COMM Updates - 2/11/2026

February 11, 2026

Awards

Professor danah boyd was selected as a Non-Resident Fellow by the Center for Democracy & Technology, an honor recognizing leading scholars who contribute expertise on technology policy, civil rights, and democratic values in the digital age. During her two-year term, she and other fellows collaborate with CDT teams on research projects, policy development, convenings, and public-facing work.

Lab News

On February 6 and 7, Associate Professor Andrea Stevenson Won, along with the other members of the Virtual Embodiment Lab, graduate student Kevin Martinez, Sarah Swee, and Shayla Reid, participated in an art–research collaboration at the Grauzone Art Festival. Using a prototype developed by the Collective Embodiment group, the team accompanied and guided attendees as they experienced the festival through cameras worn on participants’ bodies, communicating via voice and haptic feedback through small vibrating sensors worn on host attendees’ arms. The project was conducted in collaboration with Shiri Azenkot (Information Science, Cornell Tech), Sang Leigh (Human Ecology), Sara Falcone (Computer Science, Pace University), Mar Gonzalez-Franco (Google Research), and Dasha Kolesnyk (University of Amsterdam). The exhibition was curated by artist Laura Dima.

2 individuals on a zoom looking at a piece of art

Pictured are Kevin Martinez (top left) and Andrea Stevenson Won (top right) looking at a piece of art.

Lectures

In January, Professor Bruce Lewenstein presented the keynote talk at the first virtual “BarCamp” (or “unconference”) of the International Network on Public Communication of Science and Technology. As the BarCamp convened to imagine what science communication would look like 25 or 50 years in the future, Bruce presented an overview of how science communication has changed in the last 50 years. The talk is available on YouTube.

Publications

Madhavi Redd & Graduate student Margaret Foster, fall 2025, “Generationality, Desirability, and Redemption: How Aziz Ansari and Hasan Minhaj Articulate New Desi Masculinities in Stand-Up Comedy,” Lateral.

This journal article explores the ways in which Aziz Ansari and Hasan Minhaj use humor to construct distinct yet comparable forms of Desi Masculinity that assert cultural citizenship.

Picture Time!

5 individuals stand and smile for a selfie

Professor danah boyd delivered a talk at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, invited by alum Dmitry Epstein. Pictured left to right: Dmitry Epstein (Cornell COMM PhD ‘11), Ido Ramati, Limor Shifman, Lilly Boxman-Shabtai, danah boyd, and Tommaso Trillò.