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Francois SoyerView profile

Associate Professor

• Early Modern History
• Anti-Semitism Studies
• History of the Inquisition
• +4 more

Dr. François Soyer is an Associate Professor at the University of New England's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, specializing in Early Modern History. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge (2007) and has held academic positions at the University of Southampton and the University of Adelaide. His research focuses on anti-Semitism, the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, gender/sexuality history, and colonial empires. He has authored multiple books and articles, including Popularizing anti-Semitism in early modern Spain and its empire (2014) and Antisemitic conspiracy theories in the early modern Iberian world (2019). His work often examines how religious persecution intersected with medical, artistic, and legal practices. Education: PhD in History, University of Cambridge (2007) MPhil in History, University of Cambridge (2003) MA Honours, University of St. Andrews (2002) Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Southampton (2011) Research Interests: Anti-Semitic propaganda and conspiracy theories Inquisitorial archives and legal practices Gender transgression and queer histories Censorship of art and religious imagery His recent publications explore the Blood Libel legend, the trial of Catalan cross-dresser Maria Duran, and the emotional dimensions of religious conversion. He has been awarded fellowships from the Royal Historical Society and the Parkes Institute. His current projects include tracing the origins of anti-Jewish iconography in colonial Peru and analyzing the role of emotion in early modern religious trials.

Ruihong HuangView profile

Associate Professor

• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Information Extraction
• Machine Learning
• +6 more

Ruihong Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University, part of the College of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah (2014) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Her research focuses on Natural Language Processing (NLP) with emphasis on information extraction, event recognition, media bias analysis, and ethical AI applications. She teaches courses like Information Storage and Retrieval (CSCE 470), Natural Language Processing (CSCE 638), and has advised numerous PhD, Master’s, and undergraduate students. Key research contributions include work on event coreference resolution, discourse analysis, and detecting media bias through event relation graphs. Huang has developed benchmark datasets like UAL-Bench and EMONA, and her work spans applications in disaster management, fake news detection, and moral reasoning in LLMs. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and serves on program committees for top conferences like ACL and EMNLP. Her academic service includes roles as Area Chair for ACL 2024 and Senior Area Chair for EMNLP 2024. She maintains an active lab group focusing on NLP fundamentals and real-world applications, with projects involving propaganda identification, polarity calibration for opinion summarization, and multimodal dialog act classification. Huang has published over 80 papers in top-tier venues such as NAACL, EMNLP, ACL, and NeurIPS.

Andrew ChadwickView profile

Professor

• Political Communication
• Digital Media Studies
• Disinformation/Misinformation
• +5 more

Professor Andrew Chadwick is a leading scholar in political communication and digital media studies at Loughborough University, where he directs the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C). He holds a BSocSc from Birmingham, MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics. His research focuses on hybrid media systems, disinformation dynamics, and digital politics. Key contributions include conceptualizing hybrid media events and analyzing misinformation in personal messaging platforms. His work has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the APSA Best Book Award. He supervises numerous PhD students exploring topics like social media influence, public opinion, and digital disinformation. Current projects include the Leverhulme-funded Everyday Misinformation Project examining numerical disinformation on messaging apps. His media engagements span BBC Radio 4 to The Washington Post. Research highlights include studies on misinformation warnings' ineffectiveness, vaccine hesitancy, and the role of celebrities in political representation. O3C serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research on digital civic culture. Chadwick’s academic leadership includes roles in editorial boards for top journals and international conference keynotes.

Rahim ShayeganView profile

Professor

• Ancient Iranian History
• Iranian Philology
• Cultural Exchange Studies
• +3 more

M. Rahim Shayegan is a prominent scholar in Iranian and Near Eastern studies, specializing in Old and Middle Iranian philology, Achaemenid-Sasanian history, and Greco-Roman-Iranian cultural interactions. He holds a PhD from Harvard University and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Göttingen and Sorbonne. His work bridges philology, epigraphy, and historical analysis to explore ancient political ideologies, religious traditions, and cross-cultural exchanges. Education: PhD, Iranian Philology & Ancient History, Harvard University MA, Iranian Philology, Sorbonne University BA, Philosophy & Comparative Philology, University of Cologne Research Interests: Iranian epigraphy and royal inscriptions Political dynamics of pre-Islamic Iranian empires Greco-Roman and Iranian cultural dialogues Zoroastrianism and ancient Near Eastern religions His publications include seminal works like Arsacids and Sasanians: Political Ideology in Post-Hellenistic Persia (2011) and Cyrus the Great: Life and Lore (2019). He has held prestigious fellowships at the Guggenheim Foundation and is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Awards: Ehsan Yarshater Book Award (2012) Academia Europaea Membership (2019–) Courses Taught: Achaemenid Civilization Sasanian History Old Persian Cuneiform Zoroastrianism and Ancient Religions

