I am Professor of Data & Decision Sciences and English at Emory University, where I direct the Digital Humanities Lab and the Atlanta Interdisciplinary AI Network. Before arriving at Emory, I taught in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. I received my PhD in English and American Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center, and my AB in Literature (English and French) from Harvard University.
I work at the intersection of data science and machine learning (what people are now calling “AI”), data and AI ethics, and American literature and culture, with an emphasis on research questions about gender and race. I am the author of several books, including Data Feminism (MIT Press, 2020), coauthored with Catherine D’Ignazio, which was named a “Must-Read Book for Spring 2020” by WIRED Magazine, and An Archive of Taste: Race and Eating in the Early United States (University of Minnesota Press, 2020), which shows how thinking about eating can help to tell new stories about the range of people, from the nation’s first presidents to their enslaved chefs, who worked to establish a cultural foundation for the United States. My next major project, Data by Design: A Partial History of Visualization and Power, coauthored with members of my research group, will be published in print and online by the MIT Press in Fall 2026. With Matthew K. Gold, I edit Debates in the Digital Humanities (University of Minnesota Press), a hybrid print/digital publication stream that explores debates in the field as they emerge. The most recent book in this series is Debates in the Digital Humanities 2023.
In previous incarnations, I’ve worked as a web developer, educational technology consultant, music producer, and bike messenger. I have not, however, appeared on Law & Order, designed customized silver jewelry, or performed award-winning gymnastics routines. You can view my official bio here.
