Joan Donovan

Joan Donovan (born 1979/1980) is an American social science researcher and assistant professor at the College of Communication, Boston University.[2] She was previously a researcher and lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, an affiliate at Data and Society, and was research director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.[3][1]

Joan Donovan
Born1979 or 1980 (age 43–44)[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Assistant Professor, College of Communication, Boston University
EmployerBoston University

Donovan's expertise is in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns, and in January 2020, she was called to testify at the Hearing on "Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age" at Congress's Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.[4] As Director, she published a number of impactful research papers and books. Donovan co-wrote a widely-read study that discovered that a significant number of participants in the January 6 attack on the Capitol were driven by their support for President Trump. In September of the same year, Donovan released a book titled "Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America," which explores the spread of right-wing political conspiracy theories through online media. In 2022, it was announced that her research project would end in 2024.[5] Due to this, she moved to Boston University and the project ended in August 2023.[2]

Biography

Donovan earned her PhD in Sociology and Science Studies from the University of California San Diego, and was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for Society and Genetics at UCLA where her expertise was social movements, technology, and white supremacist's use of DNA ancestry tests.[6][7] She later held the role of Research Lead for the Media Manipulation Initiative at Data and Society, and mapped how interest groups, governments, political operatives, corporations, and others use the internet and media to disrupt social institutions.[8] After Data and Society, Donovan went on to lead the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard Kennedy School and teach the class Media Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns.[9] She joined the Boston University College of Communication in September 2023 as a tenure-track assistant professor.[2] Donovan has authored over 35 articles, paper, and books [10] including:

  • How news organizations should cover white supremacist shootings, PBS NewsHour[11]
  • Big Tech Companies Are Struggling With How To Best Police Their Platforms, NPR[12]
  • Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives[13]
  • Navigating the Tech Stack: When, Where and How Should we Moderate Content?[14]
  • Toward a Militant Ethnography of Infrastructure: Cybercartographies of Order, Scale, and Scope across the Occupy Movement.[15]

References
  1. Heim, Joe (January 19, 2021). "'Disinformation can be a very lucrative business, especially if you're good at it,' media scholar says". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. Herszenhorn, Miles J. (August 18, 2023). "'I Had to Leave': Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Exits Harvard, Joins Boston University Faculty". Tye Harvard Crimson.
  3. "Technology and Social Change". Shorenstein Center. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. "Hearing on "Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age"". Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  5. "Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  6. Panofsky, Aaron; Donovan, Joan (October 1, 2019). "Genetic ancestry testing among white nationalists: From identity repair to citizen science". Social Studies of Science. 49 (5): 653–681. doi:10.1177/0306312719861434. ISSN 0306-3127. PMC 6939152. PMID 31264517.
  7. Murphy, Heather (July 12, 2019). "How White Nationalists See What They Want to See in DNA Tests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  8. "Joan Donovan – International Symposium on Online Journalism". Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  9. "Media Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns". www.hks.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  10. "Joan Donovan CV" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 3, 2020.
  11. "How news organizations should cover white supremacist shootings, according to a media expert". PBS NewsHour. August 4, 2019. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  12. "Big Tech Companies Are Struggling With How To Best Police Their Platforms". NPR.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  13. "Unlike Us Reader" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 27, 2019.
  14. "Navigating the Tech Stack: When, Where and How Should We Moderate Content?". Centre for International Governance Innovation. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  15. Donovan, Joan (August 29, 2018). "Toward a Militant Ethnography of Infrastructure: Cybercartographies of Order, Scale, and Scope across the Occupy Movement". Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 48 (4): 482–509. doi:10.1177/0891241618792311. ISSN 0891-2416. S2CID 149972355.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.