Data in Social Context Workshop Participants

Mohammed Baaoum:

I am interested in reforming Eng&science education.My thesis for SP was on introducing social (soc) justice in Eng edu to empower eng student to use their knowledge in solving soc issues. Several of my papers have criticized eng edu & envisioned ways of reforming it using critical & emancipatory theories. I am interested in studying socio-technical systems. My Ph.D. research focused on resilience in community and health care context. In this research, I use system dynamics & data analytics.

Shane Bookhultz:

My research involves topic modeling through different applications like news sources and twitter data. I like to see the latent topics through large vocabularies to find connections between news articles and what people discuss on social media. Through these connections we can find what topics, in a social context, are more polarizing than others.

Eslam Hussein:

I work in the lab of social computing supervised by professor Tanushree Mitra. My interests lies in the study of social phenomenon on online social platforms. I am also interest in studying search engines and their impact on humans. My current project is about auditing the recommendation system of YouTube for recommending misinformation (conspiracy theories, fake news, rumors) to the end user, where I study what are the factors that help in amplifying the amount of recommended misinformation.

Leanna Ireland:

My research focuses on technologies for crime and the effects of their implementation, such as algorithm aversion in the judicial system and crowdsourcing crime-platforms. In addition, my teaching interests revolve around criminology and data methods. For instance, in my criminology course, I taught my students about racial discrimination in machine learning software and the need for algorithmic accountability.

Farnaz Khaghani:

My research focuses on data-driven urban infrastructure management and operational analytics. I am particularly interested in analyzing how data-driven methods for evaluation of roadways and transportation system resilience could lead to responsive and adaptive built environment. I would like to develop and teach advanced courses on applied Machine learning and statistical inference that focuses on urban computing and pertains to the study and application of computing technology in urban areas.

Jack R Leff:

My primary research is on the politics of breath, breathing, and atmosphere but I am more broadly interested in how technologies interact with politics. As a PhD student in STS, it’s valuable to learn how to teach scientists to think critically about politics and vice versa. I have undergraduate training in statistics and graduate training in political philosophy, so I see this workshop as a golden opportunity to hone my pedagogical cross-disciplinary communication.

J. Slade Lellock:

My research interests include the sociology of culture, digital sociology, consumption, and qualitative methodologies. My work primarily centers on issues of social/symbolic boundaries and social inequality. I have published several articles as well as an edited volume on the topic of craft beer culture in the U.S. Given my interest in the cultural dimensions of digital social life, I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in multiple online communities.

Neda Moayerian:

My research interests are community development especially with culture as the apparatus for change, sustainable tourism and women empowerment. My teaching interests are sociocultural impacts of tourism, community system thinking, urban policy and planning, and research methods in urban planning.

Savannah Paige Murray:

I research grassroots environmental rhetoric in Appalachia. As a researcher I am drawn to the archives and am interested in combining archival data with digital humanities tools. As a teacher, I work to help my students develop their writing and research skills. I work to help my students develop their research literacy, and feel as though a solid understanding of the ways in which data is collated, presented, and possibly manipulated, is a crucial part of students' development.

Roan Parrish:

I have been a TA for Intro to STS and Engineering Cultures. My research is in psychiatry infrastructures, particularly in care practices and in the interactions between medical professionals and patients. Part of my research is in how medical professionals use existing research and data, like neuroscience or psychology studies, within their care practices, and how patients understand that data in relation to themselves. I'm happy to teach pretty much anything.

Katherine Randall:

I study medical rhetoric, specifically within refugee resettlement--a research area rife with quantitative data, even when it isn’t the most appropriate or ethical approach to an issue. My background is in medical tech writing, and I am interested in teaching both technical and science writing classes in the future. Additionally, I am interested in how narrative medicine is seen as working with and against traditional quantitative methods in medical research.

Emma Stamm:

Since the 2018 workshop, my research and teaching experience have provided me with new insights which will help me engage with DiSC all the more effectively. I want to help DiSC continue to meet student interests and reflect the rapidly growing body of research about data. I am also eager to collaborate with scholars outside my field. This is a unique opportunity to learn and work alongside others interested in data, pooling our expertise to strengthen the transdisciplinary work of DiSC.

Jessica Resor:

My research interests are families and technology. I am interested in how families use technology mediated forms of communications and internet connected devices. Current projects include examining how families use Amazon Echo and how child use media. Future research will examine how families use group text message chats. My teaching interests include teaching HD 3014 Research Methods in Human Development and incorporating more methods and statistics into HD 2304 Family Relationships.