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I completed the REMS Fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Information. As a REMS Fellow, I worked with Dr. Nazanin Andalibi and UMSI PhD Student Daniel Delmonaco on a project exploring the social media platform TikTok, algorithms and identity.

I graduated with a Master of Health Informatics from the University of Michigan School of Information and School of Public Health with a concentration in data analytics and UX research. I was a recipient of the Margaret Mann Award.
I also graduated with a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

My paper “Algorithmic Folk Theories and Identity: How TikTok Users Co-Produce Knowledge of Identity and Engage in Algorithmic Resistance“ with Daniel Delmonaco, Motahhare Eslami and Nazanin Andalibi was accepted at CSCW 2021.

Paper History: major revisions before acceptance

I am excited to share that my paper received an Honorable Mention Award for Best Paper at the ACM CSCW 2021 conference, “Algorithmic Folk Theories and Identity: How TikTok Users Co-Produce Knowledge of Identity and Engage in Algorithmic Resistance“.

I am thrilled beyond belief to share that I have accepted my offer to the PhD in Information program at the University of Michigan School of Information and will begin this Fall semester! I am grateful to have been selected as a UMSI Merit Scholar, and to be advised by Dr. Nazanin Andalibi.

On August 13th at the Muddy Acres Flower Farm, I married my best friend, Kaan Toy, in an intimate ceremony with our immediate families. It’s extremely exciting to start this next chapter with Kaan as we begin our lives together!

My paper “‘I like to See the Ups and Downs of My Own Journey’: Motivations for and Impacts of Returning to Past Content About Weight Related Journeys on Social Media” with Nazanin Andalibi was accepted at CSCW 2023.

Paper History: rejected once, major revisions before acceptance

I gave a talk to Dr. Tanu Mitra’s class (INSC 598 C: Social Computing) at the University of Washington about Algorithms, Identity and TikTok. Thank you so much to Dr. Mitra for the invitation, and to your classmates for their wonderful and thought-provoking questions.

I completed my first PhD Milestone, the Pre-Candidacy Proposal for my upcoming Pre-Candidacy Project titled “U.S. Arab/SWANA Diaspora’s Technocultures of Consent: The Case of Online Dating Apps“. This proposal is essentially a grant proposal, that explains to an audience “why the research questions are significant and worthy of study, what hypotheses are going to be tested, what methods are going to be used, and, for empirical projects, which analyses will be conducted.” It was approved by my advisor, Dr. Nazanin Andalibi, on April 19th, 2022.

My paper “Patent Applications as Glimpses into the Sociotechnical Imaginary: Ethical Speculation on the Imagined Futures of Emotion AI for Mental Health Monitoring and Detection“ with Alexandra H. Vinson, Shobita Parthasarathy, and Nazanin Andalibi was accepted at CSCW 2024.
Another paper I was a co-author on, “Emotion AI Use in U.S. Mental Health Care: Potentially Unjust and Techno-Solutionist” with Kat Roemmich, Shanley Corvite, Cassidy Pyle, and Nazanin Andalibi was also accepted to CSCW 2024.

I gave a talk to Dr. Oliver Haimson’s class (SI 315: Interpersonal and Psychological Implications of Social Media) at the University of Michigan about Algorithms, Identity and TikTok. I loved hearing students’ questions regarding the paper and research as a process! I had lots of fun and enjoyed seeing how much everyone engaged with the work.

I successfully defended my pre-candidacy paper, U.S. Arab/SWANA Diaspora’s Technocultures of Consent: The Case of Online Dating Apps, during an oral defense on March 20th. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Nazanin Andalibi,  Dr. Sarita Schoenebeck, and Dr. Apryl Williams for their support, feedback and helpful questions!

I have been accepted to attend the Digital IDEAS Summer Institute: Digital X Climate hosted by the Digital Studies Institute at UM-LSA where I will attend keynote lectures, and participate in panel discussions, workshops, and group discussions about the relationship between digital culture and climate, broadly defined.

My participation has been funded by the Mellon Foundation-sponsored DISCO Network who have so generously offered me a $1500 scholarship to attend.

I passed my Field Prelim Written and Oral exam. For my 3rd Ph.D. Milestone, I wrote and defended my Field Prelim paper on Anticipating One’s Reproductive Future(s): Sociotechnical Anticipation Work by Reproductive Citizens. As part of this project, I wrote a critical literature review and proposed a research project. Drawing from the fields of STS and Feminist Technoscience, Social Computing/HCI, and Reproductive Justice, my project explored the relationship between anticipation and technology for ensuring desirable reproductive health futures.

Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Nazanin Andalibi, Dr. Silvia Lindtner, and Dr. Lisa Harris.

I am now an affiliate researcher with the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing at the University of Michigan.