• Film Studies
• Japanese Cinema
• Anime Studies
• +5 more

Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto is a Professor at Waseda University's Faculty of International Research and Education, with a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, MA from UCLA, and BA from SUNY Binghamton. His academic journey includes tenure at University of Iowa, New York University, Princeton University, and Waseda University since 2010. Education: PhD, University of California, San Diego MA, University of California, Los Angeles BA, State University of New York at Binghamton Yoshimoto's research spans Film Studies , Anime Studies , and Planetary Humanities . He explores intersections between cinema and neoliberalism, postcolonial theory in media, and the Anthropocene's representation in visual culture. His work includes analyzing nuclear disasters in film and intermedial adaptation in anime. His publications address topics like AKIRA 's role in English-speaking anime studies, In This Corner of the World 's transmedia adaptation, and populism in Hollywood films. He led the 2019 international symposium 'Theorizing Anime' at Waseda University. Scientific Awards: FY2014 Scientific Research Grant Review Committee Award 2014 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant Yoshimoto has conducted funded research projects, including 'Reconsidering Japanese Anime Studies' (JSPS 2019-2022) and 'Contemporary Hollywood Films and the Shock Effect' (Waseda University). He teaches courses on cultural critical theories and international communication at graduate and undergraduate levels.

• Comparative Politics
• Political Communication
• Media Effects
• +3 more

Toril Aalberg is a Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. She was previously Head of the same department from 2017-2021 and serves as Guest Professor at Mid Sweden University in 2024-2025. Aalberg is a member of the research networks NEPOCS (Network of European Political Communication Scholars) and EVPOC (Elections, Values and Political Communication). Her research interests include comparative politics , election campaigns , media effects , public opinion , and stereotypes in political contexts. She has led major projects like the COST Action IS1308: Populist Political Communication in Europe (2014-2018). Toril Aalberg has authored or co-authored 9 books, including Populist Political Communication in Europe (2016) and Communicating Populism (2019). Her recent articles focus on misinformation during crises , media’s role in political efficacy , and cross-national disinformation studies , often analyzing data from 17-19 democracies. She has conducted extensive research on media polarization , immigrant attitudes , and news consumption patterns . Aalberg has held visiting appointments at institutions including the University of California, Berkeley , Stanford University , and University of Oslo , with current affiliations at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Oslo and Mid Sweden University . Her work spans political communication theory , media sociology , and democratic processes .

Deen FreelonView profile

Professor

• Political Communication
• Computational Social Science
• Digital Media
• +5 more

Deen Freelon is the Allan Randall Freelon Sr. Presidential Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, where he leads research in digital politics and computational methods. His work centers on identity dimensions in social media, misinformation ecosystems, and political communication. Previously, he held tenured positions at American University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Freelon earned a B.A. with honors from Stanford University (2002), followed by an M.A. (2008) and Ph.D. (2012) from the University of Washington. His endowed chair honors his great-grandfather, Allan Randall Freelon Sr., a Penn alumnus and prominent Philadelphia artist. Freelon's research explores intersections of technology and society with emphases on: Computational analysis of social media discourse Race, gender, and ideological asymmetry in online spaces Misinformation propagation and mitigation strategies Impact of personalized information environments on democracy His publications consistently address how digital platforms reshape political engagement and identity expression. Freelon has secured over $6 million in research funding from organizations including the Knight Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and US Institute for Peace. As a founding member of UNC Chapel Hill's Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life, he contributes to interdisciplinary efforts examining technology's societal impacts.

Peter KnightView profile

Professor

• Conspiracy Theories
• Cultural Studies of Finance
• Economic Humanities
• +2 more

Peter Knight is a Professor of American Studies at the University of Manchester , affiliated with the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures (English, American Studies & Creative Writing). He focuses on conspiracy theories and cultural approaches to finance , with over two decades of research grants and leadership in major interdisciplinary projects. UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG151: United States) Co-editor of Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories His research reconfigures conspiracy theory analysis through cultural lenses, challenging psychological dismissals. Key projects include Everything Is Connected (AHRC, 2016-20) and REDACT (EU CHANSE, 2022-25). Publications span Routledge, Edinburgh UP, and Cambridge UP. Recent work with Clare Birchall and Michael Butter explores coronavirus pandemic conspiracies , while his Reading the Market (2016) examines Gilded Age financial narratives. He co-curated the Show Me the Money exhibition (2014-16), visualizing financial history. Scientific Awards BAAS Book Prize (2017) Peter supervises projects on topics like 19th-20th century American literature , digital conspiracy theories , and financial epistemology . His media commentary (The Conversation, BBC) addresses public understanding of economic and conspiratorial discourse.

