such as mindsets, particularly in the context of adolescent and parent-child relationships.

Rebecca Lewis 

Becca Lewis researches ideological and social histories of Silicon Valley and the internet.

Marijn Mado

Marijn Mado

mnmado@stanford.edu
CV

Mado studies media literacy education. She uses ethnographic methods to explore the practices and epistemological assumptions that underlie the design and teaching of media literacy programs.

Ryan Moore

Ryan Moore

rymoore@stanford.edu
CV

Moore is interested in older adults’ digital media use. 

Natalie Neufeld

nneufeld@stanford.edu
CV

Neufeld studies how people talk about (and make sense of) American politics.

Michelle Ng

michelleng@stanford.edu 
CV

Ng examines the psychological, behavioral, and experiential dynamics of people who are exposed to climate hazards – with a focus on improving risk communication. By leveraging longitudinal methods and community-based participatory research, she aims to align behind community-led efforts to promote wellbeing in climate frontline communities.

Rinseo Park

Rinseo Park

rinseo@stanford.edu
CV

Park is interested in understanding how individual decision-making diverges from policy actors’ (e.g., political elites or scientific experts) views and the underlying cognitive processes.

Katherine Roehrick

kroehr@stanford.edu 
CV

Roehrick uses computational and linguistic analyses to study human-computer interaction and digital media. She is a Stanford Graduate Fellow.

Reagan Ross

Reagan Ross

CV

Reagan is interested in the intersections of race, gender, and new media and technology. She is also interested in understanding how new technology might be used to disrupt anti-Black racism.

Monique Santoso

msant@stanford.edu
CV

Santoso is interested in the social, psychological, and behavioral implications of virtual reality, particularly in the context of climate and sustainability. 

Serena Soh

sjsoh@stanford.edu
 

Soh is interested in understanding how identity development unfolds in the digital context, particularly in terms of how digital interventions can be designed to promote positive identity development. 

Noah Vinoya 

avnoah@stanford.edu
CV

Vinoya is interested in how digital media can be leveraged as a tool to understand human behavior in a more natural context. Particularly, media habits can be captured to help unveil aspects of personality expression, well-being, and life outcomes.

Portia Wang 

portiaw@stanford.edu
CV

Portia is interested in building up a theoretical framework towards understanding the role of personalized immersive technologies in supporting social and creative processes. She hopes to develop personalized tools for facilitating social interactions and the creative process in virtual and augmented reality and characterize how individuals and groups utilize these tools over time.

Morgan Weiland

mweiland@stanford.edu
CV
morganweiland.com

Morgan N. Weiland is the Executive Director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School, where she received her JD in 2015. She is in the process of completing the first joint degree program between SLS and Stanford’s Communication Department, where she is a PhD candidate.

Emily Zou

easyone@stanford.edu

Zou is interested in how people come to know things online, which manifests in questions like: 1. How do online platforms and communities shape the content, process, and outcomes of political communication? and 2. How can we measure/interpret new norms and means of political engagement emerging out of online spaces?