Graduate Research Assistants

Headshot of LaRisa Anderson

LaRisa Anderson

LaRisa Anderson is a Ph.D. candidate and Roy H. Park Fellow in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill. She researches American religion and technoculture, with a particular interest in digital religious culture. LaRisa holds a Master of Arts in Media Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, her work was presented in Paris, FR, at the 72nd International Communication Association conference and in Belfast, IR, at the inaugural Critical Research on Religion conference.

Headshot of Viviane Ito

Viviane Ito

Viviane Ito is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Information Science at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her research interests are disinformation, misinformation, and gender bias within information and language. In the past, she developed research in women's experiences with chronic pain at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and in characterizing gender biases in Olympic athletes' discourses at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her research methodology draws from the field of Computational Linguistics. Before her academic pursuits, she worked as a strategic planner and data analyst for various brands, collaborating closely with media companies.

Dafna Kaufman

Dafna Kaufman

Dafna Kaufman is a PhD candidate in the department of Communication at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She holds a BA in English and Film Studies from the University of Georgia and an MA in Film and Media studies from Georgia State University. Her research examines the relationship between spectatorship, visibility, and the construction of the gendered, raced body in American visual and athletic culture.

Headshot of Lorcan Neill

Lorcan Neill

Lorcan Neill is a Knight-CITAP Fellow and a PhD student in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on the intersection of technology platforms and political power with specific interests in content moderation, transnational communication, and democratic backsliding. Lorcan holds a BA in Political Science and Communication from North Carolina State University and a MA in Media and Strategic Communication from George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs.

Portrait of Carolyn Schmitt.

Carolyn Schmitt

Carolyn Schmitt is a Knight-CITAP Fellow at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the intersection of far-right and mainstream media. Previously, she worked in communications at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and was a researcher on their Public Discourse in the U.S. 2020 Election project. She holds a BA in Media Studies from the University of Virginia and an MA in Media and Communication from UNC.