• Corpus Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• +7 more

Dr Isobelle Clarke is a Lecturer in Security and Protection Science at the School of Social Sciences, Lancaster University. Her work bridges corpus linguistics, forensic linguistics, and sociolinguistics with a focus on media and social media discourses. Research Overview Current projects: Leverhulme-funded investigation of anti-science discourses (anti-vaccination, climate denialism, anti-GMO) Core Methodologies: Corpus analysis, discourse analysis, authorship attribution Her recent publications explore: Climate change denialism across conspiracy platforms Vaccine conspiracy theories on social media Representation of religion in press Spoken language patterns in American English She supervises PhD student Xinran Wang and contributes to academic activities like the FACTOR Summer School and Lancashire Cyber Education Week. Her work integrates computational methods with critical discourse analysis.

James DarseyView profile

Professor

• Rhetorical Theory
• GLBTQ+ Rhetoric
• Social Movements
• +5 more

James Darsey is a Professor of Communication at Georgia State University, specializing in rhetorical theory, GLBTQ+ studies, and social movements. He is renowned for his award-winning book *The Prophetic Tradition and Radical Rhetoric in America* (1997), which earned multiple accolades including the National Communication Association's Diamond Anniversary Book Award. His research spans cosmopolitan rhetorics, prophetic discourse, and LGBTQ+ identity formation. He has delivered guest lectures at institutions such as the University of Texas and Notre Dame, and founded the Southern Colloquium on Rhetoric, fostering regional academic collaboration. Key awards include the Winans/Wichelns Award, the Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. His publications, including analyses of James Baldwin and Barack Obama, reflect his interdisciplinary focus on power, identity, and historical memory. Education: Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison (1985) Scientific Awards: Diamond Anniversary Book Award Winans/Wichelns Award for Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address Marie Hochmuth Nichols Award Randy Majors Award B. Aubrey Fisher Award National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship

• Antisemitism studies
• Anti-Americanism research
• Sociology of religion
• +5 more

Professor Heiko Beyer holds a chair position at the Department of Sociology IV within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. His academic work spans multiple domains of contemporary sociological inquiry with particular emphasis on prejudice studies, political sociology, and the sociology of religion. Beyer maintains an active research profile with numerous publications in leading sociological journals and serves as principal investigator for several major research projects funded by prestigious German research institutions. Professor Beyer's research interests form a cohesive body of work examining various dimensions of social prejudice and political attitudes. His scholarship demonstrates particular expertise in antisemitism studies, where he has developed innovative methodological approaches to measuring contemporary manifestations of anti-Jewish sentiment. His work also explores anti-Americanism as a comparative framework for understanding prejudice, examining the "elective affinities" between different forms of resentment. Additional research areas include the sociology of social movements, the intersection of religion and politics in Europe, and human rights implementation in diverse social contexts. Beyer's methodological approach combines quantitative survey research with qualitative analysis, often employing experimental designs to uncover the social context dependence of prejudicial attitudes. An analysis of Professor Beyer's recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward increasingly sophisticated examinations of antisemitism in contemporary Germany. His work has evolved from theoretical examinations of antisemitism's historical development to nuanced empirical studies capturing its current manifestations across different social milieus. A distinctive feature of his recent scholarship is the examination of how global events, particularly conflicts in the Middle East, create "spaces of opportunity" for antisemitic expressions. He has also pioneered research on the relationship between political Islam and Jewish experiences in Germany, producing some of the first systematic studies on how radical Islamic ideologies impact Jewish life. His methodological contributions include developing new antisemitism scales and employing factorial survey experiments to measure latent attitudes. Professor Beyer currently leads three major research projects: "Antisemitism in the General Population of North Rhine-Westphalia" (funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2022-2024), "Social Contexts of Equality Practices" (a Heisenberg project funded by the German Research Foundation, 2019-2024), and "The Impact of Radical Islam on Jewish Life in Germany" (funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2020-2024). These projects collectively represent significant contributions to understanding prejudice, human rights implementation, and minority experiences in contemporary German society. His research often involves collaboration with interdisciplinary teams and has practical implications for educational programs combating antisemitism and promoting social equality.

