Evaluation, be it organizational or interpersonal, is a reciprocal process where evaluators take information provided by the evaluated and assign relative weight and value. Yet this information is shaped and constrained by culture, language, beliefs, and normative expectations both in its production and interpretation. Formal and quotidian judgements shape how information, and the people producing it, are seen and valued in society. So far, my work has primarily focused on college admissions, where I founded and led the Student Narratives Lab, and on parole hearings.
Digital Identities
Digital traces of human expression, namely our words, voices, and images, have become the raw material through which social life is increasingly experienced, analyzed, and automated. In this strand of research, I integrate social theory with computational tools and perspectives to examine how digital representations reflect, refract, and reshape identity, culture, and social difference. Most of this work so far examines how these representational processes unfold through language.
Transforming Research
In my newest line of inquiry, I investigate how data-intensive technology, like generative AI, is changing knowledge production in academia and in society. This work examines how these technologies are reshaping research practices, methods, and the production of scholarly knowledge itself. I integrate empirical studies of the use of AI and computational tools with theoretical questions about inference, validity, and the relationship between human expertise and computational outputs.