Tanja Aitamurto, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at UIC and the founding director of the Me/Dem Lab. She examines new media technologies for empowering, connecting, and informing people.
Niloufar Hajirahimikalhroudi is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at UIC. She is interested in digital culture, particularly digital memory practices as compared to analog ones.
Michel Maksimova is a PhD student at the Department of Communication at UIC. They are interested in queer game studies, with a focus on players, meaning-making, and community.
Peter Royal is a PhD student in the communication department at UIC. He is interested in the social and ethical implications of technology for communication, including human-machine communication, political communication, and misinformation and disinformation. He has examined the framing of social issues in traditional and social media, the role of technology in deliberation about social issues, and users’ perceptions of emerging technologies.
Kendall Tyson is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research focuses on the intersection of environmental activism and hybrid media.
Alumni
Elisa Kondo Mattson is a fellow at the Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship Program at the U.S. Department of Energy. Elisa earned her MA in Communication at UIC.
Krysten Stein is an Assistant Professor of Communication in the Department of English and Communication at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College. She earned her PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Ashwini Naik is a computational scientist at the University of Chicago. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Yasamin Sadeghi is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Meta. She earned her BA in Psychology from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Piper Howard is a sports journalist and currently works as an administrative associate with the Chicago Blackhawks. She earned her B.A. in Communication from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Mirah Zukha is a Program Manager at World Business Chicago. She earned her B.A. in Communication from the University of Illinois Chicago.