Jennifer NelsonView profile

Associate Professor

• Early Modern Art
• Renaissance Studies
• Art and Science
• +5 more

Jennifer Nelson is an Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Delaware’s College of Arts & Sciences. Their research focuses on early modern European art and its global intersections, with expertise in Renaissance studies, art-science interactions, and transimperial cultural dynamics. Nelson holds a PhD from Yale University, an MFA in Poetry from New York University, and advanced degrees from the Courtauld Institute and Harvard College. Education: PhD (Yale), MFA (NYU), MA (Courtauld Institute), AB (Harvard) Current research includes a book project analyzing 16th-century cultural production at border sites across Southeast Asia, New Spain, and Europe. Notable publications include Disharmony of the Spheres (2019), which won the 2021 Historians of British Art Prize, and a forthcoming poetry collection On the Way to the Paintings of Forest Robberies (2024 Ottoline Prize). Grants and fellowships include support from Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Clark Art Institute. Their work bridges art history with literary and cultural studies, emphasizing global perspectives.

• Social Media Analysis
• Sentiment Analysis
• Computational Journalism
• +6 more

Fabrício Benevenuto is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), where he conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of social media analysis, data science, and computational journalism. His work spans complex networks, machine learning, and natural language processing with strong societal impact. His research focuses on social media dynamics, particularly in Brazilian contexts, with major contributions to hate speech detection, fake news analysis, and political discourse monitoring. He leads large-scale projects against misinformation, including development of systems like WhatsApp Monitor, Media Bias Monitor, and Purple Feed. His work combines technical innovation with real-world applications for election transparency and public discourse integrity. Benevenuto's recent publications demonstrate strong trends in multilingual NLP for social media analysis, with emphasis on Brazilian Portuguese contexts. His team produces both theoretical contributions and practical systems addressing hate speech, misinformation, and media bias. Notable methodological approaches include combining network analysis with linguistic features, developing culturally-aware detection systems, and creating large annotated datasets for understudied languages. CAPES award for best Brazilian computer science thesis (2010) Humboldt Foundation scholarship recipient (2017-2018) Member of TikTok Safety Advisory Council WWW'20 Best Paper Nominee & CNIL-INRIA Privacy Protection Prize winner Multiple best paper awards at CEAS, WBC, and ICWSM conferences Test-of-Time Award at ICWSM'20 Benevenuto actively mentors PhD and MSc students, with numerous advisees securing academic positions at Brazilian universities and research roles at institutions like Max Planck Institute. His projects often receive funding supporting interdisciplinary collaborations across computer science and social sciences. Current work includes large-scale analysis of Telegram political groups, real-time election monitoring systems, and developing culturally-aware NLP tools for Portuguese. He leads research teams working on social media analysis systems with societal impact, particularly focused on Brazilian digital ecosystems. Projects involve cross-institutional collaborations with researchers from MPI-SWS, Max Planck Institute, and various Brazilian universities, emphasizing practical applications for public discourse integrity.

Cornelius PuschmannView profile

Professor

• Computational Communication Research
• Digital Media Usage
• Hate Speech
• +5 more

Cornelius Puschmann is a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Bremen's ZeMKI, leading the Digital Communication and Information Diversity (DCID) Lab. He has held affiliations with institutions including Zeppelin University, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research / Hans Bredow Institute. His research focuses on computational communication, digital media usage, hate speech, and algorithmic impacts on digital communication. Current projects: Informed by Influencers? (INDI), Political Polarization and Individualized Online Information Environments (POLTRACK) Member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (DGPuK), European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), and International Communication Association (ICA) His recent publications explore topics such as alternative news consumption, political polarization, and communicative AI. He has also contributed to open-source methodologies like the RPC-Lex dictionary for analyzing right-wing populist discourse. Notable affiliations include visiting scholar roles at the Oxford Internet Institute, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, and University of Amsterdam's Department of Media Studies.

Adam M. EndersView profile

Associate Professor

• Conspiracy Theory Analysis
• Political Psychology
• Polarization
• +6 more

Adam M. Enders is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Louisville. He also teaches advanced courses on measurement and scaling at the ICPSR Summer Program. His research examines the intersection of political psychology and societal dynamics, focusing on conspiracy theories, core values, partisanship, and polarization. Enders holds a Ph.D. (2016) and M.A. (2013) in Political Science from Michigan State University, and a B.A. (2011) in Political Science and Public Policy from Albion College. His work investigates how conspiratorial thinking influences public opinion, the role of racial prejudice in political behavior, and how subjective perceptions contribute to polarization. Publications appear in top journals like the American Journal of Political Science and Journal of Politics . He has also contributed to The Atlantic and Politico Magazine , analyzing modern conspiracism and its political ramifications. Teaching focuses include political psychology, public opinion dynamics, and quantitative research methods. His methodological expertise in scaling and measurement underpins much of his empirical work, emphasizing rigorous design to explore complex belief systems.