CITAP Round-up & Meet the Postdocs

CITAP Continues Research at the Intersection of Technology, People, and Power

Researchers at The UNC Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP), a research center housed at SILS, continue to conduct research to build our understanding on the role of technology in our society. Here are some top moments from CITAP in 2022.

Meet the Postdocs!

This semester, CITAP welcomed three new postdoctoral researchers. Their interests span how people make sense of the news, to understanding the relationship between technology and democracy, to how conspracy theorists use archivists, and more.

Conference on “The Capitol Coup One Year Later”

In January, along with the George Washington University Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, CITAP co-hosted a conference titled, “The Capitol Coup One Year Later.” During the conference, CITAP Faculty Researcher and SILS Assistant Professor Francesca Tripodi joined scholars Emily Van Duyn, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Khadijah Costley White, an associate professor at Rutgers University, to address how research can assess and counter threats to democracy.

Bulletin of Technology & Public Life

Yiping Xia

Research interest: How people pay attention to the news and make sense of it.

In May, CITAP officially launched the Bulletin of Technology & Public Life, which centers questions of power, history, and culture in how we understand the impact of emerging technologies on democracy and society. Through this bulletin, CITAP provides open access to research in non-traditional formats for a public audience including journalists, technologists, policy makers, and the public. To read the bulletin, visit

citap.pubpub.org.

New Affiliates and Working Themes

In August, CITAP welcomed their 2022-23 affiliate cohort of faculty, postdoctoral, professional, and graduate student affiliates. This year’s affiliates represent institutions spanning the Research Triangle and the globe, ranging from North Carolina Central University to the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Kristiania University College (Norway), University of Johannesburg, and Oxford. They bring expertise in mis- and disinformation, health communication, surveillance, public policy, far-right media ecosystems, and more.

Plans for the cohort include developing research that follows the themes of political processes and movements; democracy & (in)equality; mis- and disinformation; and platforms, networks, and infrastructure.

Nanditha Narayanamoorthy

Research interest: The relationship between technology and democracy.

Yvonne Eadon

Research interest: Conspiracy theory research and online dis/misinformation. Over 90 Years of Informed Impact | Fall 2022 21